IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/intemj/v14y2018i1d10.1007_s11365-017-0462-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Revisiting entrepreneurial intentions: a social cognitive career theory approach

Author

Listed:
  • Eric W. Liguori

    (Rowan University)

  • Joshua S. Bendickson

    (University of Louisiana at Lafayette)

  • William C. McDowell

    (Bradley University)

Abstract

This manuscript expands upon the extant knowledge of self-efficacy by applying social cognitive career theory (SCCT) to entrepreneurship, positing that it is a robust theoretical framework to study individual entrepreneurial activity. Additionally, self-efficacy is an important entrepreneurial construct, central to our understanding of entrepreneurial phenomena, so we explore how self-efficacy shapes entrepreneurial intentions, and provide arguments regarding the roles of both domain-specific and generalized self-efficacy. More specifically, we posit several SCCT-informed propositions: person inputs (generalized self-efficacy, gender, minority status) and environmental / background inputs (prior work experience, prior entrepreneurship experience, and prior family business exposure) significantly impacted entrepreneurial self-efficacy and entrepreneurial outcome expectations; entrepreneurial self-efficacy mediates the person input – entrepreneurial outcome expectations and person input – entrepreneurial intentions relationships, and entrepreneurial outcome expectations mediates the person inputs – entrepreneurial intentions relationship. In sum, this manuscript affirms the importance of SCCT in predicting EI, thus introducing a new perspective to the entrepreneurship literature that may provide unique insights in other areas as well.

