The Motivation of Female Social Entrepreneurs in Lundu District, Sarawak, Malaysia

Introduction

Social entrepreneurship has been attracting attention from researchers and practitioners for decades due to its crucial role in developing and empowering individuals, communities, and nations (Chamlee-Wright & Storr, 2010) and its ability to effectively solve social, economic, and environmental issues (Constantin, Stanescu, & Stanescu, 2020). For example, the Grameen Bank initiative in Bangladesh to provide microloans for the needy to start small businesses has been shown to have improved the locals’ quality of life (Ayob, Yap, Sapuan, & Rashid, 2013). In the United States of America, Hurricane Katrina caused serious devastation in August 2005, and much of the damage was still to be repaired even some years later; however, social entrepreneurship played a significant role in actively reconstructing communities and rebuilding homes during the recovery process (Chamlee-Wright & Storr, 2010).

Furthermore, social entrepreneurship has substantially contributed through the recreation and tourism sectors. In Romania, for example, a former Olympic athlete initiated social entrepreneurship through water sports and recreational activities to promote and empower his ethnic group (Constantin et al., 2020). In Mozambique, one of the poorest countries in the world, despite the unpromising social, economic, and environmental conditions, Carter-James and Dowling (2017) found that social entrepreneurship initiatives resulted in commendable community growth and significant transformation of the country through the national park lodging business.

Due to its significance, researchers across the globe have shown interest in exploring the phenomenon of social entrepreneurship, but most social entrepreneurship studies have been definitional and consist of case studies, whereas empirical studies are rare (Stenvall, Laven, & Gelbman, 2017). Moreover, the literature on social entrepreneurship motivation is primarily centered on developed countries (Ghalwash, Tolba, & Ismail, 2017; Littlewood & Holt; 2018). Therefore, an understanding of social entrepreneurship in different regions of the world with varied social, economic, and cultural backgrounds, especially in the context of undeveloped and developing countries, is critical to provide an in-depth insight into and an understanding of social entrepreneurship (Ghalwash et al., 2017; Sadeh, Aderet, & Fridkin, 2016; Wanyoike & Maseno, 2021).

The 2013 Malaysian government initiative to spur development in the social entrepreneurship sector has resulted in studies aimed at understanding the social entrepreneurship phenomenon (e.g., Ayob et al., 2013; Murphy, Murphy, & Liu, 2017; Sarif, Ismail, & Sarwar, 2013). However, studies on the motivational aspect of this phenomenon are somewhat limited; thus, a comprehensive and inclusive understanding of the motivational aspect of social entrepreneurship in the context of Malaysia is very much needed.

In Lundu District of Sarawak, Malaysia, socioeconomic conditions need to be improved. Based on data from the Department of Statistics Malaysia (2020), in 2019, the median monthly gross household income in Lundu District was recorded at RM 3,409 (c. USD 810), approximately 42% lower than the national figure (RM 5,873, c. USD 1,400). Within Sarawak, in Lundu District, the median gross household income is also far lower than in some other districts of Sarawak, such as RM 7,380 in Bintulu, RM 5,763 in Miri, and RM 5,740 in Kuching (Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2020). In addition, during the preliminary visit to Lundu District, several locals disclosed that they were dissatisfied with social and economic conditions and were hoping for improvement. Some of the issues that concerned them were job opportunities and education facilities, issues also emphasized in the State Planning Unit Government of Sarawak’s (2014) Master Plan for the Development of Lundu-Sematan Coastal Area (2014–2030) approved by the Sarawak Government in 2015.

This scenario invites the local community to become social entrepreneurs in creating more job opportunities or addressing other issues in the district, as social entrepreneurship has been proven to effectively enhance quality of life and resolve issues affecting local communities (Constantin et al., 2020). However, according to a former Lundu District officer, even though it would be best to develop social entrepreneurship in Lundu District, only a limited number of people have been participating as social entrepreneurs (A. P. A. Redzuan, personal communication, November 26, 2017). Therefore, understanding the reasons for social entrepreneurs engaging in this venture or the factors that motivate them is undeniably significant to enable the relevant authorities to plan strategies to encourage more locals to become involved.

