A psychosocial study of self-perceived creativity and entrepreneurial intentions in a sample of university students

Creativity is a commonly assumed characteristic of entrepreneurs. It is proposed to be a necessary, although not sufficient, prerequisite for entrepreneurship. This study aimed to deepen our understanding of the relationship between self-perceived creativity and entrepreneurial intentions. To do so, we conducted a cross-sectional survey study among 559 university students. We tested an expanded model based on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), which included self-perceived creativity as a distal antecedent of entrepreneurial intentions. In addition, we examined both the role of perceived family and university support for creativity, as well as taking a creativity course, in boosting self-perceived creativity. While some empirical evidence has indicated a direct link between (perceived) creativity and entrepreneurial intentions, the TPB posits that three antecedents (attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control/self-efficacy) would be the only direct determinants of intentions. All other factors are theorized to indirectly influence intentions through one or more of these components. The results of partial least squares structural modelling refuted this assumption. Entrepreneurial self-efficacy and positive attitudes did indeed mediate the self-perceived creativity – entrepreneurial intentions link, but self-perceived creativity explained additional variance in entrepreneurial intentions, beyond these TPB components. In addition, our results showed that family and university support for creativity, as well as taking a creativity course, were significant predictors of self-perceived creativity. Postgraduate students, and particularly male students, perceived greater university and family support and reported greater self-perceived creativity than did undergraduate students. We conclude that teaching creativity contents and practice are a useful way to enrich entrepreneurship programmes.

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