Attitude and Alertness in Personality Traits: A Pathway to Building Entrepreneurial Intentions Among University Students

Abstract

The entrepreneurial intentions of individuals play a phenomenal role in establishment of new ventures, which in turn facilitates economic development. The study aims to identify the various dimensions of personality traits along with several other precursors of entrepreneurial intentions and investigates impact of the identified factors on entrepreneurial intentions of top five university students in India. The data for research were collected through a structured questionnaire employing a 7-point Likert scale based on purposive sampling technique. The identified constructs considered to be determinants of entrepreneurial intentions were need for achievement, locus of control, risk-taking propensity, innovativeness, self-efficacy, proactiveness, perseverance, entrepreneurial alertness and entrepreneurial attitude. The findings of the study reveal that ‘need for achievement’ was the most significant precursor of entrepreneurial intentions; whereas, ‘entrepreneurial alertness’ and ‘entrepreneurial attitude’ dimensions of personality traits were also found to have a positive correlation with entrepreneurial intentions of university students. Moreover, entrepreneurial alertness partially mediates the relationship between self-efficacy and proactiveness on the one hand and entrepreneurial intentions on the other.