These lacunae in both practice and the literature justify the need for this study. Adopting McClelland’s (1965) theory of needs, this study aims (1) to determine the levels of the different motivational dimensions of female social entrepreneurs in Lundu District and (2) to identify the factors that influence their motivation. This study focuses on the female population because studies have found that women are generally more active in the social entrepreneurship sector (Estrin, Mickiewicz, & Stephan, 2013) and have created social change in uncustomary ways (Christoff, Lewis, Lu, & Sommer, 2017). Rhouse, Ahmad, Ab Wahid, and Yunus (2015) also acknowledged that women play undeniable economic development roles and deserve more research attention to appreciate their contribution to the nation.

The outcomes of this study could help authorities understand what has motivated female social entrepreneurs in Lundu District to venture into what is essentially a new sector in Malaysia. Identifying the factors influencing each motivational dimension could help the authorities design effective strategies to encourage more locals to become involved in resolving or ameliorating issues of concern. Theoretically, this study’s outcomes contribute to the body of knowledge on social entrepreneurship motivation in developing countries, specifically in Malaysia. Its findings also make a significant contribution to the existing literature as a pioneering study exploring the application of McClelland’s theory of needs to social entrepreneurship.

The outline of this study is followed by a literature review, its methodology, results, discussion, and conclusion.

Literature Review

Social entrepreneurship is a type of entrepreneurship that effectively improves quality of life and resolves issues that concern communities. Compared to its practical development, its research development has been relatively slow, with research only taking on a systematic approach in 2011 and peaking in terms of number of publications in 2017 (Bansal, Garg, & Sharma, 2019). However, a standard definition of “social entrepreneurship” remains a topic of debate among scholars (Constantin et al., 2020; Kassem, Aldosari, Muddassir, & Kayani, 2018; Sengupta & Sahay, 2017). Their distinct cultural, societal, and geographical backgrounds mean scholars have quite varied interpretations of what constitutes social entrepreneurship (Kerlin, 2010) but it is generally seen as including two vital characteristics: a social mission and a business model (Wulleman & Hudon, 2015).

First, a social mission conveys the values that social entrepreneurs aim to achieve through their ventures, mostly focused on social, economic, and environmental goals (Constantin et al., 2020). Every social venture has its own social mission depending on the issues affecting the community that social entrepreneurs have identified as pressing (Constantin et al., 2020) and that remain unaddressed by either government or private agencies (Ayob et al., 2013). Social entrepreneurs adopt conventional business models to help generate revenue for the venture. Both characteristics are vital and interrelated. This is because the revenue from the business model sustains social entrepreneurship operations (Braga, Proença, & Ferreira, 2014) and, more importantly, it means the social mission can be realized with minimal or no dependence on outside funding (Sarif et al., 2013; Wulleman & Hudon, 2015). Scholars have also highlighted the difference between social entrepreneurship and conventional entrepreneurship because social entrepreneurship highlights social value and economic profit, whereas conventional entrepreneurship focuses exclusively on profit (Braga et al., 2014; Constantin et al., 2020).

Motivation is about knowing the needs or forces that lead to one’s actions, and in this case, the actions of social entrepreneurs (Ruskin & Webster, 2011). This is a vital aspect, as motivation affects the choice or direction of action, its intensity, and people’s persistence in pursuing the said action (Osabiya, 2015). The most prominent theories of motivation currently discussed in academic circles include Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Herzberg’s two-factor theory, and McClelland’s theory of needs.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs was developed in 1943, and suggests that people are usually motivated to perform certain life behaviors in a particular hierarchical order: physiological needs, safety needs, love needs, esteem needs, and need for self-actualization. Based on this theory, people are unable to fulfil their needs in a higher category before they have fulfilled those in a lower category (Louca, Esmailnia, & Thoma, 2021). However, the concept of linear hierarchy in Maslow's theory is unsuitable for the context of this study. For instance, people living in emerging nations are still capable of loving and being loved by their families and friends, although their physiological needs such as food sources are not always satisfied (Louca et al., 2021).

Another theory is Herzberg’s two-factor theory, developed by Frederick Herzberg in 1959. This theory proposes two consistent factors that shape people’s job satisfaction: hygiene and motivation. Hygiene factors, if lacking, lead to dissatisfaction, while motivation factors encourage people to work hard and increase their satisfaction (Osemeke & Adegboyega, 2017). This theory is, however, also less than suitable for this study because of its narrower focus, mainly explaining the factors that influence employees’ motivation and job satisfaction (Herzberg, 1968).

