Analysis of the Relationship between Psychological Capital and Self-Employment Intention of Agricultural Students at University of Arak

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between psychological capital and              self-employment intention of agricultural students at University of Arak. This research was a quantitative and descriptive-correlational study which was conducted using a survey method. The target population of the study contained of all B.Sc. students in agriculture faculty of University of Arak (N= 400), from whom 115 students were selected using SPSS Sample Power software. Simple random sampling was employed in selection of the respondents. Data was collected through a questionnaire that its validity confirmed by a panel of experts. Its reliability was confirmed by calculating Cronbach's alpha coefficient which was greater than 0.8 for all parts of the questionnaire. SPSS and AMOS statistical packages were used to analyze the data. The results indicated that the psychological capital and self-employment intention of students in most cases were at high and intermediate levels, respectively. The findings of structural equation modeling revealed that there was a positive significant relationship between psychological capital and students' self-employment intention. Furthermore, the results of correlation analysis showed that there was a positive significant relationship between psychological capital components (self-efficacy, hope, resilience, and optimism) and students' self-employment intention. Stepwise regression also revealed that self-efficacy and hope can significantly predict 31 percent of variation in the students' self-employment intention. The result of this study can be used to promote the self-employment intention of agricultural students in Iran.