Unraveling the effects of entrepreneurial passion and entrepreneurship education on entrepreneurial intention: The moderating role of demographic characteristics

The purpose of this study is to highlight the role of various antecedents influencing the level of entrepreneurial intention by developing an integrated intention model that is based on social cognitive theory (SCT) and social cognitive career theory (SCCT). The hypotheses are validated by applying a meta-analytic method to 94 primary studies that were published between 2004 and 2021. The findings provide empirical evidence and confirm that entrepreneurial passion is the strongest indicator to predict self-efficacy and the willingness of entrepreneurs toward self-employment. Role models and entrepreneurship education play a critical role as predictors of entrepreneurial perceptions and beliefs in driving entrepreneurial intention. In addition, age, gender, and work experience significantly moderate the relationship between entrepreneurial passion, role models, entrepreneurship education, self-efficacy, and entrepreneurial intention, indicating that men are reported to be more skilled than women at discovering new business opportunities and turning them into actual companies. In particular, older women are often more successful than young women when they start businesses since they possess more entrepreneurial knowledge, and individuals with extensive prior experience have a strong belief in their abilities, which contributes to the formation of entrepreneurial intention. These findings are critical to understanding the antecedents of entrepreneurship-related phenomena by reference to a particular set of demographic moderators when a meta-analytic technique is adopted.