McClelland’s theory of needs comprises three motivational dimensions: need for achievement, need for affiliation, and need for power. McClelland stated that most people exhibit a mixture of these three needs with different dominance patterns, depending on each individual’s cultural differences and life experiences. In addition, the relative dominance of these three needs can be learned and changed if appropriate training programs are provided (McClelland, 1965). This theory has been popularly adopted in the entrepreneurship sector to understand entrepreneurs’ motivations (Handaru, Waspodo, & Carolina, 2013). The three needs suggested in this theory have also been applied in many studies (e.g., Caringal-Go & Hechanova, 2018; De Hoogh et al., 2005; Handaru et al., 2013) as a principal explanation for why people are motivated to engage in or start up business ventures (Handaru et al., 2013). Since many studies have been conducted on entrepreneurship, it is believed that this theory is sufficiently well established to be adapted and tested in the context of social entrepreneurship. Furthermore, scholars (e.g., Kolb & Boyatzis, 1970; Steinmann, Ötting, & Maier, 2016) have proven that people with moderately high need for achievement, need for affiliation, and need for power, would exhibit effective helping behaviors. Thus, this theory has been adopted in this study.

The need for achievement is the desire to accomplish according to the standards set and the will to strive for success. People with high achievement motivation tend to embrace new or unique ventures and work hard to accomplish challenging goals (Mazzarol & Reboud, 2020; Steinmann et al., 2016; Wanyoike & Maseno, 2021). Therefore, the need for achievement probably explains why social entrepreneurs choose to venture into this relatively new sector. This proposition is supported by previous studies (e.g., Caringal-Go & Hechanova, 2018; Christopoulos & Vogl, 2015; Wanyoike & Maseno, 2021).

The need for affiliation is the urge to have favorable social relationships (Steinmann et al., 2016). People with a high affiliation needs tend to be active in social groups that share the same interests and goals. They are likely to communicate, discuss, and collaborate with other people (Rhouse et al., 2015). They also attempt to understand and attend to people’s needs (Steinmann et al., 2016), where the need for affiliation can be observed through companionate gestures or nurturing deeds (De Hoogh et al., 2005). Referring to past studies (e.g., Boluk & Mottiar, 2014; Caringal-Go & Hechanova, 2018; Rhouse et al., 2015), the need for affiliation has been proven to be one of the motivations for engaging in social entrepreneurship.

The need for power is the desire to be influential, to influence and have control over the behavior of others, in that people who are motivated by power derive pleasure from regulating subordinates to accomplish their mission and goals (Steinmann et al., 2016). Studies (e.g., Fayolle, Liñán, & Moriano, 2014; Mazzarol & Reboud, 2020) have found that the need for power is one of the motivational dimensions for commercial entrepreneurs. In addition, De Hoogh et al. (2005) showed that social entrepreneurs (non-profit leaders) exhibit a similar level of need for power to traditional entrepreneurs.

Methodology

Research Design

This study adopted a quantitative approach to determine the ranking of the three motivational dimensions (Stephan, Hart, & Drews, 2015). A survey design was used to determine its objectives. By referring to related studies, a set of validated questionnaires was designed in Malay and English enabling respondents to answer the questionnaire in either language based on their preference (Thoo, Johari, Ismail, Yee, & Hasan, 2019).

In terms of measurement scales, categorical and continuous scales were adopted to measure the independent variables: sociodemographic characteristics and business characteristics. Sociodemographic variables were age, marital status, number of children, ethnicity, religion, education level, profession as a social entrepreneur, gross monthly income, and village, while business characteristics comprised social mission, business sector, age of business establishment, and attendance at courses and training.

A five-point Likert scale was used for the dependent variable, using items adapted from the widely known Manifest Needs Questionnaire (Steers & Braunstein, 1976), to measure respondents’ motivation in venturing into the area of social entrepreneurship. Respondents were required to state their agreement level on the following scale: 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, and 5 = strongly agree. The conceptual framework of this study is illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 1.

Conceptual framework of the study.

