Toward a theory of entrepreneurial behaviour; empirical evidence from Israel, Italy and Sweden

Translated versions of the Miner Sentence Completion Scale-Form T and of the Differential Attribution Questionnaire were administered to entrepreneurs and to managers, in Israel, Northern and Southern Italy and Sweden. The results of this research yield strong support for a framework that integrates affective and cognitive motivational factors. In particular, it found: (1) that the way entrepreneurs deal with negative outcomes explains their perseverance and affects their self-achievement; (2) a risk-avoidance rather than a risk-taking preference distinguishes them; (3) Self-Achievement; Risk-Avoidance and Personal Innovation appear to be major components of Task Motivation. This research appears to move closer toward a more parsimonious and clearer understanding of the behaviour of the central figure in wealth formation, thus providing a framework for the designing of entrepreneurial development programmes. Innovation, Risk-Avoidance, Feedback of Results and Planning for the Future. The results of this study also corroborate the assumption concerning differential attributions entrepreneurs make for successful and unsuccessful results. TEB posits that the way entrepreneurs explain success and failure affects Self-Achievement auid their expectation of future success.