Subjective Norms, Perceived Attitude, Self-Efficacy, and Perceived Behavioural Control as Determinants of Youth Entrepreneurial Intentions: Students’ Perspectives on Aspirations Toward Business Leadership

Abstract

The growing role of business leadership in the fight against youth unemployment and the promotion of entrepreneurial potential underscores the need to understand the behavioral determinants of entrepreneurial intentions among young people in the economy. Although there are numerous studies on entrepreneurial intentions, the literature still appears to have a significant gap regarding the role of key psychological and social factors in influencing entrepreneurial intentions within a business leadership and decision-making context. This study aims to explore the relationships among entrepreneurial intentions, subjective norms, perceived attitude, self-efficacy, and perceived behavioural control, within the context of youth unemployment, with specific reference to the concept of youth business leadership. The study was based on primary data from a sample of 191 students from a specific university of technology in South Africa, characterized by gender, age, academic discipline, and other socio-demographic factors. The study adopted a quantitative, descriptive, and cross-sectional research design to collect data from respondents using structured self admistered questionnaire which served as a primary data collection instrument. The study applied descriptive and inferential analysis, and correlation analysis, and the results were analyzed using SPSS version 32. The results of this study found that perceived behavioral control had the strongest positive relationship with entrepreneurial intentions (r = 0.649, p = 0.000), implying that it was the most important predictor of entrepreneurial intentions and behavior. Subjective norms also had a significant positive relationship, implying that it was important in influencing entrepreneurial intentions (r = 0.647, p = 0.000). Perceived attitude was also significant, but to a lesser extent (r = 0.571, p = 0.000), and this study found that self-efficacy, although not very significant, had a positive and moderate effect on entrepreneurial intentions (r = 0.400, p = 0.000). The study contributes to the development of business leadership by highlighting the role of important psychological and social factors in influencing entrepreneurial intentions and behaviors for young people with specific reference to the developing world, where the structural challenges are likely to hinder the development of the students.