<![CDATA[This cross-sectional study examined associations among academic stress, perceived social support, psychological capital, and entrepreneurial intention among students at a private higher vocational college in Quanzhou, Fujian Province, China. Of 270 questionnaires distributed, 255 usable questionnaires were retained after 15 were excluded for incomplete responses or predefined response-quality concerns (usable proportion of distributed questionnaires = 94.4%). The measures were administered in Chinese and assessed academic stress, social support, psychological capital, and entrepreneurial intention. Analyses included descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), Pearson correlations, hierarchical regression, and mediation tests using 2,500 bootstrap resamples. Academic stress was negatively associated with psychological capital (B = -0.304, SE = 0.067, p < .001) and entrepreneurial intention (total-effect model: B = -0.395, SE = 0.076, p < .001). Social support was positively associated with psychological capital (B = 0.327, SE = 0.049, p < .001) and entrepreneurial intention (B = 0.386, SE = 0.056, p < .001). The indirect association through psychological capital was negative for academic stress (effect = -0.122, 95% bootstrap CI [-0.191, -0.063]) and positive for social support (effect = 0.132, 95% bootstrap CI [0.079, 0.196]). Because the data are cross-sectional, these indirect effects do not establish causal processes. The findings identify psychological capital as a possible link between students’ academic and social experiences and entrepreneurial intention. Intervention studies are needed to test whether changes in academic pressure, support, or psychological capital affect entrepreneurial readiness.]]>
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