Interaction of spirituality with entrepreneurial attitudes and intentions in South Korea: extending the theory of planned behavior

Context The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) is widely applied to explain entrepreneurial intentions and behavior. However, the role of spirituality, understood as a personal, existential search for meaning and connection beyond institutional religious frameworks, remains underexplored, particularly in collectivist Asian contexts where cultural values may interact with spiritual beliefs to shape entrepreneurial pathways. Objective This study extends the TPB by examining how spirituality interacts with the three core antecedents of entrepreneurial intention, such as attitude toward entrepreneurship, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control, and moderates the relationship between entrepreneurial intention and subsequent entrepreneurial behavior in South Korea. Method A quantitative survey was conducted with 204 university students and recent graduates in South Korea, representing diverse sectors such as technology, fashion, and food services. The instrument included validated scales for TPB constructs, entrepreneurial intention, preparatory entrepreneurial behavior, and a spirituality measure adapted to the Korean context. Data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) via SmartPLS. Results Findings confirm that the three TPB antecedents significantly predict entrepreneurial intention, and intention, in turn, predicts behavior. Spirituality was found to positively moderate the intention–behavior relationship, suggesting that spiritually inclined individuals are more likely to translate intentions into action. However, its moderating role on the antecedents of intention showed mixed results. Implications This study contributes to entrepreneurial behavior research by integrating spirituality into the TPB framework within a non-Western, collectivist setting. It underscores the importance of culturally sensitive yet theoretically grounded extensions of behavioral models and opens avenues for further qualitative and cross-cultural exploration of spirituality in entrepreneurship. The findings are most directly applicable to students and recent graduates in similar cultural contexts; future research should examine generalizability to established entrepreneurs and other institutional settings.