TRAIT EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURIAL INTENTIONS: MULTI MEDIATORS ANALYSIS

• Published in: Journal of Sustainability Science and Management
• Main Author: Hussain W.M.H.W.; Wahid S.D.M.; Ayob A.H.; Ismail M.N.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universiti Malaysia Terengganu 2021
• Online Access: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85118638574&doi=10.46754%2fjssm.2021.08.024&partnerID=40&md5=1b4a721f8cc097f8208d1cba62e40bda

Social entrepreneurship (SE) is a recent phenomenon spreading around the world. It has become one of the finest solutions for addressing various socio-economic issues. Unfortunately, the involvement of Malaysian in SE activity is currently 2 % which is far behind of comparable emerging economic. Therefore, it is timely to investigate the factors influencing a student's social entrepreneurship intentions (social entrepreneurship intentions) as recommended by previous scholars to enhance the SE level in Malaysia. Drawing on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) as the theoretical background; this study treats trait emotional intelligence (TEI) as the exogenous variable, while attitudinal constructs of TPB as the mediators to explain the propensity of social entrepreneurship intentions. 419 Enactus students from public and private universities were selected by using stratified sampling technique. The data was then analyzed using IBM Analysis of Moments Structures (AMOS) software version 26.0. The findings exhibit that three factors directly and positively affect the intention to become social entrepreneurs. Surprisingly, trait emotional intelligence has no direct relationship with social entrepreneurship intentions, rather indirectly via the mediator constructs. This study hopes to shed light on the literature by formulating a comprehensive model of social entrepreneurship intentions. Limitations and future directions are also discussed in the study. © 2021 Penerbit UMT. All Rights Reserved.