From learning value to sustainable action: motivational pathways in the context of higher education and organisational ethics

This study investigates how students’ perceptions of the value and meaning of learning translate into sustainable and prosocial behavior through competence/autonomy and moral orientation. Cross-sectional survey data were collected from 417 university students, and mean composite scores were computed for all variables (a pragmatic approach given the survey design; latent measurement modeling was beyond the scope of the present analysis). A serial mediation model (PROCESS-type, Model 6) with standardized variables and 1,000 bootstrap resamples was estimated, controlling for religiosity/spirituality, course delivery mode, and volunteering hours. Learning value strongly predicted competence/autonomy (β = .71, R² = .51), which subsequently predicted moral orientation (β = .49). In the final model, competence/autonomy remained a significant predictor of sustainable behavior (β = .28, p < .001; model R² = .18), whereas moral orientation was not statistically significant (β = .08, p = .247). The indirect effect of learning value on sustainable behavior via competence/autonomy was substantial (β = .20), while the serial pathway through both mediators was small and non-significant. Most of the total effect of learning value (β = .36) was indirect. Although the cross-sectional and single-country design limits causal inference and generalizability, the findings highlight competence-building and autonomy-supportive learning designs as key mechanisms for transforming meaningful learning into sustainable and ethics-aligned actions.