From altruistic values to sustainable entrepreneurial intention: A multiple mediation analysis using the value-attitude-behavior framework in Latin America

The purpose of this study was to analyze the influence of altruism on the sustainable entrepreneurship intentions (SEI) of university students in business management programs in Latin America. To achieve this, the study integrates the Value-Attitude-Behavior model (VAB) hierarchy into an extended Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). The research utilized a sample of 806 undergraduate students in economics and management from Chile, Colombia, and Peru. Data were collected through an online survey using validated scales adapted to the specific context. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and multigroup analysis (PLS-MGA) were employed to examine both the direct and indirect relationships among altruism, attitude toward sustainable entrepreneurship, perceived behavioral control, subjective norms, and sustainable entrepreneurial intentions. The principal results indicate that altruism acts as a distal antecedent whose relationship with SEI is characterized by inconsistent multiple mediation. Specifically, attitude and perceived behavioral control emerge as robust and stable positive mediators across all three countries. Importantly, the findings reveal clear cross-cultural differences. While subjective norms positively influence sustainable entrepreneurial intention in Peru, they exhibit negative or non-significant effects in Chile and Colombia. This evidence challenges the assumed universality of the Theory of Planned Behavior and demonstrates that the normative pathway is highly context dependent. The main contribution of this study lies in uncovering this inconsistent multiple mediation pattern and providing comparative evidence that challenges the uniformity of the TPB in the Latin American context, which has been largely underexplored in the sustainable entrepreneurship literature.