Results and Discussion

Motivational Dimensions of Female Social Entrepreneurs

The ranking of the three motivational dimensions was identified. As shown in Figure 2, need for affiliation came first, followed by need for achievement and then need for power. The mean score obtained conveys the respondents’ agreement levels, which indicates the significance of a specific dimension in motivating women to venture into social entrepreneurship. Specifically, the higher the mean score, the stronger the motivation to become social entrepreneurs.

Figure 2.

Ranking of motivational dimensions.

Need for affiliation. Need for affiliation was ranked first (M = 4.27, SD = 0.71), indicating that it is the most motivating dimension for female social entrepreneurs in initiating their start-ups. At least 80% of the respondents agreed with all of the items under need for affiliation (Table 1). These results are consistent with Boluk and Mottiar’s (2014) findings, who also found that social entrepreneurs in South Africa and Ireland take group affiliation to heart. Group affiliation relates to establishing or maintaining good relationships with social groups, which can be those people social entrepreneurs encounter in their business activities, such as suppliers, customers, target beneficiaries, and other social entrepreneurs (Christopoulos & Vogl, 2015). Moreover, these results suggest that social entrepreneurs prefer to work in groups. This is logical because social entrepreneurship is a new venture in which neophyte social entrepreneurs lack experience. Thus, they can discuss with, seek opinions from, and assist each other in overcoming setbacks. In the Philippines, social enterprise workers, including social entrepreneurs, managers, and staff, also cited network building and affective relationships with co-workers as reasons why they became involved in social entrepreneurship (Caringal-Go & Hechanova, 2018). Furthermore, the high ranking of need for affiliation is supported by research concluding that women generally have a high level of need for affiliation, regardless of their undertaking (Rhouse et al., 2015).

Table 1

Respondents’ Agreement Level, Mean, and Standard Deviation of Need for Affiliation(N = 150)

Need for achievement. Need for achievement was ranked second with M = 4.19 and SD = 0.79. As social entrepreneurship in Malaysia is still developing, it carries higher risks than other ventures, especially during the start-up and early stages of the endeavors. Therefore, respondents’ need for achievement may have motivated them to become social entrepreneurs, which is consistent with several qualitative studies conducted in different areas, including England, East Africa, and the Philippines (Caringal-Go & Hechanova, 2018; Christopoulos & Vogl, 2015; Wanyoike & Maseno, 2021). With high achievement needs, people are motivated to achieve something that they have never tried, regardless of the risks they might encounter (Mazzarol & Reboud, 2020; Wanyoike & Maseno, 2021). Furthermore, Boluk and Mottiar (2014) mentioned that, while people could choose to be involved in other ventures, social entrepreneurs often decide to start their own, reflecting their significant need for achievement. This notion is explained by respondents’ agreement with the items, as shown in Table 2. However, the agreement level for one item, “I always try to undertake more responsibilities,” was roughly 73%, approximately 10% lower than that of the other items. This could be attributed to social entrepreneurs being less likely to address challenges at an early stage. Instead, they focus on dealing with the current challenges.

Table 2

Respondents’ Agreement Level, Mean, and Standard Deviation of Need for Achievement(N = 150)

Need for power. The third ranking was the need for power dimension. Even though the results showed that this dimension ranked lowest among the three tested, need for power was still significantly high, with values of M = 4.14 and SD = 0.75 for respondents’ levels of agreement. In a study conducted by Rahman and Rahman (2011), McClelland’s theory of needs was adopted to investigate the motivation of Latin Japanese entrepreneurs in Japan to engage in entrepreneurship. They found that need for power was one of the motivations for them to leave their factory jobs and operate their own businesses. In addition, the results of this study are supported by several conventional entrepreneurship studies (Fayolle et al., 2014; Handaru et al., 2013; Mazzarol & Reboud, 2020). Table 3 shows that more than 80% of the respondents said that they wanted to lead, control, organize, and give commands when working in a group. Social entrepreneurs are usually leaders in their respective ventures, which requires them to make decisions and manage staff activities, daily operations, and resources to achieve their goals and mission (Steinmann et al., 2016).

