Strive towards a good performance or avoid a failure performance in entrepreneurship education: a look into growth and independence-oriented intentions

Purpose Prior studies on entrepreneurial intention have shown that different orientations exist regarding entrepreneurial engagement: one looking at the growth of a venture (growth-oriented) and the other looking at the maintenance of an entrepreneurial autonomy (independence-oriented). Filling a gap in the literature concerning the reasons why individuals develop different orientations of entrepreneurial intention, this study revolves around achievement goal motivation (mastery, performance and avoidance approaches) and self-regulatory modes (locomotion and assessment), since both are thought to be at the origin and maintenance of an action willingness. Design/methodology/approach In a sample of 209 undergraduates, we administered a structured questionnaire at the beginning of an elective entrepreneurship education programme. Through a set of hierarchical regressions we examined the specific role of achievement goal motivation and regulatory modes in relation to the two orientations of intention. Findings Our findings show that, on the one hand, growth-oriented intention is related to a performance approach and both locomotion and assessment regulatory modes. On the other hand, independence-oriented intention is related to an avoidance approach. Research limitations/implications These results illuminate the theoretical connections between entrepreneurial intention and motivation and provide implications for entrepreneurship education and the relationship between intention and consequent behaviour. Originality/value This study is among the first to provide an empirical exploration of the motivational and regulatory drivers that lie beneath a growth-oriented and an independent-oriented intention, offering a theoretical explanation about the development of different intentions towards venture creation. Our findings illuminate on the urgency to consider entrepreneurial intention as a multi-dimensional construct if we are to understand the intention-behaviour nexus.