How Karmic Beliefs and Belief in Just World Interact to Activate Social Entrepreneurial Intentions: A Polynomial Regression with Response Surface Analysis

Abstract

Little is known about how religious beliefs (i.e. karmic beliefs and beliefs in a just world) can active individuals’ social entrepreneurship. Integrating the justice motive theory within stimulus-organism-response framework, our study aims to explore the individual, complementary, congruent, and incongruent impacts of karmic beliefs and belief in a just world on social entrepreneurial intention as well as the mediation role of empathy and moral obligation in this relationship. Using a sample of 401 individuals and employing polynomial regression with response surface analysis, findings indicate that karmic beliefs and belief in a just world serve as significant stimuli which not only inspire empathic and moral organisation, but indirectly reinforce individuals’ social entrepreneurial intentions. Moreover, high levels of both karmic beliefs and beliefs in a just world can enhance organisms (empathy and moral obligation), and behavioural responses (social entrepreneurial intentions), but imbalanced levels of these beliefs erode such organisms and responses. Some practical implications have been recommended to foster social business ventures based on the findings of the current study.