What does this research mean for the field?

Entrepreneurial role models significantly influence the subjective norms of Saudi sports education students, which in turn affects their entrepreneurial intentions. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.NOVEL_FINDING. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.CHALLENGES_CONSENSUS.

What question did this study set out to answer?

The study aims to identify factors influencing entrepreneurial intentions and behaviors among Saudi sports education students by extending the Theory of Planned Behavior with role models.

March 8, 2026Open Access

Entrepreneurial Intentions Among Saudi Sports Education Students: Extending the Theory of Planned Behavior with Entrepreneurial Role Models

Key Points

The study aims to identify factors influencing entrepreneurial intentions and behaviors among Saudi sports education students by extending the Theory of Planned Behavior with role models.
Conducted a cross-sectional survey with 372 sports science students from Saudi universities.
Utilized the Theory of Planned Behavior framework to explore attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control.
Applied linear and hierarchical regression analyses with mediation testing through bootstrapping.
Examined the relationship between entrepreneurial role models and traditional TPB antecedents.
TPB antecedents significantly predicted entrepreneurial intentions (ENTIs).
Only ENTI and perceived behavioral control (PBC) directly influenced actual entrepreneurial behavior (AEB).
Entrepreneurial role models (ERMs) significantly associated with subjective norms but not attitudes or PBC.
Mediation analyses showed that attitudes and PBC partially mediated the influence of subjective norms on ENTI.
Subjective norms fully mediated the effect of ERMs on attitudes and PBC.

Abstract

This study investigated the determinants of entrepreneurial intentions and behavior among Saudi sports education students using the Theory of Planned Behavior. The study employed a cross-sectional survey of 372 undergraduate and graduate sports science students from Saudi universities. It extended TPB by including entrepreneurial role models as an independent variable affecting TPB antecedents—attitudes toward behavior, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control and outcomes (ENTIs and actual entrepreneurial behavior, AEB). Data were analyzed using linear and hierarchical regression with mediation testing using bootstrapping. Results showed that all TPB antecedents significantly predicted ENTI, while only ENTI and PBC influenced AEB. ERMs were significantly associated with SNs but had no direct effect on ATB, PBC, or ENTI. Mediation analyses revealed that ATB and PBC partially mediated SNs’ effect on ENTI, whereas SNs fully mediated ERMs’ influence on ATB and PBC. These findings provide theoretical and practical insights by validating the extension of TPB with role models, challenging assumptions about ERMs’ direct effects, and highlighting the importance of fostering entrepreneurial culture in universities. Integrating exposure to positive ERMs can effectively translate students’ intentions into entrepreneurial behavior, supporting the development of sports entrepreneurs.

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Cite This Study

Jemli et al. (Fri,) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/69ada8dfbc08abd80d5bc3cb https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci16030406

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