The present research aims to shed light on the role of culture in the formation of career intentions. It draws on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB, Ajzen, 1991), which has been widely employed to predict intentions, including entrepreneurial career intentions, but past research has almost exclusively been conducted in 'Western' countries. The present research specifically explores the extent to which both the strength of relationships of TPB predictors with entrepreneurial career intentions and the TPB predictors themselves are invariant across cultures. The study compares six very different countries (Germany, India, Iran, Poland, Spain, and The Netherlands) drawing on an overall sample of 1,074 students and their assessments of entrepreneurial career intentions. Results support culture universal effects of attitudes and perceived behavioral control (self-efficacy) on entrepreneurial career intentions, but cultural variation in the effects of subjective norm.

Since its introduction, the Rosenberg General Self-esteem scale (RGSE, Rosenberg, 1965) has been one of the most widely used measures of global self-esteem. We conducted four studies to investigate (a) the goodness of fit of a bifactor model positing a general self-esteem factor (GSE) and two specific factors grouping positive (MFP) and negative items (MFN), and (b) different kinds of validity of the GSE, MFN and MFP factors of the RSGE. In the first study (n= 11,028), the fit of the bifactor model was compared with those of nine alternative models proposed in literature for the RGSE. In Study 2 (n = 357), the external validities of GSE, MFP and MFN were evaluated using objective grade point average data and multi-method measures of prosociality, aggression, and depression. In Study 3 (n = 565), the across-rater robustness of the bifactor model was evaluated. In Study 4, measurement invariance of the RGSE was further supported across samples in three European countries, Serbia (n= 1,010), Poland (n= 699), and Italy (n= 707), and in the United States (n = 1,192). All in all, psychometric findings corroborate the value and the robustness of the bifactor structure and its substantive interpretation. Keywords. Bifactor model; self-esteem; Rosenberg self-esteem scale; method effects; method factors. 3Self-esteem reflects an overall subjective evaluation of personal worth (Marsh & O'Mara, 2008;Rosenberg, 1965). A considerable amount of research has investigated the nature of this construct (Baumeister, Campbell, Krueger, &Vohs, 2003), which represents one of the most popular individual differences constructs in psychology (see Donnellan, Trzesniewski, & Robins, 2011, for a review). Self-esteem, similar to any other psychological construct, is a latent variable that is not directly observable. Yet individuals' standing on the latent attribute can be inferred through their answers to statements intended to describe internal positive and negative states, such as feelings and emotions about the self (Borsboom, Mellenbergh& van Heerden, 2003).Since its introduction, the Rosenberg General Self-esteem scale (RGSE;Rosenberg, 1965) has been one of the most popular and widely used measures of global self-esteem (Blascovich &Tomaka, 1991;Donnellan et al., 2011;Schmitt &Allik, 2005).According to PsycInfo, the instrument has been cited 3,016 times during the last five years (2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014).The scale assesses the "feeling that one is good enough" (Rosenberg, 1965, p. 31), and consists of 10 items with a high degree of face validity. A large body of empirical evidence supports the internal consistency of the instrument (Byrne, 1983), its predictive validity (Kaplan, 1980), and its equivalence over time (Marsh, Scalas, &Nagengast, 2010;Motl & DiStefano, 2002). The popularity of the 10-item RGSE has been due in part to its long history of use, its uncomplicated language, and its brevity (it takes only 1 or 2 minutes to be completed).In addition to its privileged place in the literature, the RGSE offers other...

This study focuses on entrepreneurial self‐efficacy, general self‐efficacy, and global self‐esteem and on their role in the entrepreneurial process. Apart from providing evidence of the relationship between these self‐beliefs and entrepreneurial intention, it also demonstrates how they are related to actual business start‐up. Longitudinal data were obtained from 332 unemployed individuals. After 1 year, official confirmations of new firm registrations were collected. Higher levels of all 3 self‐referent beliefs were positively associated with entrepreneurial intention. Multivariate analyses showed that entrepreneurial and general self‐efficacy beliefs were important predictors of this intention. Self‐referent beliefs accounted for an additional 12% of the variance in entrepreneurial intention and for an additional 4% of the variance in actual business start‐up beyond the demographic variables.

