The role of knowledge and interpersonal competences in the development of civic and public engagement and entrepreneurial intention

Abstract

Entrepreneurship refers to the undertaking of obligations and responsibilities that not only require the necessary knowledge to apply interpersonal competences, but also respect justice and the freedoms of other stakeholders. The objective of the study is to analyse individual, spiritual, and rational knowledge as antecedents to fostering interpersonal competences and to show how these competences affect entrepreneurial intention with the mediating role of civic and public engagement. Data are cross-sectional and collected via stratified random sampling from knowledge workers in faculties with a business-centric focus (i.e., business administration, economics, management, and marketing), with a total sample size of 527 respondents. The variance-based structural equation modelling technique using Smart PLS 4 is used for analysis. The results show that individual, spiritual, and rational knowledge are significant predictors of interpersonal competences among knowledge workers. The study also establishes civic and public engagement as a mediator in the relationship between interpersonal competences and entrepreneurial intention.