Exploring the dimensionality of entrepreneurial self-efficacy in entrepreneurs and managers: a cognitive process perspective

Entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE; one’s belief in one’s venturing capabilities) is a key construct in entrepreneurship research. ESE is a mechanism by which domain knowledge and cognitive processes are converted into new ventures. But its dimensionality is not yet fully elucidated. This Irish investigation responds to calls for more research by exploring the dimensionality of ESE using data from 108 entrepreneurs and 63 managers on six cognitive process indicators (identify, select, plan, implement, evaluate, and create), which were assumed to be arranged in ascending order of complexity. Exploratory principal components analyses reduced the six variables to a single dimension, essentially average ESE, for each group separately, and similarly for the pooled sample employing common principal components. The shared (common) dimension described 86.9% of the variance. Evidence indicated that the common model was highly appropriate. In summary, exploratory analyses suggested that ESE is unidimensional when assessed from a cognitive process perspective, that the dimension is shared by entrepreneurs and managers, and that the six cognitive processes do not differ in their complexity. The results are compared with those of other studies. Implications and extensions are discussed.