Purpose – Entrepreneurial intentions were lower in Pakistan as compared to other developing countries. Therefore this research was conducted to identify the stimulating factors of entrepreneurial intentions in Pakistan. This research has been completed in two studies. The first study analyzed the effect of socio-psychological factors on the male and female individuals’ entrepreneurial intentions via attitude toward entrepreneurship (ATE). Study 1 integrated the theory of planned behavior with gender schema theory to build the theoretical model. This study posits that social norms and entrepreneurial self-efficacy influence entrepreneurial intentions through the mediation of ATE. The investigator further stated the moderating role of gender while studying the impact of social norms and self-efficacy on the individuals’ ATE. The Study 2 aims to investigate the effect of intrinsic (intrinsic interest & community feeling aspirations) and extrinsic (perceived relative income and occupational prestige) rewards on male and female individuals’ entrepreneurial intentions through the mediation of ATE. To develop the theoretical model of the second study, the investigator integrates the goal contents theory with the stimulus-response theory and demonstrates that intrinsic interest, community feelings (intrinsic rewards), perceived relative income and occupational prestige (extrinsic rewards) positively influence the ATE that further helps in the development of individuals entrepreneurial intentions. The investigator further proposes the moderations of gender in the theoretical model of Study 2. Design/methodology/approach – Data came from students of three large universities in Lahore. These students were near to complete their degree in the field of business, engineering and information technology. For model testing, this research relied on structural equation modeling technique. Investigator applied PROCESS macro (Hayes, 2011) to test the moderating role of gender. Findings –The findings of the first study elucidated that self-efficacy and social norms have an indirect effect on EIs via ATE. The results also revealed that self-efficacy has a more significant effect on the attitude of male individuals toward entrepreneurship than on the attitude of females. The effect x of social norms on ATE of female individuals was stronger than male individuals. ATE positively influences the individuals’ EIs. The findings of study 2 suggest that intrinsic interest, community feelings (intrinsic rewards), perceived relative income and occupational prestige (extrinsic rewards) positively influence the ATE which in turn stimulate the EIs of students. In addition, gender was found a significant moderator on the relationships of intrinsic and extrinsic rewards with EIs in such a way, the effect of intrinsic interest (intrinsic reward) and perceived relative income (extrinsic reward) on ATE is higher for male individuals. Conversely, the entrepreneurial attitude of female individuals is developed by the community feelings (intrinsic reward) primarily. The findings of this research did not show any interaction of gender in the relationship between occupational prestige and ATE. Originality/value – This is the first research in its nature which has explored the effect of the socio-psychological, intrinsic and extrinsic factors on ATE of male and female individuals separately. In addition, this research also established that ATE is an important mediator that explains the indirect effect of these socio-psychological and motivational factors on EIs.