Entrepreneurial attitudes in the structure of students’ economic minds

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how students’ entrepreneurial attitudes are related to their economic attitudes regarding business, investments, savings and consumption. The study presents a new research tool to analyze the characteristics of the economic mind – the economic attitudes questionnaire. Design/methodology/approach The method consists of a multiple-factorial questionnaire, a verification of reliability and internal validity (exploratory and confirmation factor analyses), a quantitative survey and a correlation analysis. Findings Two main ways of preparing students for a market economy are identified: one is connected to entrepreneurship, and the other to rational investment and financial planning. The complex nature of economic attitudes’ interaction is confirmed: by the direct relationships between entrepreneurial attitudes of students and investment activity, and between risk and satisfaction and consumer opportunities, as well as by the negative relationships between entrepreneurial attitudes and the level of mistrust to banking structures, unwillingness to make savings, unwillingness to share and financial pessimism. The economic attitudes questionnaire was developed and it showed sufficient validity and reliability on samples of student youth. Research limitations/implications The study was limited to Russian students. Originality/value Adapting the questionnaire to other cultures will allow conducting cross-cultural research of entrepreneurial attitudes, which may be relevant in the global economy.

The Structure of Economic Attitudes of the Youth — Representatives of the Indigenous Small-Numbered Peoples of the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation: Results of a Pilot Study

“…is confirmed by the study obtained by sampling students in central Russia. In the 2017 survey among 400 people, four factors were also found in the structure of economic attitudes, but the content of these factors was different (Zabelina, Deineka, Tsiring, 2019).…”

Perception Of The Economic Reality Of The Younger And Older Generations

“…The reflection of economic reality takes place in the economic mind of the individual and group (Deyneka, 1999). There are different scientific points of view on the nature and structure of economic mind, but most scientists admit that economic attitudes are its essential element (Zabelina et al, 2019).…”

Features of entrepreneurial economic mind in Russian small eco-business

“…The economic attitudes of individuals and social groups were most actively studied in the last quarter of the twentieth century. In particular, studies have been conducted on attitudes to unemployment [17], to savings [18], to debt in consumer behavior [19], to money [20], as well as on investment [21] and entrepreneurial attitudes [22].…”