Suggested Citation

  • Eric W. Liguori & Joshua S. Bendickson & William C. McDowell, 2018. "Revisiting entrepreneurial intentions: a social cognitive career theory approach," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 67-78, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:intemj:v:14:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1007_s11365-017-0462-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s11365-017-0462-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11365-017-0462-7
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11365-017-0462-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Carr, Jon C. & Sequeira, Jennifer M., 2007. "Prior family business exposure as intergenerational influence and entrepreneurial intent: A Theory of Planned Behavior approach," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 60(10), pages 1090-1098, October.
    2. Norris F. Krueger Jr., 2000. "The Cognitive Infrastructure of Opportunity Emergence," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 24(3), pages 5-24, April.
    3. Rosemary Athayde, 2009. "Measuring Enterprise Potential in Young People," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 33(2), pages 481-500, March.
    4. Lee, Soo Hoon & Wong, Poh Kam, 2004. "An exploratory study of technopreneurial intentions: a career anchor perspective," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 7-28, January.
    5. Townsend, David M. & Busenitz, Lowell W. & Arthurs, Jonathan D., 2010. "To start or not to start: Outcome and ability expectations in the decision to start a new venture," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 192-202, March.
    6. Bandura, Albert, 1991. "Social cognitive theory of self-regulation," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 248-287, December.
    7. Ajzen, Icek, 1991. "The theory of planned behavior," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 179-211, December.
    8. Steven M. Farmer & Xin Yao & Kate Kung–Mcintyre, 2011. "The Behavioral Impact of Entrepreneur Identity Aspiration and Prior Entrepreneurial Experience," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 35(2), pages 245-273, March.
    9. Chandler, Gaylen N. & Hanks, Steven H., 1994. "Market attractiveness, resource-based capabilities, venture strategies, and venture performance," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 9(4), pages 331-349, July.
    10. Chen, Chao C. & Greene, Patricia Gene & Crick, Ann, 1998. "Does entrepreneurial self-efficacy distinguish entrepreneurs from managers?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 295-316, July.
    11. Norris Krueger, 1993. "The Impact of Prior Entrepreneurial Exposure on Perceptions of New Venture Feasibility and Desirability," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 18(1), pages 5-21, October.
    12. Dawn R. DeTienne & Gaylen N. Chandler, 2007. "The Role of Gender in Opportunity Identification," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 31(3), pages 365-386, May.
    13. Pia Arenius & Maria Minniti, 2005. "Perceptual Variables and Nascent Entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 233-247, February.
    14. Lars Kolvereid, 1996. "Prediction of Employment Status Choice Intentions," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 21(1), pages 47-58, October.
    15. Nancy G. Boyd & George S. Vozikis, 1994. "The Influence of Self-Efficacy on the Development of Entrepreneurial Intentions and Actions," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 18(4), pages 63-77, July.
    16. Poh Wong & Yuen Ho & Erkko Autio, 2005. "Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Economic Growth: Evidence from GEM data," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 335-350, January.
    17. Carter, Nancy M. & Gartner, William B. & Reynolds, Paul D., 1996. "Exploring start-up event sequences," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 11(3), pages 151-166, May.
    18. Gideon D. Markman & David B. Balkin & Robert A. Baron, 2002. "Inventors and New Venture Formation: the Effects of General Self–Efficacy and Regretful Thinking," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 27(2), pages 149-165, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yang, Junping & Zhang, Mengjie & Ballester-Miquel, José Carlos & Ribeiro-Navarrete, Samuel, 2022. "Exploring what drives entrepreneurs: Intergenerational differences between entrepreneurs born in the 1980s and 1990s," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    2. Zheng Li & A. Y. M. Atiquil Islam, 2021. "Entrepreneurial Intention in Higher Vocational Education: An Empirically-Based Model With Implications for the Entrepreneurial Community," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(4), pages 21582440211, November.
    3. Liping Yin & Yenchun Jim Wu, 2023. "Opportunities or Threats? The Role of Entrepreneurial Risk Perception in Shaping the Entrepreneurial Motivation," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-18, January.
    4. Ricardo Figueiredo Belchior & Roisin Lyons, 2021. "Explaining entrepreneurial intentions, nascent entrepreneurial behavior and new business creation with social cognitive career theory – a 5-year longitudinal analysis," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 1945-1972, December.
    5. Ching Yin Ip, 2024. "Effect of digital literacy on social entrepreneurial intentions and nascent behaviours among students and practitioners in mass communication," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-10, December.
    6. Dafna Kariv & Carlo Giglio & Vincenzo Corvello, 2025. "Fostering Entrepreneurial intentions: exploring the interplay of education and endogenous factors," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 1-27, December.
    7. Maurer, Joshua D. & Creek, Steven A. & Bendickson, Joshua S. & McDowell, William C. & Mahto, Raj V., 2022. "The three pillars’ impact on entrepreneurial activity and funding: A country-level examination," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 808-818.
    8. Leif Brändle & Andreas Kuckertz, 2022. "Staged entrepreneurship: the formation of hybrid and spawning entrepreneurial intentions," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 92(6), pages 955-996, August.
    9. Dan Wang & Zhongyuan Zhang, 2022. "Disassembling the influences of perceived family relational conflict on business family offspring’s intrapreneurial intentions," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 18(1), pages 153-189, March.
    10. Hina Munir & Miao Wang & Sidra Ramzan & Umar Farooq Sahibzada & Cai Jianfeng, 2021. "Disentangling the effect of personal abilities and socio-demographic variables on entrepreneurial intentions: implications for entrepreneurship pedagogy," Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, Springer;UNESCO Chair in Entrepreneurship, vol. 11(1), pages 53-69, December.
    11. Silva, Bruno C. & Carrizo Moreira, António, 2024. "The role of Passion and Self-Efficacy in entrepreneurial activities in the gig economy: An Unsupervised Machine Learning Analysis with Topic Modeling," Cuadernos de Gestión, Universidad del País Vasco - Instituto de Economía Aplicada a la Empresa (IEAE).
    12. Pérez-Fernández, Héctor & Cacciotti, Gabriella & Martín-Cruz, Natalia & Delgado-García, Juan Bautista, 2022. "Are interactions between need for achievement and social networks the driving force behind entrepreneurial Intention? A trait activation story," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 65-76.
    13. Xinyuan Zhang & Emmanuel Nketiah & Victor Shi & Jinfu Cheng, 2023. "Who Will Save Energy? An Extension of Social Cognitive Theory with Place Attachment to Understand Residents’ Energy-Saving Behaviors," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-21, December.
