The effect of environmental values, beliefs, and norms on social entrepreneurial intentions among Chinese university students

The study investigates how values, beliefs, and norms shape social entrepreneurial intentions (SEIs) among Chinese university students by applying the values-beliefs-norms (VBN) theory. Social entrepreneurship has gained prominence as a response to social problems and market/government failures, and SEIs are a key precursor to forming social enterprises that address societal needs while remaining financially viable. Prior work has largely relied on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to explain SEIs, but it often overlooks personal values and ethical dimensions that VBN theory addresses. China presents a relevant context due to its growing emphasis on social enterprise, collectivist culture, and the strategic role of university students in future social and economic development. The study aims to extend VBN theory to SEIs and provide practical insights for education and policy in a non-Western context. Research questions: - RQ1: How do students’ altruistic and traditional values influence their normative beliefs in the context of SEIs? - RQ2: Do students’ normative beliefs, awareness of consequences, and ascriptions of responsibility affect their personal norms regarding SEIs? - RQ3: How do students’ normative beliefs affect their awareness of consequences, and how does this awareness impact their ascription of responsibilities? - RQ4: How do students’ personal, injunctive, and descriptive social norms influence SEIs?

Social entrepreneurship prioritizes social mission over profit and prior studies identify a range of SEI predictors (personality traits, self-efficacy, creativity, attitudes, subjective norms, moral obligations, empathy, social support, social capital, orientations, and prior exposure). Many studies used TPB (e.g., Chang et al., 2022; Rambe & Ndofirepi, 2021; Ip et al., 2018; Tiwari et al., 2017b), while others used alternative perspectives (Hossain et al., 2024; Asma et al., 2019). Identified gaps include: heavy reliance on TPB (emphasizing rational cognition and underplaying sociocultural/ethical dimensions), methodological constraints (cross-sectional designs, varied and often limited sample sizes), and limited cultural generalizability across diverse contexts. To address these, the present study employs VBN theory—linking values, beliefs, and norms—to capture altruistic and traditional values and their transformation into beliefs and norms, and to integrate social norms (injunctive and descriptive) as salient in collectivist settings. The study’s larger sample (n=769) and Chinese university context aim to enrich understanding and generalizability.

Design and sampling: Cross-sectional quantitative study using judgmental (purposive) sampling of Chinese university students on campus. Data were collected via WJX online questionnaire disseminated by university counselors and lecturers through forums, QQ groups, and WeChat between December 1–15, 2021. G*Power (one-tailed, α=0.05, power=0.90, f²=0.15, 8 predictors) suggested a minimum N=136; 769 valid responses were obtained after screening (bachelor’s degree or higher). Ethics and consent: Approved by Human Research Ethics Committee of Changzhi University (BS-CZ-2021-0055). Informed consent obtained; anonymity and confidentiality assured; participants could withdraw at any time. Instrument: Items adapted from prior literature—altruistic values, traditional values, normative beliefs, awareness of consequences, ascription of responsibility from Stern et al. (1999); personal norms from Ünal et al. (2017); injunctive/descriptive social norms from Doran & Larsen (2015); SEI from Ruiz-Rosa et al. (2020). Translation to Chinese by professional service; pretest with 25 respondents. Scales: 7-point Likert for values (1=not important, 7=very important); for other constructs (1=strongly disagree, 7=strongly agree). Common method bias (CMB): Ex-ante procedures (assurances, anonymity, pre/pilot tests). Post hoc Harman’s single-factor (largest factor=26.491%<40%) and collinearity tests (VIF 1.173–2.818 <3.3) indicate negligible CMB. Data analysis: Due to non-normality (multivariate skewness/kurtosis; p<0.05), variance-based PLS-SEM (SmartPLS 3.0) was used. Measurement model assessment showed adequate reliability and validity (Cronbach’s alpha, composite reliability, rho_A >0.7; AVE>0.5; Fornell-Larcker and HTMT<0.80 supported discriminant validity; adjusted item loadings acceptable with TRV4 and TRV7 removed). Structural model assessed via bootstrapping (5000 subsamples), R², f², and blindfolding Q² metrics; multi-group analysis (PLS-MGA) conducted after MICOM to test sex differences.

