Despite growing research on the significance of transformational leadership as a key contextual factor that determines innovative behavior, recent studies have not investigated the psychological mechanisms that link transformational leadership to employees’ innovative behavior thoroughly. Thus, the main purpose of this study was to examine the mediating role the four dimensions of psychological capital—self-efficacy, hope, resilience, and optimism—play in the relationship between transformational leadership and employees’ innovative work behavior. Data from 178 Iranian agriculture experts were collected and analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results indicated that transformational leadership was related to employees’ innovative work behavior directly and positively. Furthermore, the results showed that hope and self-efficacy partially mediated the relationship. This study fills a gap in the literature by clarifying the way the dimensions of psychological capital influence transformational leadership’s positive relationship to employees’ innovative work behavior in the public sector of developing countries. The results imply that to be innovatively effective, organizations need to manage both employees’ contextual (transformational leadership) and psychological (psychological capital) resources to enhance their innovative work behavior. The theoretical and practical implications were further discussed.

Entrepreneurial passion has been suggested as an entrepreneur’s central characteristic, theorized to affect a host of entrepreneurial behaviours. Considering the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), a conceptual model was developed and tested which integrated both cognitive (namely, subjective norms, attitudes toward perceived behavioural control and entrepreneurship) and emotional (namely, entrepreneurial passion) factors to determine their contributions to entrepreneurial intentions. This is a quantitative study using a self-report survey for data collection. The hypotheses were examined with 250 university students sample applying the partial least squares method. The results indicate a significant indirect relationship between entrepreneurial passion and entrepreneurial intentions via their cognitive antecedents (attitudes toward entrepreneurship and perceived behavioural control). The study contributes to the emerging research of entrepreneurial passion in the entrepreneurship field and heightens its role as a factor that should be taken into account to improve entrepreneurship education programs.

Purpose: – This paper aims to, drawing on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), explore the effects of entrepreneurial role models on entrepreneurial intention (EI) and its antecedents and examines the question of whether the effects vary by gender.Design/methodology/approach: – Data were collected from a sample of 331 students at seven universities in Iran. Structural equation modelling and bootstrap procedure were used to analyse the data.Findings: – Consistent with the TPB, our results show entrepreneurial role models to indirectly influence EIs via the antecedents of intention. No gender differences in the relationship between perceived behaviour control and EIs were found, but gender did moderate the other relationships within the TPB. Attitude towards entrepreneurship was a weaker predictor and subjective norms a stronger predictor of EIs for female students than for their male counterparts. Furthermore, perceived behaviour control and attitudes towards entrepreneurship were more strongly influenced by role models for females as opposed to male students.Research limitations/implications: – Future studies should go beyond examining the mere fact of knowing entrepreneurial role models to examine the mechanisms underlying the relationship between role models and EIs.Practical implications: – The results of this study have clear implications for both educators and policymakers.Originality/value: – The study contributes to the entrepreneurship literature by incorporating entrepreneurial role models and gender into the TPB and investigating their mediating and moderating effects within the model.

Drawing on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), the present study explores the effects of gender and role models on entrepreneurial intention. Data was collected by questionnaire from a sample of 331 Iranian college students. Consistent with the theory, results indicated that entrepreneurial role models indirectly influenced entrepreneurial intention through its antecedents in the TPB. The study found no gender differences in the relationship between perceived behavioural control and entrepreneurial intention. However, gender affected the other relationships in the TPB, such that attitude towards entrepreneurship was a weaker, and subjective norm a stronger predictor of entrepreneurial intention for female students than for male