"Muslim women’s religiosity, entrepreneurial self-efficacy and success"

Abstract

The current paper examined the relationship between religiosity, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and other-rated success among Tunisian women entrepreneurs. Using institutional theory as a theoretical framework, we hypothesized that higher levels of religiosity among Muslim women entrepreneurs would be associated with lower levels of entrepreneurial self-efficacy and other-rated success. Furthermore, we expected that the negative relationships between Muslim religiosity and entrepreneurial self-efficacy and success would be stronger for women reporting higher levels of trait negative affect. Data collected on 138 female entrepreneurs revealed that the relationship between Muslim religiosity and entrepreneurial self-efficacy and other-rated success was positive, not negative. Negative affect moderated the relationship between religiosity and self-efficacy, such that a positive relationship was found for women reporting low negative affect, but a negative relationship between religiosity and self-efficacy was found for those reporting high negative affect. Implications are discussed.