A Study of Personal Initiative as a Mediator between Self-efficacy and Entrepreneurial Intentions

Although considerable research has highlighted that high levels of self-efficacy are associated with high levels of entrepreneurial intentions, little attention has been paid to the mediating effects of different variables on the relations between self-efficacy and entrepreneurial intentions. Integrating theoretical work on self-efficacy with personal initiative literature, I develop a model of entrepreneurial intentions that includes both the independent effects of self-efficacy and control variables and the mediating effect of personal initiative on entrepreneurial intentions. I test this model with a sample of 429 students from four universities in emerging and developed economies. Results indicate that personal initiative fully mediates the impact of self-efficacy on entrepreneurial intentions. In addition to exploring the mediating effect, I have compared the levels of personal initiative and self-efficacy in context of emerging and developed economies. I uncover that the level of self-efficacy is significantly higher among the students in emerging economy. However, no significant difference was observed in the reported levels of personal initiative in two contexts.