The effects of mindfulness upbringing perception on social entrepreneurship orientation: A moderated mediation model of prosocial motivation and perceived pressure from external stakeholders

Abstract

Driven by economic and social benefits, social enterprises create new development models that combine wealth creation, social welfare provision, and environmental improvement through innovative approaches. The social entrepreneurship orientation reflects the behavioral tendency to transplant entrepreneurship orientation into the field of social value creation. It is a strategy to balance and integrate economic interests and social interests, which has a significant impact on social entrepreneurship performance. The purpose of this study is to explore the internal mechanism of the impact of social entrepreneurs’ mindfulness upbringing perception on social entrepreneur orientation. To reveal the internal mechanism, we propose a moderated and mediation model of prosocial motivation and perceived pressure from external stakeholders. In this study, random sampling was conducted among social start-ups in China. In order to improve the accuracy of the scale, a pre-survey was conducted before the formal survey. The data analysis results of the pre-survey showed that the scale in this study was suitable for the Chinese context and had good external validity. Through using survey data from social entrepreneurs in China, hierarchical regression analysis and bootstrapping model are adapted to test and verify mediation and moderation effects. The results show that mindfulness upbringing perception indeed positively influences social entrepreneurship orientation directly and partly through the mediating effect of prosocial motivation. Moreover, findings suggest the perceived pressure from external stakeholders negatively moderates not only the relationship between prosocial motivation and social entrepreneurship orientation but also the overall mediation model. This indicates that social entrepreneurs with low perceived pressure from external stakeholders will improve their social entrepreneurship orientation rapidly when their prosocial level is high. Based on these findings, we conclude that social entrepreneurship orientation may be achieved more effectively through the complex process of mindfulness upbringing perception, prosocial motivation, and perceived pressure from external stakeholders. Finally, the study proposes the theoretical and practical implications and suggestions for follow-up research.

The influence of society’s perception, social networking and social impact measurement on access to finance of social enterprises: Perspective of eThekwini Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

“…This means H4 is rejected. A study conducted in India by Shan and Tian (2022) reported similar findings, revealing that pressure from external stakeholders does not moderate the relationship between prosocial motivation and social entrepreneurship orientation that could, in turn, influence their access to finance.…”

Green Development in Indonesia: Socioeconomic Impacts, Environmental Effects, and the Role of Social Entrepreneurship

“…In the context of green development, the emergence of social entrepreneurship has had a substantial effect on shaping perceptions, driving socioeconomic implications, and influencing environmental impacts (Hübel et al, 2023;Khan et al, 2023;Oni & Fiseha, 2022;Shan & Tian, 2022;Trabskaia et al, 2023). Social entrepreneurship has the potential to effect positive societal change by means of its innovative business models.…”

Exploring the motivating factors for opportunity recognition among social entrepreneurs: a qualitative study

“…Research on social entrepreneurial motivation has focused primarily on the general antecedents of social entrepreneurial behaviour, such as empathy, altruism, moral obligation, prosocial motivation, proactive personality, compassion and intrinsic motivation (Yamini et al, 2022;Tiwari et al, 2022;Asante et al, 2020; NEJE Usman et al, 2022;Yu et al, 2021;Rambe and Ndofirepi, 2021;Kruse et al, 2021;Urban and Galawe, 2020;Douglas and Prentice, 2019;Pittz et al, 2017). Other research points to factors like workplace spirituality and creativity (Blaga, 2021;Shan and Tian, 2022;Miller et al, 2012) and even cultural influences such as uncertainty avoidance and in-group collectivism as shaping social entrepreneurial behaviour (Canestrino et al, 2020). However, the literature also suggests that possessing these motivations does not guarantee engagement in social entrepreneurship.…”