Entrepreneurial Psychological Capital: A Different Way of Understanding Entrepreneurial Capacity

The development of a model of entrepreneurial psychological capital will provide both an advance in the theoretical understanding of entrepreneurship, and has practical implications for policy makers and those who design entrepreneurship education. Derived from the positive psychological capital model, first developed by Luthans et al. (2007), in the organisational context, this new model of entrepreneurial psychological capital will also draw on the existing entrepreneurship psychology literature. Entrepreneurial psychological capital is defined as the psychological resources which entrepreneurs need to be successful. Unlike the predominant trait and cognitive models, it will focus on those state-like characteristics which are open to development, such as domain specific efficacy and resilience. This developmental paper considers the existing literature, where entrepreneurial psychological might fit within it and how it might be developed.