Effects of Psychological and Cognitive Factors on the Relation between Entrepreneurial Intention and Academic Hazing: Case of the New Students in the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences at the University of Beira – Portugal

Abstract

Abstract This study aims to (1) analyse whether university students’ psychological and cognitive factors influence the entrepreneurial intention and integration in academic hazing, and (2) assess the effect the entrepreneurial intention may have on integration in academic hazing. Using a sample of 258 new students from the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences at the University of Beira – Portugal, we use structural equation model (SEM) to test our hypotheses. From the structural model, the outcomes reveal that students’ cognitive and psychological factors influence their entrepreneurial intention, but no statistically significant direct effects of these factors were found on academic hazing. Another conclusion is that the entrepreneurial intention has a positive influence on students’ academic hazing and there is an indirect effect of psychological factors on this relation. In this study, a new and innovative construct is inserted in the model of entrepreneurial intention: “Academic Hazing”. Academic hazing is characterised as a ritual of initiation for new students at universities.