Will they end up doing what they like? the moderating role of the attitude towards entrepreneurship in the formation of entrepreneurial intentions

ABSTRACT

When studying entrepreneur’s intentions, researchers have mainly relied on the theory of planned behaviour model developed by Ajzen (1991. “The Theory of Planned Behavior.” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 50 (2): 179–211) which includes personal variables such as subjective norms, attitude and perception of behavioural control. However, it may be affected, mediated or moderated by other variables or situational factors that influence the relationships between these predictors and intention. The aim of the present study is to analyse the moderating effect of attitudes on the link between the perception of behavioural control and intentions. For this purpose, Partial Least Squares Structural Equations Modeling (PLS-SEM) were used in a sample of 654 last year students from an Spanish University. The results highlight the important role that attitudes play as moderator of business intentions, since the direct effect of perceived control behaviour on intentions increases as attitudes increase. It is also worthy to stress the positive effect that the learning process and subjective norms have on entrepreneurs perceived control behaviour.

KEYWORDS:

• Entrepreneurship: entrepreneurial intention
• subjective norms
• attitudes
• PBC
• business learning process
• higher education

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 The Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit StudentśSurvey (GUESSS) is a large, global research project about students' career choice intentions worldwide. Available at: www.guesssurvey.org.