A Study on the Influence of University Teachers' Innovative Intention on Innovative Behavior under the Pressure of Digital Transformation

Digital transformation has profoundly impacted the field of higher education. Under the pressure of this transformation, university teachers must engage actively in innovation to achieve breakthroughs. Through purposive sampling, this study conducted in-depth interviews with teachers from 24 universities in Guangdong Province, systematically collecting their cognitive, emotional, and behavioral manifestations during the innovation process. By employing directed content analysis on the interview data, the study systematically examined the factors influencing innovative behavior based on the Theory of Planned Behavior and Stress Management Theory, exploring the interaction mechanisms among these factors. The findings indicate that university teachers' innovative behavior is primarily influenced collectively by behavioral attitude, creative self-efficacy, perceived organizational support, and challenge stress, with challenge stress playing a critical moderating role in the process through which innovative intention affects innovative behavior. This research directly responds to scholarly calls for clarifying the mechanisms among influencing factors, effectively advancing the refinement and contextualization of innovative behavior theory in specific scenarios.