Predictors of International Entrepreneurial Intention Among Young Adults: Social Cognitive Theory

Abstract

This study investigated the psychological mechanism by which parents’ socioeconomic status, including income and social class, influences the international entrepreneurship intentions of young adults. Two datasets, self-reported (survey) and objective, were collected from 372 undergraduate students across 19 universities in China. Parents’ income and social class had a positive effect on international entrepreneurship intentions. Sense of power and motivational cultural intelligence (CQ) played mediating roles in this relationship, and work experience moderated this relationship. The mediation tests revealed that sense of power and motivational CQ comprise a serial mediation process, in that order. The effect of motivational CQ on international entrepreneurship intentions was strengthened by young adults’ work experience. We identified the underlying mechanism and moderator of the relationship between socioeconomic factors and international entrepreneurship intentions.