Hybrid by Necessity: A Dual Motivational Architecture of Social Entrepreneurial Intention Among Latin American University Students

Social entrepreneurship is increasingly promoted in universities to address persistent social problems through innovative and financially sustainable initiatives. Most models of social entrepreneurial intention (SEI) rely on extensions of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) . Using survey data from 3,169 students in 20 universities in Colombia, Mexico and Peru, this study tests a dual motivational architecture of SEI in which university support (US) operates through a prosocial route and an instrumental route, moderated by perceived financial returns of social entrepreneurship (PRFES). PLS-SEM results show that US has a positive effect on SEI, through positive perceptions of social entrepreneurship (PPSE). PRFES functions as a cognitive switch: when PRFES is high, the mediating role of PPSE weakens. Robustness checks confirmed the stability of the main effects and the moderated mediation pattern. The findings refine TPB-based models of SEI and highlight Latin American universities as institutional anchors and architects of hybrid motivations.