ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Personality and Social Psychology
How Social Support Shapes Entrepreneurial Intentions: Sequential Gains in Self-Efficacy and Attitude
Sichao Gao
Guoguo Zhao
Changzhou Vocational Institute of Textile and Garment, Changzhou, China
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Abstract
The aim of the study is to investigate the relationship between entrepreneurial intention, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, entrepreneurial attitude, and social support. The study also seeks to investigate the mediating impact of entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) and entrepreneurial attitude (EA) on the relationship between entrepreneurial intention (EI) and social support (SS). 538 Chinese college students were randomly selected and answered a questionnaire. The data was analyzed using linear regression and bootstrap. Results indicated that social support predicted self-efficacy (β=0.783) and directly affected intention (β= 0.198). Self-efficacy (β=0.813) and attitude (β=0.636) predicted intention. Self-efficacy promoted attitude (β=0.168) was also found. Furthermore, the chain mediation SS→ESE→EA→EI was significant. Finally, the model explained 77.8% of the variance of intention. In summary, social support helps facilitate entrepreneurial intention through the method of "Self-efficacy → attitude", showing that universities strengthen support networks and ability experiences to transform entrepreneurial intention.
Summary
Keywords
chain mediation, Entrepreneurial attitude, Entrepreneurial intention, Entrepreneurial self- efficacy, social support, university students
Received
12 December 2025
Accepted
18 February 2026
Copyright
© 2026 Gao and Zhao. 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: Guoguo Zhao
Disclaimer
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