    14. Dunne, Timothy C. & Clark, Brent B. & Berns, John P. & McDowell, William C., 2019. "The technology bias in entrepreneur-investor negotiations," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 258-269.
    15. Solomon, Shelby J. & Bendickson, Joshua S. & Marvel, Matt R. & McDowell, William C. & Mahto, Raj, 2021. "Agency theory and entrepreneurship: A cross-country analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 466-476.
    16. Md Rezaul Haque & Manjit Kour, 2024. "Exploring the Growth and Future Research Direction of Entrepreneurial Self-efficacy in Entrepreneurial Intention Research: a Bibliometric Analysis," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(3), pages 12392-12421, September.
    17. Richard Blaese & Schneider Noemi & Liebig Brigitte, 2021. "Should I Stay, or Should I Go? Job satisfaction as a moderating factor between outcome expectations and entrepreneurial intention among academics," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 1357-1386, September.
    18. Ljiljana Najev Cacija & Marina Lovrincevic & Ivana Bilic, 2023. "The Role of Demographic Factors and Prior Entrepreneurial Exposure in Shaping the Entrepreneurial Intentions of Young Adults: The Case of Croatia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-16, March.
    19. Bing Yuan & Alessandro M. Peluso, 2019. "The Influence of Internet Entrepreneur-Related Word-of-Mouth (WOM) on Corporate Image Association," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-15, March.
    20. David R. Marshall & Robert Gigliotti, 2020. "Bound for entrepreneurship? A career-theoretical perspective on entrepreneurial intentions," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 287-303, March.
    21. Sofia Tampouri & Andronikos Kaliris & Alexandros Kakouris, 2023. "Researching Entrepreneurial Beliefs in Career Decision-making," Business & Entrepreneurship Journal, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 12(2), pages 1-2.
    22. William C. McDowell & Lucy M. Matthews & Ryan L. Matthews & Joshua R. Aaron & Diane R. Edmondson & Cheryl B. Ward, 2019. "The price of success: balancing the effects of entrepreneurial commitment, work-family conflict and emotional exhaustion on job satisfaction," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 1179-1192, December.
    23. Wijetunge Arachchige Deepani Sajeewa Wijetunge & Siti Khalidah Binti Md Yusoff & S.M. Ferdous Azam & Jacquline Tham, 2023. "Bridging Intention-Behavior Gap through Implementation Intention: Conceptual Insight," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 7(11), pages 1627-1635, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tongxin Yu & Nadeem Khalid & Umair Ahmed, 2021. "Factors Influencing Entrepreneurial Intention among Foreigners in Kazakhstan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-33, June.
    2. Shirokova, Galina & Osiyevskyy, Oleksiy & Bogatyreva, Karina, 2016. "Exploring the intention–behavior link in student entrepreneurship: Moderating effects of individual and environmental characteristics," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 386-399.
    3. Francesco Scafarto & Simona Balzano, 2012. "The Role and Determinants of Entrepreneurial Intention at University Level: Theoretical Issues and New Empirical Evidence from Italy," DSI Essays Series, DSI - Dipartimento di Studi sull'Impresa, vol. 25.
    4. Brunella Arru, 2020. "An integrative model for understanding the sustainable entrepreneurs’ behavioural intentions: an empirical study of the Italian context," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 3519-3576, April.
    5. Aurora A. C. Teixeira & Rosa Portela Forte, 2017. "Prior education and entrepreneurial intentions: the differential impact of a wide range of fields of study," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 11(2), pages 353-394, March.
    6. Heinrichs, Simon & Walter, Sascha, 2013. "Who Becomes an Entrepreneur? A 30-Years-Review of Individual-Level Research and an Agenda for Future Research," EconStor Preprints 68590, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    7. María José González-López & María Carmen Pérez-López & Lázaro Rodríguez-Ariza, 2021. "From potential to early nascent entrepreneurship: the role of entrepreneurial competencies," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 1387-1417, September.
    8. Urbano, David & Aparicio, Sebastian & Guerrero, Maribel & Noguera, Maria & Torrent-Sellens, Joan, 2017. "Institutional determinants of student employer entrepreneurs at Catalan universities," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 271-282.
    9. Erikson, Truls, 2002. "Entrepreneurial capital: the emerging venture's most important asset and competitive advantage," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 275-290, May.
    10. Elisabet Ruiz-Dotras & Josep Lladós-Masllorens, 2022. "Entrepreneurial Self-efficacy and Financial and Calculation Skills Can Shape Different Profiles of Venture Intentions," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, vol. 31(1), pages 153-183, March.
    11. Genshu Lu & Yaping Song & Bingchao Pan, 2021. "How University Entrepreneurship Support Affects College Students’ Entrepreneurial Intentions: An Empirical Analysis from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-25, March.
    12. Christopher Schlaegel & Michael Koenig, 2014. "Determinants of Entrepreneurial Intent: A Meta–Analytic Test and Integration of Competing Models," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 38(2), pages 291-332, March.
    13. Francisco Liñán & Yi-Wen Chen, 2006. "Testing the Entrepreneurial Intention Model on a Two-Country Sample," Working Papers 0607, Departament Empresa, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, revised Jul 2006.
    14. Edo Rajh & Jelena Budak & Jovo Ateljevic & Ljupco Davcev & Tamara Jovanov & Kosovka Ognjenovic, 2016. "Entrepreneurial Intentions in Selected Southeast European Countries," Working Papers 1609, The Institute of Economics, Zagreb.
    15. Anca-Otilia Dodescu & Elena-Aurelia Botezat & Alexandru Constăngioară & Ioana-Crina Pop-Cohuţ, 2021. "A Partial Least-Square Mediation Analysis of the Contribution of Cross-Campus Entrepreneurship Education to Students’ Entrepreneurial Intentions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-26, August.
    16. Mohd Yasir Arafat & Imran Saleem & Amit Kumar Dwivedi & Adil Khan, 2020. "Determinants of agricultural entrepreneurship: a GEM data based study," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 345-370, March.
    17. Rajib Roy & Fatima Akhtar & Niladri Das, 2017. "Entrepreneurial intention among science & technology students in India: extending the theory of planned behavior," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 13(4), pages 1013-1041, December.
    18. von Graevenitz, Georg & Harhoff, Dietmar & Weber, Richard, 2010. "The effects of entrepreneurship education," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 76(1), pages 90-112, October.
    19. Servane Delanoë & Franck Brulhart, 2011. "Analyse des antécédents de l'intention entrepreneuriale des porteurs de projets français," Post-Print halshs-00743793, HAL.
    20. Dheer, Ratan J.S. & Castrogiovanni, Gary J., 2023. "Cognitive adaptability’s impact on entrepreneurial intent: The mediating roles of entrepreneurial passion and efficacy," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:intemj:v:14:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1007_s11365-017-0462-7. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.