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Revisiting entrepreneurial intentions: a social cognitive career theory approach

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  • 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
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    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.
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    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.
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    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.
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    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.

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