Objective/Meaning  As the core leader of rural revitalization, the engagement willingness and effectiveness of “leading geese” in the construction of beautiful countryside is directly related to the effectiveness of construction. Analyzing the factors influencing their participation behavior can provide both theoretical and practical support for stimulating its participation motivation and promoting the construction of beautiful villages.

Methods/Procedures The trainees who participated in the Rural Revitalization Leader Training Program for “Leading Geese” in Fujian Province from 2022 to 2024 were taken as the research object. Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior, an analytical framework was constructed based on three dimensions—behavioral attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control—to systematically investigate the mechanisms through which these dimensions influenced the participants’ behavioral intentions and actual behaviors.

Results/Conclusions The findings indicated that the personal willingness within behavioral attitude and the interpersonal influence within subjective norms had significant positive effect on behavioral intention. At the level of perceived behavioral control, both self-interest altruism and participation ability exhibited significant positive effects on behavioral intentions. Behavioral intention and perceived behavioral control jointly constituted the core driving factors of participation behavior. Accordingly, the optimization pathways were proposed, including improving incentive mechanisms, strengthening interpersonal connections, enhancing participation capacity, clarifying responsibility and supervision, and building emotionally mutual-benefit bonds. These recommendations had substantial practical value.