Does entrepreneurial self-efficacy distinguish entrepreneurs from managers?
Self-efficacy is an individual’s cognitive estimate of his or her “capabilities to mobilize the motivation, cognitive resources and courses of action needed to exercise control over events in their lives” (Wood & Bandura 1989). One important effect of self-efficacy is on the chice of behavior settings, where individuals tend to choose situations in which they anticipate high personal control but avoid situations in which they anticipate low control.
Starting one’s own business is often described as purposive and intentional career choice. Although there can be a wide variety of contextual as well as individual factors that influence the entrepreneurial choice, the role of entrepreneurial self-efficacy has been emphasized as a key antecedent .
Bandura (1977b. 1986) distinguished his social learning theory from many traditional psychological theories by emphasizing reciprocal causation among cognition, behavior and environment, where we found that the notion of reciprocal causation is important in understanding self-efficacy and its determinants and effects. One of the researches conducted on the effects of self-efficacy found that self-efficacy is the most effective predictor of performance. This study had shown that people with high self-efficacy have more intrinsic interest in the tasks, are more willing to expend their effort and show more persistence in the face of obstacles. As a result, they perform more effectively.
Performance and performance accomplishments are also considered to be determinants of self-efficacy. And the self-efficacy affects performance through interest, motivation and perseverance, whereas performance provides feedback information on the basis of which self-efficacy is further evaluated and modified.
Concerning the