ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Hum. Dyn.
Sec. Digital Impacts
How Gaming Motivation Is Associated with Entrepreneurial Passion: A Sequential Mediation Model of Entrepreneurial Curiosity and Self-Efficacy"
Provisionally accepted
- Arab Open University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
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Entrepreneurial passion is a vital emotional catalyst for chance exploration, perseverance, and venture establishment; nevertheless, its development prior to entrepreneurial involvement is not well comprehended. Simultaneously, digital gaming has emerged as a widespread pursuit among young, especially in Saudi Arabia, where elevated game engagement aligns with national initiatives to foster entrepreneurship under Vision 2030. Notwithstanding this convergence, current research has predominantly neglected to examine the extent to which nonbusiness digital behaviors influence the development of entrepreneurial enthusiasm. This study aims to bridge this gap by developing and empirically testing a sequential cognitive model that connects gaming motivation to entrepreneurial passion via entrepreneurial curiosity and entrepreneurial self-efficacy. The model incorporates concepts from Self-Determination Theory (Ryan and Deci, 2020), Information-Gap Theory (Loewenstein, 1994), Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura, 1997), and identity-based passion theory (Cardon et al., 2023). Employing covariance-based structural equation modeling on survey data from 435 young adults in Saudi Arabia, the results indicate that gaming motivation positively predicts entrepreneurial curiosity and entrepreneurial self-efficacy, whereas entrepreneurial curiosity significantly boosts self-efficacy. Curiosity and self-efficacy significantly enhance entrepreneurial passion. Conversely, gaming motivation does not exert a substantial direct influence on entrepreneurial enthusiasm, suggesting that passion does not stem solely from digital interaction but rather arises from curiosity-driven inquiry and faith in one's capabilities. This study enhances entrepreneurship research by recognizing gaming motivation as a nonbusiness precursor to entrepreneurial passion, identifying entrepreneurial curiosity as a crucial cognitive mechanism in the formation of passion, and situating these processes within a youth-driven entrepreneurial transformation. The results establish digital gaming as a scalable psychological asset for the development of entrepreneurial human capital in digitally intensive economies.
Keywords: Digital behavior, Entrepreneurial curiosity, Entrepreneurial passion, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, Gaming motivation, Saudi Arabia, Youth entrepreneurship
Received: 12 Nov 2025; Accepted: 07 Jan 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Malaj. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Ardita Malaj
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