The influence of entrepreneurial spirit and environmental perception on entrepreneurial intentions: A mediation model of entrepreneurial competence

In China, rising graduate employment pressure and sustained policy support for “mass entrepreneurship and innovation” make it important to understand how higher education students form entrepreneurial intentions. Guided by a Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB)-informed logic, this study examines a competence-centered mechanism in which entrepreneurial competence links students' entrepreneurial spirit and perceived entrepreneurial environment to entrepreneurial intention. Survey data were collected from 1389 students across seven higher education institutions in Shandong Province, China. Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling in AMOS and bootstrapped mediation analyses in SPSS. The results indicate that entrepreneurial spirit and entrepreneurial environment perception both have significant positive direct effects on entrepreneurial intention and also show significant indirect effects through entrepreneurial competence, which partially mediates both relationships. The findings advance research on entrepreneurial intention by specifying a competence-based pathway through which dispositional orientation and contextual appraisals become intention-relevant within a TPB-informed framework, and they suggest that universities and policymakers should prioritize competence-building while strengthening students' entrepreneurial spirit and the perceived accessibility of entrepreneurial support. • Entrepreneurial competence strongly predicts students' entrepreneurial intention. • Competence partially mediates effects of spirit and environment on intention. • Entrepreneurial spirit promotes competence development among students. • Perceived supportive environments foster competence and intention.