The Effect of Emotional Intelligence on Self Efficacy and Entrepreneurial Intentions: An Application of Business Students

The Effect of Emotional Intelligence on Self Efficacy and Entrepreneurial Intentions: An Application of Business Students

AGIRMAN, Ulke Hilal
NAKTIYOK, Atilhan
TUYSUZ, Seda

Entrepreneurship is linked with value creation and, as such, is thought to have a significant impact on economic growth, continuous business renewal, and employment (Tang and Koveos, 2004). Therefore, entrepreneurship has a great importance in today's economic system and is considered as the main driving force of economic development. It is essential for individuals to have entrepreneurial self efficacy and intentions of entrepreneurship to identify the opportunities in their environment and create value from these opportunities. Self-efficacy is an individual’s cognitive estimate of his or her ‘‘capabilities to mobilize the motivation, cognitive resources, and courses of action needed to exercise control over events in their lives’’ (Wood and Bandura, 1989). Entrepreneurial self efficacy reflects an individual's capability to successfully fulfill his/her tasks of entrepreneurship (Chan et al., 1998:301). An entrepreneurial intention is defined as the conscious state of mind that directs personal attention, experience, and behavior toward planned entrepreneurial behavior (Bird, 1988). This study focuses on the emotional intelligence factor which is thought to affect individuals' entrepreneurial self efficacy and intention of entrepreneurship. Emotional intelligence which is the ability of people in coping and adapting with life events depends on cooperation of intellectual and emotional capacities (Salovey and Mayer, 1993) so it is an important construct of entrepreneurship’s development. To test research hypotheses, data will be gathered from students at the Business Program of Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences in a university in Turkey. The data obtained will be analyzed using appropriate statistical methods and in accordance with this analysis it will be determined whether level of individuals' emotional intelligence affects self efficacy and entrepreneurial intentions. Keywords: Entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial self efficacy, intention of entrepreneurship, emotional intelligence.

Article
PeerReviewed

ISSN 2303-4564

International Burch University

2014-04

2617