Determinants of the entrepreneurial intentions: testing the Ajzen’s Model in Turkish sample

Abstract

Many theories have been put forward in explaining the intentions of individuals to become entrepreneurs. In one of these, Ajzen (1991) sees planned actions as the conclusion of conscious decisions to act determinedly. The intentions that guide these actions are a combination of experiences, individual traits, and own personal motivation. According to Ajzen, the individual tends to be entrepreneurial in the direction of personal expectations and social norms in the society and intends to achieve entrepreneurial behavior by providing personal motivation through perceived behavioral control. In this context, the most critical outcome is the finding that human behavior is a planned action driven by intentions. In this context, it is essential that the university students, who are at the very beginning of their working life, have entrepreneurial intentions. In this studying the light of data that were collected with a questionnaire from 459 university students and Ajzen'sPlanned Behavior Theory tested on student's entrepreneurial intentions. Data were analyzed with correlation and regression analysis. The results showed that attitude and perceived behavioral control are quite useful to explain entrepreneurial intentions of university students.