Implicit theories of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial intentions: the roles of entrepreneurial self-efficacy and person-entrepreneurship fit

Entrepreneurship contributes significantly to socio-economic development, thus understanding the formation of entrepreneurial intention is essential. Despite established connections between implicit theories of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial intentions, the underlying mechanisms and boundary conditions of these relationships remain inadequately understood. Drawing on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and social cognitive theory (SCT), this study developed and tested a moderated mediation model, in which entrepreneurial self-efficacy mediates the link between implicit theories of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial intentions, with this indirect effect moderated by person-entrepreneurship fit. A cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of 640 Chinese undergraduate students who responded to questionnaires about implicit theories of entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, person-entrepreneurship fit, and entrepreneurial intentions. Multiple regression analyses with bootstrapping procedures were conducted to test the proposed hypotheses. The incremental theory of entrepreneurship was positively related to entrepreneurial intentions, and entrepreneurial self-efficacy mediated this relationship. Person-entrepreneurship fit moderated the effect of implicit theories of entrepreneurship on entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Specifically, the effect of the incremental theory of entrepreneurship on entrepreneurial self-efficacy was stronger for those who perceived low person-entrepreneurship fit. Further, the mediating effect was stronger for individuals who scored low on person-entrepreneurship fit than for individuals who scored high on person-entrepreneurship fit. Despite the relatively small effect size, the study established entrepreneurial self-efficacy as a mediating mechanism and identified person-entrepreneurship fit as a boundary condition in the relationship between implicit theories of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial intentions.