The topic of motivation in the entrepreneurship literature has evolved along a p ath similar to that of the organizational psychology

field. From an organizational psychology p erspective, theories of motivation have progressed from static, content-oriented theories to dynamic, process-oriented theories, a framework suggested by Campbell et al. (1970). Cont ent theories search for the specific things within individuals that initiate, direct, sustain , and stop behavior. Process theories explain how behavior is initiated, directed, sustained, and sto pped. Organizational psychology research focused on developing and testing content (i. e. need) theories of motivation during the 1950s and early 1960s. According to Landy (198 9, p. 379), data supportive of need theories have been infrequent. Damaging data are commonpl ace. In a general sense, focusing on personality profiles of people to explain behaviors, the