Table 3

Respondents’ Agreement Level, Mean, and Standard Deviation of Need for Power(N = 150)

Discussion. To the best of the researchers’ knowledge, social entrepreneurship studies have rarely adopted McClelland’s theory of needs. Therefore, in terms of ranking the three dimensions, this study’s results were also compared to those of conventional entrepreneurship studies. However, the findings of previous studies have not achieved a consistent pattern over the years, probably because of the background differences among those entrepreneurs.

Generally, commercial entrepreneurs tend to have a high need for achievement and need for power, but a low need for affiliation. However, this study discovered that female social entrepreneurs in Lundu District are high in all three motivational domains of McClelland’s theory of needs, with need for affiliation ranking first. This indicates that need for affiliation is the main motivator for engaging in social entrepreneurship.

Lundu District is a rural area and according to Kassem et al. (2018), residents in rural areas tend to be more helpful and friendly toward their neighbors and have higher participation levels in community activities and civic engagement. Scholars claim that people with high affiliation motivation tend to understand and address individual needs (Steinmann et al., 2016) and are likely to be involved in companionate and nurturing deeds (De Hoogh et al., 2005); thus, it is logical that female social entrepreneurs in Lundu District possess a high need for affiliation.

The top ranking of need for affiliation is also supported by several qualitative studies in which respondents have cited their need for affiliation, using a variety of terminologies, as a reason to engage in social entrepreneurship. For instance, Caringal-Go and Hechanova (2018) found that social enterprise workers tend to build networks and affective relationships with co-workers, which scholars have determined as similar to the need for affiliation. In addition, in a study conducted in Egypt, respondents disclosed that social networks motivated them to become social entrepreneurs, and that they then received encouragement, guidance, support, and advice from those networks (Ghalwash et al., 2017).

Overall, the findings of this study showed that all three needs have motivated women in Lundu District to become social entrepreneurs, with need for affiliation ranked first. The findings of this study are consistent with previous studies, which showed that people with moderately high levels of need for achievement, need for affiliation, and need for power, would exhibit effective helping behaviors (e.g., Kolb & Boyatzis, 1970; Steinmann et al., 2016).

Factors Influencing Motivation of Female Social Entrepreneurs

Need for achievement. First, for the need for achievement dependent variable, the coefficient of multiple determination value generated from the model was R² = .191, F(4,145) = 8.534, p < .05, indicating that the four significant variables shown in Table 4 represent c. 19% of all the variables influencing women’s need for achievement. Therefore, the need for achievement regression model in this study was:

Women’s Need for Achievement = 4.087 + 0.474 Attendance at Courses and Training — 0.369 DV Participation of Women and Youth in the Workforce — 0.348 DV Older Persons + 0.625 DV No Formal Education

Table 4

Relationship between Need for Achievement and Socio-demographic and Business Variables

R² indicates the amount of variation covered. Therefore, the higher the R² value, the more significantly that independent variable influences the dependent variable of the model. Hence, among the four factors, the most significant factor that influenced women’s need for achievement was attendance at courses and training (R² = .081), followed by the social mission of women and youth participation in the workforce (R² = .044), having received no formal education (R² = .034), and the social mission of older persons (R² = .031).

Need for affiliation. In this model, four factors (Table 5) were found to be statistically significant, accounting for approximately 23% of all variables that influenced women social entrepreneurs’ need for affiliation (R² = .228, F(4,145) = 10.679, p < .05). Therefore, the regression model for the need for affiliation in this study was:

Women’s Need for Affiliation = 3.776 + 0.513 Attendance at Courses and Training − 0.335 DV Participation of Women and Youth in the Workforce + 0.260 DV Education + 0.259 DV Food/Beverage Products Sector

Table 5

Relationship between Need for Affiliation and Socio-demographic and Business Variables

Attendance at courses and training, with the highest R² value (R² = .119), accounted for the most variation (c. 12 %) in the need for affiliation, making it the most influential in terms of female social entrepreneurs’ need for affiliation. This was followed by the social mission of women and youth participation in the workforce (R² = .055), and finally, both with R² = .027, education as a social mission and the SDSI food/beverage products sector.

