Entrepreneurial Intention, Self-efficacy and Optimism: An Experimental Approach

Abstract

Many entrepreneurial researchers seek to define what factors affect the people's intention to become entrepreneurs. The aim of this study is to determine whether psychological factors such as optimism and self-efficacy influence entrepreneurial intention. 87  people were asked to answer 10 naturalistic-business scenarios including situations related to optimism and self-efficacy. The Entrepreneurial intention (EI) was assessed through Entrepreneurial Intention Scale (EIS) which contains eight statements. According to the results of studies, the level of two dimensions of Psychological capital (PsyCap), which are  optimism and self-efficacy, impacts participants’ intention to become an entrepreneur. More specifically, participants who have higher levels of optimism and self-efficacy showed higher scale of  EI and vice versa. Also, entrepreneurs showed a higher level of EI compared with non-entrepreneurs. These findings provide evidence that not only financial resources play a significant role in starting your own business, psychological factors are important too.