630 International Journal of Management Vol. 28 No. 3 Part 1 Sept 2011 Effects of Personality Traits on Entrepreneurial Intentions: An Empirical Study in Iran Kiumars Zarafshani Razi University, Iran Somayeh Rajabi Razi University, Iran The relationship between students��� personality styles and their intentions to become an entrepreneur after completing a course in entrepreneurship education were examined among a random sample of undergraduate students (n = 280) in Razi University, Iran . A back-translated version of the Entrepreneurial Intention Scale (Linan & Chen, 2008) was used to measure students��� intentions to starting their own business venture. The Myers Briggs Type Indicator Form G (Mayers, 1977) was used to measure students��� personality style. The instrument was back-translated into the Persian language and minor adjustments were made. Results indicated that the majority of the students were scored as either ENTJ, ISTJ, ESFJ, or ESTP on the Myer Briggs Type Indicator. The students in this study had a moderate intention for a new business start-up. The researchers found that students with Extraversion and Sensing personality types had higher levels of entrepreneurial intentions than students with Introversion and Intuitive styles. The results have implications for higher education in that entrepreneurship educators should not adopt a ���one style fits all��� approach in the classroom. Introduction In recent years, there has been a growing interest in entrepreneurship education because of its relationship with regional economic development through new ventures and job creation. Thus, colleges and universities have been challenged to establish Centers for Entrepreneurship. The Centers for Entrepreneurship offers academic training at both undergraduate and graduate level to support students along the continuum of thinking and behaving entrepreneurially. The Centers��� goals may vary, but they hold a premise that entrepreneurship education is not just about teaching someone to run a business. It is also about encouraging creative thinking, enhancing levels of innovation, and promoting a strong sense of self-worth and accountability (Heinonen, Kovalainen, & Pukkinen, 2006). According to Alvarez and Busenitz (2004), if universities do not promote entrepreneurship education, it should then be expected that students would be less likely to pursue efforts towards starting a new venture. Therefore, universities aware of the importance of developing entrepreneurial potential (Vyakarnam, 2005) and competencies (Kirby, 2005 Gibb, 2006), are focusing on how to equip students with entrepreneurial skills and creating an awareness that there is an alternative way of employment (Galloway, Anderson, Brown, & Wilson, 2005), which may not be for everyone, but may use the skills as an employee (Vij, 2004) through the provision of transferability of skills (Vyakarnam, 2005 Galloway et al., 2005 Gibb, 2006).

International Journal of Management Vol. 28 No. 3 Part 1 Sept 2011 631 It is commonly assumed that the personal characteristics (Alvarez & Busenitz, 2004) and skills of the entrepreneur can be developed through education (Galloway et al., 2005). Indeed, some studies have suggested that entrepreneurial behavior can be stimulated through formal education programs. Research (Galloway et al., 2005 Rasheed, 2003) has also shown that education can stimulate the development of entrepreneurial behavior in different ways. Moreover, Vij (2004) claimed that formal education about self-employment careers at universities facilitated the process of business creation, because it helped to raise students��� awareness of the viability of self-employment as a professional option. In fact, studies (Kourilsky & Walstad, 1998) have shown how such education increases positive attitudes towards entrepreneurship as an alternative professional career. In a similar line, Gibb (2006) argued that education for self-employment puts students in contact with role models (such as successful entrepreneurs) that make entrepreneurship more attractive as a professional career. Of course, definitions of what the terms ���entrepreneurship��� and ���entrepreneurial��� mean also vary among scholars and practitioners. Nevertheless, in the Centers for Entrepreneurialship, entrepreneurship is generally seen as an attractive career choice that also affords the opportunity to contribute to society through the introduction of innovative new products, services, and technological processes. Not surprisingly, one question that often interests entrepreneurship educators at the Centers for Entrepreneurship is how to stimulate entrepreneurship through education. Related to entrepreneurship education, previous research (Alvarez & Jung, 2004) has indicated that entrepreneurship education results in higher levels of entrepreneurial intentions. Entrepreneurial intention is defined as the conscious state of mind that precedes action and directs attention towards business start-up as the goal (Shane & Vankataraman, 2000). In turn, intentions have shown to play a very relevant role in the decision to start a new firm (Lee & Wong, 2004). The intention to start up, then, would be a necessary precursor to performing entrepreneurial behaviors (Fayolle, Gailly, & Lassas-Clerc, 2006). Intention is considered the single best predictor of behavior (Ajzen, 2001). In turn, the intention of carrying out entrepreneurial behaviors may be affected by several cognitive factors, such as needs, values, wants, habits, and beliefs (Lee & Wong, 2004). In particular, the cognitive variables influencing intentions are called motivational ���antecedents��� by Ajzen (2001). More favorable antecedents would increase the start-up intention (Linan, 2004). However, while previous research demonstrated the connection between cognitive variables and intentions to start a business, previous research has also overlooked other individual differences (in particular, personality types) that should be taken into account when designing and implementing training programs in entrepreneurship. Moreover, little has been done to examine the relationship between personality types and entrepreneurial intentions.