The Influence of Critical Thinking Self-confidence on Social Entrepreneurial Intention and Exploring the Mediating Role of Need for Achievement Among Business Management Students

Social entrepreneurship’s role is essential for a country’s progress since it involves tackling community problems, encourages new ideas, and boosts the economy with an intent towards the well-being of the people. Students’ social entrepreneurial intention is the driving force for the development of social ventures. This study investigates the social entrepreneurial intention among management students. Based on social cognitive and need for achievement theories, the aim is to examine how the critical thinking self-confidence, as the independent variable, and need for achievement as a mediator, enhances the students’ intention to be a social entrepreneur. The study conducted a quantitative data analysis on 383 responses collected through a questionnaire survey using a simple random sampling technique. Structural equation modelling was applied to test the hypothesized paths of the proposed model to draw inferences. The two key findings emerge from the empirical analysis. First, both critical thinking self-confidence and need for achievement of students enhance the intention to become a social entrepreneur. Second, the need for achievement was found to partially mediate, which eventually led to starting a social venture. This research provides valuable insights and practical implications for colleges as well as students, with key takeaways on how to enhance their social entrepreneurial intentions through cognitive and motivational factors while pursuing their studies.