Abstract
Recent research illustrates substantial gaps between entrepreneurial intentions and behavior. This is a challenge for entrepreneurship promotion interventions that have primarily focused on stimulating entrepreneurial intentions. However, extant literature suggests that implementation intentions enhance the likelihood of acting congruently to the behavioral intention. Furthermore, theory also suggests the condition effects of situations and the perceived control over them. We therefore hypothesized that implementation intentions mediate the relationship between entrepreneurial intention and action, while perceived family support moderates the movement from implementation intention to entrepreneurial action. Using two-wave survey data from a sample of students at an African university, we measured two psychological attributes (proactive personality and psychological capital) as important precursors of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial intentions present before undertaking an innovations and entrepreneurship course. Implementation intentions regarding entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial actions, and perceived parental support for entrepreneurial activities were also measured 2 weeks after completion of the course. Our results demonstrate support for the proposed moderated double mediation model in which the effects of the two psychological attributes on entrepreneurial actions are explained via entrepreneurial intentions and implementation intentions. We further find moderation effects of perceived family support indicating that implementation intentions more likely predicted entrepreneurial actions in cases of higher family support.
Highlights
There has been increased attention to stimulating entrepreneurial intentions among youth, among university students, through entrepreneurship education
Complementing the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) with ideas from positive psychology, we focus on the contribution of positive psychological attributes to the formation and implementation of entrepreneurial intentions
We propose that a proactive personality and psychological capital are associated with entrepreneurial intentions and action
Summary
There has been increased attention to stimulating entrepreneurial intentions among youth, among university students, through entrepreneurship education. Universities and Family Support and Implementation of Entrepreneurial Intentions government policies in many countries are gearing toward entrepreneurially-oriented graduates who view self-employment as a feasible career path (Nabi and Holden, 2008). Research on entrepreneurial intentions is advancing rapidly (Liñán and Fayolle, 2015) and entrepreneurship education is one of the fastest growing academic fields (Nabi et al, 2017). As unemployment rates among youth are very high in these countries and the level of industrialization is typically low, entrepreneurship is seen as a viable means of enabling young people to avoid unemployment after graduation (Gorgievski et al, 2018) and generating jobs in local economies (Ayyagari et al, 2011)
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