- Measurement and model quality: All constructs demonstrated acceptable reliability and validity; VIFs within acceptable limits. Endogenous R²: normative beliefs (NRB) 48.2%, personal norms (PRN) 12.1%, awareness of consequences (ACN) 18.7%, ascription of responsibility (ARS) 13.0%, SEI 42.9%. Q² >0 for all endogenous variables (NRB 0.283; PRN 0.089; ACN 0.116; ARS 0.071; SEI 0.263). - Hypotheses testing (standardized path coefficients, all p<0.001 unless stated): • H1: Altruistic values → NRB: β=0.407, CI [0.327, 0.487] (supported; medium effect). • H2: Traditional values → NRB: β=0.396, CI [0.313, 0.472] (supported; medium effect). • H3: NRB → PRN: β=0.281, CI [0.203, 0.363] (supported; small effect). • H4: ACN → PRN: β=0.056, p=0.121, CI [-0.019, 0.134] (not significant; rejected). • H5: ARS → PRN: β=0.054, p=0.132, CI [-0.021, 0.138] (not significant; rejected). • H6: NRB → ACN: β=0.432, CI [0.356, 0.511] (supported; medium effect). • H7: ACN → ARS: β=0.361, CI [0.285, 0.446] (supported; medium effect). • H8: PRN → SEI: β=0.206, CI [0.155, 0.265] (supported; small effect). • H9: Injunctive social norms (ISN) → SEI: β=0.369, CI [0.298, 0.435] (supported; medium effect). • H10: Descriptive social norms (DSN) → SEI: β=0.375, CI [0.309, 0.437] (supported; medium effect). - Multiple Group Analysis (sex): No significant differences in any hypothesized paths between male and female groups (PLS-MGA p-values >0.05 after establishing measurement invariance).

The findings address the research questions by showing that altruistic and traditional values significantly shape normative beliefs (RQ1), which then inform personal norms (RQ2). Contrary to expectations from VBN/NAM in other domains, awareness of consequences and ascription of responsibility did not significantly strengthen personal norms among university students; the authors contextualize this with limited socialization and restricted engagement due to universities’ closed-loop COVID-19 management, potentially dampening students’ perceived responsibility and consequence salience. Normative beliefs meaningfully enhance awareness of consequences, which in turn increases ascription of responsibility (RQ3), evidencing the VBN belief-to-normative-process cascade. Regarding intentions (RQ4), personal norms, injunctive norms, and descriptive norms all positively predict SEIs, with social norms exhibiting stronger effects than personal norms, consistent with China’s collectivist culture where perceived approval and prevalence of behaviors strongly guide intentions. The overall model offers a culturally situated extension of VBN to social entrepreneurship, highlighting that both individual moral standards and social normative environments are key levers for fostering SEIs in university settings.

This study extends VBN theory to explain social entrepreneurial intentions among Chinese university students. Altruistic and traditional values robustly bolster normative beliefs, which, through the VBN chain, cultivate personal norms and ultimately SEIs. While normative beliefs enhance awareness of consequences and responsibility attribution, these latter beliefs did not directly strengthen personal norms in this sample, potentially reflecting pandemic-era social isolation. Personal norms and, more strongly, injunctive and descriptive social norms significantly increase SEIs. The work contributes theoretically by integrating values and social norms with SEIs in a non-Western, collectivist context and offers practical guidance to universities and policymakers to design curricula and environments that amplify prosocial values and social norms around social entrepreneurship. Future research should further examine contextual moderators and additional VBN-related constructs in diverse settings.

- Context and sample: Chinese university students surveyed during COVID-19 closed-loop management; participants were highly educated but with limited social experience. This context may have weakened the effect of awareness of consequences and ascription of responsibility on personal norms. - Design: Cross-sectional, self-report data; causal inferences are limited despite PLS-SEM modeling. - Measurement/contextual scope: The study focused on selected VBN constructs and social norms; other factors (e.g., problem awareness, outcome efficacy, self-efficacy, experiential learning) may further illuminate SEIs. Recommendations: Examine whether participation in social practices and welfare services moderates links between awareness of consequences, responsibility, and personal norms; replicate across cultures and post-pandemic contexts; incorporate additional VBN-related constructs to enhance explanatory power.