The Impact of Cognitive and Motivational Drivers on Entrepreneurial Intention and Resilience

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 PhD candidate in Entrepreneurship, Faculty of Entrepreneurship, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

2 Assistant Professor, Department of Tourism Management, Faculty of Management, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

This study aimed to explain the impact of cognitive and motivational drivers on entrepreneurial intention and resilience. Despite the richness of the literature on entrepreneurial intention, the combined influence of cognitive capacities and motivational factors in shaping intention, as well as the role of intention as a precursor to entrepreneurial resilience, has been empirically underexplored. Moreover, this study also tests the moderating role of gender in the relationships between these drivers and entrepreneurial intention. The research is applied in objective and descriptive–correlational in methodology. Data were collected from 127 entrepreneurs based in the University of Tehran Science and Technology Park. The data collection instrument was a standard questionnaire measuring cognitive and motivational drivers, entrepreneurial intention, and entrepreneurial resilience. Data analysis was conducted using partial least squares structural equation modeling in SmartPLS4. Multigroup analysis was used to test the moderating role of gender, and the bootstrapping method with 5,000 resamples was employed for mediation analysis. Findings indicated that all cognitive and motivational drivers have a positive and significant effect on entrepreneurial intention, with motivation and entrepreneurial knowledge being the strongest predictors. Entrepreneurial intention also has a positive and significant effect on entrepreneurial resilience. Mediation analysis results revealed full mediation of entrepreneurial intention in the relationships between motivation, entrepreneurial knowledge, opportunity recognition, and innovation attitude with resilience, and partial mediation in the relationship between risk-taking and resilience. Multigroup analysis results also showed that gender does not play a significant moderating role. In conclusion, findings suggest that entrepreneurial intention is a key mechanism for transforming cognitive and motivational capacities into operational resilience. By redefining entrepreneurial intention as a proactive driver of resilience, this study contributes to the theoretical richness of the Theory of Planned Behavior and the literature on entrepreneurial resilience, emphasizing the necessity of strengthening entrepreneurs’ cognitive and motivational capital for effective engagement with environmental shocks.

Keywords

Main Subjects

Education and Management of Entrepreneurship

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 30 June 2026

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History

  • Receive Date: 08 April 2026
  • Revise Date: 04 June 2026
  • Accept Date: 30 June 2026

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