Integrating predictions from the theory of human values with the theory of planned behavior (TPB), our primary goal is to investigate mechanisms through which individual values are related to entrepreneurial career intentions using a sample of 823 students from four European countries. We find that openness and self-enhancement values relate positively to entrepreneurial career intentions and that these relationships are partly mediated by attitudes toward entrepreneurship, self-efficacy, and, to a lesser extent, by social norms. Values and TPB constructs partially mediated cross-country differences in entrepreneurial intentions. Spanish students showed lower entrepreneurial intentions as compared to Dutch, German, and Polish students, which could be traced back to lower self-enhancement values (power and achievement), less positive attitudes toward entrepreneurship, and differences in social norms.

The paper presents a longitudinal study that tests the postulates of social cognitive theory in real-life settings on a sample of entrepreneurspeople who established and managed their firms. This study explores the reciprocal relationships between entrepreneurs' personal resources and work engagement over time. It extends the dynamic understanding of entrepreneurship, explaining the role of work-related self-efficacy and positive affectenthusiasm in relation to entrepreneurial activity engagement. In a longitudinal field study with three measurement times, 206 entrepreneurs took part. The results of structural equation modelling revealed that the model with reciprocal relationships between variables is the best fitting model. In this model, enthusiasm predicts work-related self-efficacy in the next two measurement times and is positively related to work engagement in entrepreneurs. Self-efficacy beliefs, in turn, predict work engagement and enthusiasm, while work engagement predicts enthusiasm. In consequence, the results reveal that there are reciprocal relationships between self-efficacy, positive affect, and work engagement among entrepreneurs, uncovering the dynamic interrelations between personal resources and work engagement over time. The resource gain spirals have not been confirmed. Practitioner pointsWork-related self-efficacy and enthusiasm towards work lead to engagement in entrepreneurial activity, which in turn mobilize further positive beliefs and affect. The development of interventions that aim at increasing self-efficacy and help to regulate affect may lead entrepreneurs to maintain engagement in their work.

The study aims to explain the mechanisms of entrepreneurs goal realisation in the work and family domains. It contributes to the understanding of the role of positive and negative goal-related affect and positive orientation in personal goal realisation. A multilevel perspective is applied, as goal realisation varies not only between but also within individuals. The participants in the study were 246 entrepreneurs; each of them had started and owned a business and was either married or had a stable partner. Three scales assessing three components of positive orientation (self-esteem, life satisfaction, and optimism) and the Personal Projects Analysis method were used. Each of the entrepreneurs rated five personal goals related to work and five goals related to family life on dimensions measuring goal realisation and goal-related affect. The results of multilevel structural equation modeling show that positive goal-related affect and positive orientation are positively related, whereas negative affect is negatively related to personal goal realisation in entrepreneurs at the individual and goal levels. The relation of positive affect to family-related (but not to work-related) goal realisation can be further strengthened by positive orientation, both at the individual level and at the goal level.

Innovativeness is one of the crucial factors allowing companies to grow, and innovative behavior of entrepreneurs is an important source of firm innovativeness and business success. This study aims to better understand self‐regulatory mechanisms stimulating the innovative behavior of entrepreneurs. We have tested the mediation model in which work‐related affect (enthusiasm, comfort, anxiety, and depression) mediates the relationship between work self‐efficacy and innovative behavior. A longitudinal study with three measurement times was conducted on a sample of entrepreneurs–business owners. The mediation analysis with bias‐corrected bootstrapping method confirmed that the relation between work self‐efficacy and innovative behavior of entrepreneurs is mediated by their work‐related positive affect—comfort and enthusiasm—but not by negative affect.

Innovations are based on the good ideas of individuals; therefore, it is very important to better understand the role that individuals and their personal characteristics play in innovative initiatives. The aim of the current study was to test the relationships between employees’ personal values and their innovative behavior. It was hypothesized that these relationships are mediated by an employee’s job autonomy. We integrated Schwartz’s basic human values theory with the notion that job autonomy is an important job characteristic that can be redesigned to better fit employees’ preferences. The study results (obtained from 263 employees in different branches) showed that openness to change and self-enhancement values are positively related to job autonomy, whereas conservation and self-transcendence values are negatively related to job autonomy, which confirms that personal values are important in explaining autonomy in the workplace. In addition, employees’ self-enhancement values are positively related to their innovative behavior, while conservation and self-transcendence values are negatively related to innovative behavior. Mediation analysis with a bias-corrected bootstrapping method showed that job autonomy is a significant mediator of the relationships between employees’ personal values (except for openness to change) and their innovative behavior. Our research extends the theory of basic human values, showing that values serve as a personal basis for innovative behavior. Our results also contribute to the innovation research by demonstrating the importance of personal values and job autonomy for innovative behavior in organizations.