Relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Entrepreneurship Willingness among Agricultural and Natural Resource Students at University of Zabol, Iran

The main purpose of this study was to investigate relationship between emotional intelligence and entrepreneurship willingness among agricultural and natural resource students, of Agricultural and Natural Resources University of Zabol. The statistical population consisted of 2500 agricultural and natural resources students in 2013-2014 academic year from that 178 students were randomly selected. Data were collected through the application of an instrument consisted of two parts including; Wong and low Emotional Intelligence Inventory and entrepreneurship willingness measurement tool. The research instrument was given to the academic staff of the department of agricultural extension and education to test its content validity. Ordinal theta was calculated to measure reliability of research tools (θ= 0.82-0.88). Data were analyzed using SPSS21. Results showed that there were positive relationship between emotional intelligence and all its components (self emotion appraisal, utilization of emotion, other’s emotion appraisal, regulation of emotion) with entrepreneurship willingness among agricultural and natural resources students. Also, based on ordinal regression analysis, variables: other’s emotion appraisal (OEA) and utilization of emotion (UOE), were able to predict entrepreneurship willingness changes among agricultural and natural resources students.