The Effect of Personality Traits Towards Entrepreneurial Intension: A study on Undergraduates of South Eastern University of Sri Lanka

Abstract

Entrepreneurship has been identified as the engine of long-term economic growth of a nation and it is leading factor in achieving economic growth, high employment, strong job creation, and positive social development. It drives and shapes innovation, speeding up structural changes in the economy. Small and Medium Enterprises are the breeding ground for entrepreneurs to set up their ventures for many reasons. However, the recent statistics depict that the failure rate of SMEs are very high. As a result, a less number of successful entrepreneurs can be seen. Therefore, it is a timely need to promote entrepreneurship among individuals. Thus, entrepreneurial intention of individuals is of critical importance in this regard. The main objective of this study is to find out the personality factors that affect entrepreneurial intention among the under graduate, Sri Lanka. The study involves three factors such as need for achievement, risk taking, and internal locus of control. A total of 230 students from all the four faculties of the south eastern university of Sri Lanka participated in this study by responding to the structured questionnaire. Structural Equation Modeling was used to analyses the data using SPSS 23.0. Findings of the study revealed that need for achievement, risk taking, and internal locus of control are positively related with entrepreneurial intention. This study also reveals the important factors to be addressed in order to improve the entrepreneurial intention of undergraduates in the Sri Lankan context. The findings will be immensely contribute to policy makers, government and non governmental organizations and academics to design policies to enhance entrepreneurship among university graduates.