Entrepreneurial Behavior among University Students: Empirical Evidence from Pakistan

Abstract

Interdependent relationships among various psychological factors are instrumental in shaping university students’ general behavior toward entrepreneurship. Our study explored these relationships and their contingent and moderating effects through various factors, such as need for achievement, self-control, and relational support, and how they influence entrepreneurial behavior, given the presence of variables like entrepreneurial intention, creativity, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, educational support, and personal attitudes. Primary data were collected through a questionnaire circulated among 300 respondents from two top-tier universities in Pakistan, followed by tests of reliability and validity both in SPSS and AMOS. The relationship testing was done through structural equation modeling using AMOS interpreted in terms of Alpha (at three significance levels) and Beta values for more regressed relationship testing. Results showed: a) significant behavioral tendencies of university students towards entrepreneurial behavior; b) the mediating effect of need for achievement was not significant among entrepreneurial intention and behavior relationship (however, this effect was significant when tested directly among these two variables); c) the moderating effect of self-control on the underlining variables was significant as a whole except for educational support; and d) relational support proved to moderate the relationship between personal attitudes and entrepreneurial behavior.