APPLYING A METACOGNITIVE PERSPECTIVE TO ENTREPRENEURSHIP: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE ON THE INFLUENCE OF METACOGNITIVE DIMENSIONS ON ENTREPRENEURIAL INTENTIONS

This paper contributes to research on metacognitions which focuses on cognitive processes that enable entrepreneurs to create new ventures and to think beyond existing knowledge structures to become adaptable in an entrepreneurial context. Two streams of research, entrepreneurial intentions and metacognitions, jointly inform the hypotheses. Individuals with entrepreneurial intent apply some degree of conscious consideration to the possibility of starting a new business, where these intentions are the result of metacognitions. The empirical evidence ensuing from this study indicates that only the knowledge metacognitive dimension is a significant predictor of entrepreneurial intentions. The study makes a contribution in that the articulation and testing of metacognitive dimensions provides a meaningful categorization, where there are many opportunities for educators to develop skill building exercises that target metacognitions.