Purpose

People differ in the extent to which they dispositionally monitor their projected images, expressive behavior and self-presentation according to the contingencies of the situations. Building on Snyder’s self-monitoring theory, this paper aims to assess the influences of self-monitoring on entrepreneurial intention and explain the process responsible for these effects. Because high self-monitors and low self-monitors differ in their ability to adapt their self-presentation and patterns of behaviors to the contingencies of the situation, it was reasonable to suspect that chameleon-like high self-monitors will be more prone to entrepreneurship than true-to-themselves low self-monitors.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on a sample of 296 respondents, a self-administered questionnaire assessing the attitude toward entrepreneurship, risk aversion, entrepreneurial intentions and the four dimensions of self-monitoring (acting ability, extraversion, other-directedness and speaking ability), and other control variables was conducted.

Findings

The findings of this study generally support that self-monitoring has relevance in predicting an individual’s entrepreneurial intentions. Because high self-monitors have more acting and speaking abilities, are more extroverted and are more concerned with how others perceive them than are low self-monitors, they would be more likely to start a business and become business owners as they possess favorable attitudes toward entrepreneurship. The overall result regarding risk aversion fails to support a mediating relationship between self-monitoring and entrepreneurial intentions. However, at the same time, the findings confirm that risk aversion directly reduces entrepreneurial intention.

Research limitations/implications

The findings expand the implementation of Snyder’s self-monitoring theory in the entrepreneurship arena and make an important contribution to the many additions and alterations that have been implemented to the theory of planned behavior in the entrepreneurship literature to better explain entrepreneurial intentions and behaviors. The results add to these works by demonstrating that self-monitoring is a trait that influences the attitude toward entrepreneurship. Also, attitude toward entrepreneurship was found to be a mediator of the relationship between self-monitoring and entrepreneurial intentions. The limitation concerns the use of a convenience sample of students and cross-sectional data.

Practical implications

The outcomes of this study suggest greater utility for developers of educational curriculums, training programs and start-up knowledge in entrepreneurship. Targeting high self-monitors for training and educational programs in entrepreneurship and including the dimensions of self-monitoring, particularly acting abilities, speaking abilities, extraversion and other-directedness, in entrepreneurship training content will make these programs more successful, offered to the correct target and able to provide personalized content. Building on these results, governments, policymakers, nonprofit organizations and universities who are concerned about the encouragement of entrepreneurial spirit might take advantage of self-monitoring in their awareness advertising campaigns.

Originality/value

Past research in psychology, management and marketing has provided empirical support for the major propositions of Snyder’s self-monitoring theory. Largely unaddressed, however, is the question of whether self-monitoring might be a driver to take steps to start a business. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this study is among the first studies – if not the first – to provide evidence that self-monitoring leads to more favorable attitudes and intentions in the entrepreneurship domain. The positive effects found here increase the importance of self-monitoring as an individual-difference construct that broadens the knowledge of why some people are more predisposed to entrepreneurship.

中文翻译：

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社会变色龙容易创业吗？

目的

人们根据情境的偶然性，在性格上监控自己的投射形象、表达行为和自我呈现的程度有所不同。基于斯奈德的自我监控理论，本文旨在评估自我监控对创业意向的影响，并解释造成这些影响的过程。由于高自我监控者和低自我监控者调整自我表现和行为模式以适应突发情况的能力不同，因此有理由怀疑，变色龙般的高自我监控者更容易创业。比那些忠于自己、自我监控能力低的人。

设计/方法论/途径

以296名受访者为样本，进行自填问卷，评估创业态度、风险规避、创业意向以及自我监控四个维度（行动能力、外向性、他人导向性和言语能力）以及其他控制变量进行了。

发现

这项研究的结果总体上支持自我监控对于预测个人的创业意图具有相关性。因为高自我监控者比低自我监控者有更多的行动和演讲能力，更外向，更关心别人如何看待他们，所以他们更有可能创业并成为企业主，因为他们对创业。关于风险厌恶的总体结果未能支持自我监控和创业意图之间的中介关系。但与此同时，研究结果证实，风险规避直接降低了创业意愿。

研究局限性/影响

这些发现扩大了斯奈德自我监控理论在创业领域的应用，并对创业文献中计划行为理论的许多补充和修改做出了重要贡献，以更好地解释创业意图和行为。研究结果证明自我监控是影响创业态度的一种特征，从而为这些工作锦上添花。此外，对创业的态度被发现是自我监控和创业意图之间关系的中介。其局限性在于使用方便的学生样本和横截面数据。

实际影响

这项研究的结果表明，教育课程、培训计划和创业知识的开发者具有更大的实用性。针对创业培训和教育项目的高度自我监控，并在创业培训内容中纳入自我监控的维度，特别是表演能力、演讲能力、外向性和其他导向性，将使这些项目更加成功，并针对正确的目标并能够提供个性化的内容。基于这些结果，关心鼓励创业精神的政府、政策制定者、非营利组织和大学可能会在宣传活动中利用自我监控。

原创性/价值

以往心理学、管理学和营销学方面的研究为斯奈德自我监控理论的主要命题提供了实证支持。然而，自我监控是否可能成为采取措施创业的驱动力的问题基本上没有得到解决。据作者所知，这项研究是最早的研究之一（如果不是第一个），它提供了自我监控可以在创业领域带来更有利的态度和意图的证据。这里发现的积极影响增加了自我监控作为个体差异结构的重要性，它拓宽了为什么有些人更倾向于创业的知识。