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Understanding Entrepreneurial Intent in Late Adolescence: The Role of Intentional Self-Regulation and Innovation

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Abstract

Entrepreneurship represents a form of adaptive developmental regulation through which both entrepreneurs and their ecologies benefit. We describe entrepreneurship from the perspective of relational developmental systems theory, and examine the joint role of personal attributes, contextual attributes, and characteristics of person-context relationships in predicting entrepreneurial intent in a sample 3,461 college students enrolled in colleges and universities in the United States (60 % female; 61 % European American). Specifically, we tested whether personal characteristics (i.e., gender, intentional self-regulation skills, innovation orientation) and contextual factors (i.e., entrepreneurial parents) predicted college students’ intentions to pursue an entrepreneurial career. Our findings suggest that self-regulation, innovation orientation, and having entrepreneurial role models (i.e., parents) predict entrepreneurial intent. Limitations and future directions for the study of youth entrepreneurship are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

This article was supported by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation. We thank Bill Damon, Anne Colby, and all of our colleagues at the Stanford Center on Adolescence for their assistance designing and collecting data for the Young Entrepreneurs Study.

Author contributions

G. John Geldhof acted as lead author, performing all statistical analyses and contributing to all written aspects of this article. Michelle Wiener cleaned and helped organize the quantitative data, aided in the literature review, and contributed to the theoretical framing and writing of this article. Jennifer P. Agans led the quantitative data collection, cleaned and helped organize the quantitative data, and contributed to the theoretical framing and writing of this article. Megan Kiely Mueller cleaned and helped organize the quantitative data, and contributed to the theoretical framing and writing of this article. Richard M. Lerner is co-PI of the young entrepreneurs study and contributed to the theoretical framing and writing of this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lincoln Filene Center, Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development, Tufts University, Medford, MA, 02155, USA

    G. John Geldhof, Michelle Weiner, Jennifer P. Agans, Megan K. Mueller & Richard M. Lerner

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  1. G. John Geldhof
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  2. Michelle Weiner
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  3. Jennifer P. Agans
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  4. Megan K. Mueller
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  5. Richard M. Lerner
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Correspondence to G. John Geldhof.

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Geldhof, G.J., Weiner, M., Agans, J.P. et al. Understanding Entrepreneurial Intent in Late Adolescence: The Role of Intentional Self-Regulation and Innovation. J Youth Adolescence 43, 81–91 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-013-9930-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-013-9930-8

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