Attitude Toward Entrepreneurship: Structure, Prediction from Behavioral Beliefs, and Relation to Entrepreneurial Intention

Abstract

The present research investigated the associations among the dimensions of behavioral beliefs, attitude toward entrepreneurship, and entrepreneurial intention. Using a structural equation modeling approach with a sample of 227 Greek tertiary education students (114 males, 113 females), support is provided that entrepreneurial outcomes, viewed as rewards, are distinguished into intrinsic (intangible/psychological/nonpecuniary) and extrinsic (tangible/physical/pecuniary). Our results show further that attitude toward entrepreneurship contains three separable components, one being instrumental or cognitive in nature, the other being experiential or affective, and the third representing opportunity costs, that is, the personal and financial sacrifices one is willing to incur for the sake of the entrepreneurial venture. Concerning intention for entrepreneurship, our findings support a two-factor structure that represents commitment to an entrepreneurial career and nascent entrepreneurship. Evidence is also found for the Fishbein and Ajzen’s expectancy-value model of attitudes: that attitude toward entrepreneurship is predicted by the expectation that entrepreneurship will be followed by a given outcome, as well as the value that the individual assigns to that outcome. Moreover, our results reveal that the intrinsic rewards of entrepreneurship are stronger predictors of entrepreneurial attitude than extrinsic rewards and that the dimensions of attitude toward entrepreneurship exert a differential impact on entrepreneurial intention, with affective attitude appearing to be more strongly related to intention than instrumental attitude.