Psychological Hardiness in Relation to Entrepreneurial Orientation among Youth of Punjab

Entrepreneurship plays a vital role in economic and social growth of a society. It is a key driver in creating jobs, turning inventions into innovations and improving the standard life of people. The present day scenario witnesses that young adults are facing problems like drug addiction, unemployment, financial crisis and job dissatisfaction in Punjab. The most suitable way to get rid of such problems is the promotion of entrepreneurial orientation that is more than the mere creation of business. Hence, the need is to promote entrepreneurial behaviors among young people. In researches, it has been shown that entrepreneurs experience role stress and high workloads that influence their well-being. To deal with such challenges, personality traits especially stress resistance resources play a vital role. Thus, the present study was an attempt to examine the role of psychological hardiness in entrepreneurial orientation among young adults. It was hypothesized that psychological hardiness (commitment, control and challenge) would be positively correlated with entrepreneurial orientation. For this purpose, 449 young adults in the age range of 18-25 years were randomly selected from various colleges of Punjab. All of the subjects were administered Singh Psychological Hardiness Scale (Singh, A. K.2008) and Entrepreneurial talent scale (Agarwal& Jain, 1992) in a group setting. Obtained scores were subjected to correlational analysis. Findings suggest that psychological hardiness and its components i. e. commitment, control and challenge were significantly and positively associated with risk-taking, achievement motivation, organizational ability, self-concept and persuasion the dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation which have significant implications in the area of entrepreneurship pedagogy.