Need for power. For need for power, the R² value generated from the model was R² = .244, F(4,145) = 11.705, p < .05. This shows that the four statistically significant factors, as shown in Table 6, contributed about 25% of the variations that influence women’s need for power. Hence, the need for power regression model in this study was:

Women’s Need for Power = 4.115 + 0.543 Attendance at Courses and Training − 0.496 DV Participation of Women and Youth in the Workforce + 0.607 DV No Formal Education − 0.232 DV Lundu

Table 6

Relationship between Need for Power and Socio-demographic and Business Variables

The respective R² values imply that attendance at courses and training (R² = .101) accounted for 10% of the variation, making this the most influential in terms of female social entrepreneurs’ need for power. This was followed by the social mission of women and youth participation in the workforce (R² = .092), having received no formal education (R² = .030), and the village of Lundu (R² = .020).

Discussion. Generally, attendance at courses and training accounted for the greatest variation in influencing the three motivational dimensions, making it the most significant factor in motivating women in Lundu District to become social entrepreneurs. It had a positive relationship with all three motivational dimensions, as indicated by the positive t-values in all three models. This can be seen as a plausible result, as McClelland (1965) mentioned that the three dimensions can be learned if appropriate training programs are provided. This can be attributed to the supportive atmosphere, encouraging ambience and the constructive ideas or advice available during the courses and training (Ghalwash et al., 2017), either from the course presenter or other attendees. Presumably, these attendees are either in the planning process for a new start-up or have begun their venture. They practice group affiliation by sharing their experiences to encourage, advise, and support each other in relation to any challenges and setbacks encountered, described by Rhouse et al. (2015) as a collectivistic culture or as social networks by respondents in several studies (e.g., Caringal-Go & Hechanova, 2018; Ghalwash et al., 2017).

As for education, the lack of any formal education positively influenced women’s need for achievement and need for power. This suggests that need for achievement and need for power are higher among women without a formal education wishing to become social entrepreneurs than is the case for women with other education levels. This might be because women with formal education, especially higher education, tend to migrate to the city (Liu, Shen, Xu, & Wang, 2017), hoping to use their higher qualifications to pursue their dream jobs in big companies and secure a comparatively more stable income with lower risk. In contrast, women without formal education are motivated to set up their businesses to sustain their lives, as an academic qualification is not necessarily a requirement. These women have probably been mingling with their communities for years, and their need for achievement and need for power triggered them to become social entrepreneurs when they noticed specific local issues requiring attention. As a result, they choose to lead and overcome every challenge they encounter to achieve their social mission by utilizing revenue from their business.

In contrast, the social mission of women and youth participation in the workforce negatively influenced all three motivational dimensions in this study. This might be because women and youth issues are not popular or pressing among Lundu District community, as most women and youth are presumably doing well and have a stable income. Second, the social mission of older persons negatively influenced female social entrepreneurs’ need for achievement. This may be because existing organizations such as government agencies and private organizations, especially social charity organizations, have contributed productively to ensuring the welfare of all the elderly in Lundu District. It could also be because people with a high need for achievement typically need to be motivated by challenging, new, or special tasks, as they would revel in the feeling of being able to overcome all the setbacks and accomplish the tasks (Steinmann et al., 2016).

Next, the results show that the village of Lundu negatively affected female social entrepreneurs’ need for power. This implies that female social entrepreneurs who stay in Lundu have a lower need for power than those who stay in Sematan, probably because Lundu is more urbanized than Sematan. More urbanized areas create more job opportunities and provide residents with higher incomes (Murali et al., 2018; Tucker, n.d.). In addition, businesses and firms are primarily available in more urbanized areas, in which a significant number of knowledge-based and service-based jobs are created (Tucker, n.d.). Many people in Lundu have the opportunity to be leaders in controlling and issuing directives to people in their working environment while practicing and acquiring their need for power. Therefore, people in Lundu are less motivated by their need for power to become social entrepreneurs. In contrast, the less urbanized area of Sematan positively affected women’s need for power, which suggests that women in Sematan are comparatively more motivated to be social entrepreneurs by their unfulfilled need for power.

