The influence of psychological capital and social capital on women entrepreneurs’ intentions: the mediating role of attitude

Abstract

Intention plays a critical role in enhancing entrepreneurial activity among women entrepreneurs. Although several studies have revealed that psychological capital influences intention formation, few have explored this relationship when dealing with social capital and entrepreneurial attitudes. This research designed a structural model to construct women entrepreneurs’ intentions, including the interaction of psychological capital, social capital, and entrepreneurial attitudes. Based on self-administered or online questionnaires filled out by 479 Malaysian women entrepreneurs, data was collected using stratified random sampling. Structural equation modeling (AMOS 21.0) was used to analyze the data and test hypotheses. Bootstrap confidence intervals were calculated to determine the mediating effect. The findings show that social capital, psychological capital, and entrepreneurial attitudes interact to encourage women entrepreneurs’ intentions to expand their businesses. Social capital and women entrepreneurs’ intentions were partially mediated by entrepreneurial attitudes. Lastly, entrepreneurial attitudes were also discovered to partially mediate the influential relationship between psychological capital and women entrepreneurs’ intentions. This research sheds new light on women entrepreneurs’ intentions to expand their entrepreneurial activities, which has policy implications. Moreover, future research directions and theoretical insights are discussed.