Extending the Theory of Planned Behavior in Life Insurance Purchase Intention: Fatalism, Learned Helplessness, and Financial Moral Obligation in Indonesia

Abstract

This study examines how multidimensional fatalism, learned helplessness, and financial moral obligation extend the Theory of Planned Behavior in explaining life-insurance purchase intention among Indonesian adults living in metropolitan areas. Using survey data from 710 adults, the study applies partial least squares structural equation modeling to estimate a reflective-reflective higher-order fatalism construct represented by religious and traditional fatalism and to examine direct, indirect, and interaction effects. Multidimensional fatalism was positively associated with attitude and purchase intention and negatively associated with learned helplessness. Attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control were positively associated with purchase intention, whereas learned helplessness and financial moral obligation were negatively associated with intention. Financial moral obligation also had statistically significant but modest negative interaction effects on the learned helplessness-intention and attitude-intention relationships. The cross-sectional, non-probability metropolitan-area sample limits causal and population-wide inference. The findings distinguish fatalistic belief from learned helplessness and suggest that internalized family duty may operate differently from external social norms, while the added constructs complement rather than replace the core TPB predictors.