Conclusion

Social entrepreneurship is, at its fundamental level, developing a business to resolve, improve, or ameliorate unaddressed issues in a community and women have been proven to be more active in social entrepreneurship. By focusing on Lundu District of Sarawak, this study has made a significant contribution to the relatively sparse body of knowledge regarding the motivation of female social entrepreneurs in Malaysia. In addition, it applies McClelland’s theory of needs in a novel and innovative fashion to the phenomenon of social entrepreneurship. The results show that female social entrepreneurs in Lundu District were highly motivated by the need for affiliation, followed by the need for achievement and the need for power, in their social entrepreneurship ventures. These results agree with those of previous studies (e.g., Kolb & Boyatzis, 1970; Steinmann et al., 2016) in which people who possess moderately high levels of all three needs tend to exhibit effective helping behaviors.

Based on the findings, attendance at courses and training was the most important factor influencing the three motivational dimensions covered in this study. Collaboration between government authorities, educational institutes/training providers, and social entrepreneurs is crucial for enhancing social entrepreneurship growth (Kassem et al., 2018). Authorities could incorporate educational institutes, human resource managers, or other training providers to organize courses and training that are informative, constructive, and relevant to social entrepreneurship (Kassem et al., 2018).

Formal education and informal training and courses are crucial to strengthen social entrepreneurship-related skills, such as controlling and managing resources and company operations, which might stimulate locals’ need for power and need for achievement and thereby encourage them to engage in social entrepreneurship, noting that informal courses and training are especially good at promoting positive entrepreneurial attitudes (Urbano, Toledano, & Soriano, 2010). At the same time, by attending courses and training, the locals mingle, interact, and communicate with each other; thus, they can strengthen their relationships and understand more about each other, and perhaps also more about specific issues affecting them. This might enhance locals’ need for affiliation and lead them to become social entrepreneurs to address the unresolved issues.

The need for affiliation is closely related to the sense of belonging or involvement within a social group (Caringal-Go & Hechanova, 2018). Studies (e.g., Ahmad & Talib, 2016; Lardier Jr, 2018) have shown that community empowerment is associated with a sense of community. Thus, ethnic community leaders in Lundu District or governmental bodies could enhance the locals’ need for affiliation by empowering them through partnerships and engagement in community programs or bringing them together to participate in solving pressing community issues. Such measures might stimulate locals’ need for affiliation and impel them to engage in social entrepreneurship to help their community achieve a better quality of life. In addition to maintaining social relationships (Caringal-Go & Hechanova, 2018), people with affiliation motivation are prone to address others' needs (Steinmann et al., 2016) and contribute to companionate acts to help relieve the problems of others (De Hoogh et al., 2005).

This study also reveals that women who have never received formal education have a higher level of need for achievement and need for power. However, authorities should also identify strategies to focus on and foster interest in women with formal education, especially those who have received tertiary education. Trivedi (2016) mentioned that higher education levels convey higher competency in becoming entrepreneurs. In this case, campaigns or motivational talks could be organized to create awareness among educated locals about their crucial roles in contributing to the community through social entrepreneurship.

Even though involvement on the food/beverage products sector positively influences women’s need for affiliation, authorities should also promote other sectors as their business models in social entrepreneurship. This ensures revenue generation for female social entrepreneurs, as revenue is essential for sustaining operations and realizing social missions. Therefore, to avoid an overexpansion of the food/beverage products sector, which would result in stiff competition, women planning to engage in social entrepreneurship might consider getting involved in craft products, homestay activities, or health products and services. Alternatively, new product development or product differentiation could be a means of engaging in the food/beverage products sector without increasing the level of competition.

It should be noted that this study’s findings might not be generalizable to female social entrepreneurs in other locations or countries: it focused only on Lundu District of Sarawak, Malaysia, a rural area in a developing country. Future research should replicate this study in other contexts. For instance, a comparative study with different background settings, such as between rural and urban areas or between developed and developing countries, would be meaningful. In addition, this study focused solely on the female population, in which the majority had graduated from secondary schools but only 6% had accessed tertiary education. Thus, future research could investigate highly educated populations, particularly women. Comparative studies would also be interesting for future research to identify the differences in motivation between men and women, because both are motivated differently to engage in business (Stephan et al., 2015). Research has also observed the significant role that gender plays in affecting men and women's attitudes toward companies and their performance (Han, Ariza-Montes, Tirado-Valencia, & Lee, 2020). Finally, as motivation might change over time (Murnieks, Klotz, & Shepherd, 2020), longitudinal studies could also be conducted to understand the motivational changes among female social entrepreneurs in different phases of their venture.

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