Entrepreneurial myths (or realities) and entrepreneurial intentions

The development of modern entrepreneurship research began some 50 years ago. In the meantime, various definitions of entrepreneurship led to different interpretations of its scope, and subsequently, the entrepreneurial myths emerged. This topic was studied quite intensively in the 1980s and 1990s, and numerous results succeeded in demystifying most of the entrepreneurial myths. Despite that, the entrepreneurial myths persist and regularly appear on the web portals, media, and bloggers’ articles. On the other side, contemporary entrepreneurship textbooks include entrepreneurial myths as a lesson which could eliminate some obstacles for the nascent entrepreneurs. This study revealed that the entrepreneurial myths are somewhat present among younger examinees, nonentrepreneurs in Croatia, who have a low or medium level of education. Still, not even these demographic groups view those myths as realities. Further analysis pointed out that there is a statistically significant, although negative and weak correlation between the perception of entrepreneurial myths as myths (not as realities) and a higher level of entrepreneurial intentions.

Razvoj suvremenih istraživanja u području poduzetništva započeo je prije pedesetak godina. U međuvremenu, ponuđene su različite definicije poduzetništva koje su dovele do raznolikih interpretacija obuhvata poduzetništva te naposlijetku do nastanka poduzetničkih mitova. Ova tema je intenzivno istraživana 1980-ih i 1990-ih te su brojni rezultati uspješno demistificirali većinu poduzetničkih mitova. Usprkos tome, poduzetnički mitovi opstaju i redovito se pojavljuju na web portalima, u medijima i člancima blogera. S druge strane suvremeni udžbenici poduzetništva uključuju poduzetničke mitove kao lekciju koja može eliminirati neke prepreke za nove poduzetnike. Ovim istraživanjem utvrđeno je da su poduzetnički mitovi ponešto prisutni među mlađim, niže obrazovanim, ispitanicima ne-poduzetnicima u Hrvatskoj. Ipak, niti ove skupine ispitanika u prosjeku ne drže poduzetničke mitove, realnošću. Daljnja analiza je istaknula da postoji statistički značajna, ali slaba i negativna povezanost između percepcije poduzetničkih mitova kao mitova (ne kao realnosti) i više razine poduzentičkih namjera.