Assessment of Social confidence in Veteran Entrepreneurs in Zanjan Province in 2014

Background: Social confidence is considered an important element in entrepreneurship. Objectives: Given the importance of employment and entrepreneurship of veterans, the present research aimed to determine the status of social confidence in veteran entrepreneurs of Zanjan Province. Methods: In this survey. the statistical sample included all veteran entrepreneurs of Zanjan Province with an entrepreneurship file in Zanjan Employment Department from November 2013 to January 2014. The required data were collected using a two part questionnaire including demographic charactristics and social confidence scale of Saffarnia. Social confidence scale of Saffarnia consists of 5 dimensions of trust-based behavior, cooperative tendencies, openness, honesty, and trust. Both questionnaires were filled out by the respondents in a self-reporting manner. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics in SPSS-19. Results: The mean age of respondents was 38.7±8.5. The results showed that 95%, 65%, and 85% of respondents were male, had a high school diploma, and aged over 60, respectively. All respondents were living in urban areas, employed, and married. The mean score of total social confidence was 86.05±5.81 with a range of 74-99. Among the dimensions of social confidence, cooperative tendencies and honesty ranked first and last, respectively. Conclusion: Although the findings of the present study showed that the level of social confidence in veteran entrepreneurs of Zanjan Province is above the average, it seems that the development of entrepreneurial activities among this group of society needs more attention of officials to the provision of necessary conditions to promote social confidence.