Workplace Spirituality and Academic Achievement in Business Schools: The Mediating and Moderating Roles of Self-Efficacy

<p>Purpose — Academic achievement is shaped not only by students' cognitive capabilities but also by the institutional and psychological environments that support their learning and developmental trajectories. Although workplace spirituality has been extensively associated with positive individual and organizational outcomes in corporate settings, its influence on students' academic achievement and the underlying psychological mechanisms in higher education remain under-theorized and empirically underexplored. Drawing on Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), Self-Determination Theory (SDT), and Psychological Capital (PsyCap) Theory, this study examines the impact of workplace spirituality on academic achievement by investigating the dual role of self-efficacy as both a mediator and a moderator among business school students.Design/methodology/approach — Primary survey data were gathered from a sample of 230 postgraduate and undergraduate students enrolled across QS-ranked business schools in India using validated, multi-item measurement scales. The proposed conceptual and structural framework was evaluated using R (Version 4.5.3) and variance-based Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) utilizing the `seminr` package with 5,000 bootstrap re-samples.Findings — The empirical results demonstrate that workplace spirituality exerts a robust, positive influence on both self-efficacy (β = 0.841, p &amp;lt; 0.001, f2 = 2.490) and academic achievement (β = 0.307, p = 0.018, f2 = 0.074). Self-efficacy is likewise positively and significantly associated with academic achievement (β = 0.493, p &amp;lt; 0.001, f2 = 0.178). Mediation analysis confirms that self-efficacy partially mediates the relationship between workplace spirituality and academic achievement, accounting for 56.68% of the total effect (indirect β = 0.416, p &amp;lt; 0.001; total β = 0.734, p &amp;lt; 0.001). In contrast, the hypothesised moderating role of self-efficacy on the spirituality–achievement relationship is not supported (β = -0.050, p = 0.108). The overall structural model demonstrates substantial explanatory power, accounting for 70.7% of the variance in self-efficacy (R2 = 0.707, Adjusted R2 = 0.712) and 60.8% of the variance in academic achievement (R2 = 0.608, Adjusted R2 = 0.604).Originality/value — This study advances higher education management literature by extending the paradigm of workplace spirituality from traditional corporate organizational settings to business school environments. It demystifies the "black box" linking spiritual, meaningful institutional climates with objective and subjective student outcomes, proving that workplace spirituality functions primarily as an essential socio-contextual antecedent that activates students' intrinsic efficacy beliefs.</p>