Abstract

LANERO, Ana; VAZQUEZ, José-Luis  and  MUNOZ-ADANEZ, Alfredo. A social cognitive model of entrepreneurial intentions in university students. Anal. Psicol. [online]. 2015, vol.31, n.1, pp.243-259. ISSN 1695-2294.  https://dx.doi.org/10.6018/analesps.31.1.161461.

This work analyzes the limitations of previous literature on entrepreneurial intentions of university students and proposes a model of entrepreneurial career choice based on Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) by Lent, Brown and Hackett (1994, 2000). Particularly, the study hypothesizes a sequential direct path between entrepreneurial vocational interests, intentions and nascent behaviors, which in turn would be triggered by the beliefs of self-efficacy and outcome expectations attributed to business start-up at both extrinsic and intrinsic levels. To test the hypotheses of the model, an empirical study carried out with 400 university students within different knowledge areas is described. The results obtained, using the PLS (Partial Least Squares) technique, confirm a positive direct link between entrepreneurial interests, intentions and nascent behaviors, while perceived entrepreneurial self-efficacy predicts such goal sequence. Otherwise, intrinsic outcome expectations are related to vocational interest in business start-up, whereas expected extrinsic rewards do not play any important role in the model. These findings have important implications for the design of entrepreneurship support programs in university environments.

Keywords : Entrepreneurship; entrepreneurial intentions; Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT); career choice; entrepreneurial self-efficacy; university students; structural equations.

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