The Differential Effects of Personality Traits and Risk Aversion on Entrepreneurial Intention Following an Entrepreneurship Course

Xanthopoulou P., Sahinidis A., Kavoura A., Antoniadis I.

Despite the growing interest in entrepreneurship education and its impact on entrepreneurial intention, there is limited research on why students’ entrepreneurial intentions change over time. It has been observed that university students’ intentions to pursue entrepreneurship are higher when they enroll in entrepreneurship courses; however, these intentions usually shift both before and after the completion of the entrepreneurship course. This study investigates the shift in entrepreneurial intention among university students. Utilizing a mixed-method approach, this study combines the qualitative research tools of interviews and diaries to explore the evolution of students’ entrepreneurial intentions. The research sample consisted of undergraduate university students of a Greek university who had attended an entrepreneurship and innovation course as part of their first-year curriculum in the academic year 2020–2021. The study utilized 163 structured interviews and complementary diary research on 96 students from the same cohort in the academic year 2023–2024. NVivo12 software (32 bits version) was used to analyze the primary data. The findings highlight notable changes in students’ entrepreneurial intentions as a result of a variety of factors, including the allure of the entrepreneurial idea, cohesiveness of the teams, teaching strategies employed, support provided by the university and their families, and certain personality traits. These findings provide valuable insights for educators and policymakers to better support and sustain entrepreneurial intentions among students, while also further expanding the understanding of the strategy development needs of entrepreneurship counseling and education, as very limited research has been conducted on this issue.

Hossain F., Mamman A., Yeboah-Assiamah E., Rees C.J.

PurposeReports and experiences suggest that several developing African economies are faced with entrepreneurial-impeding forces such as lengthy bureaucratic processes and poor regulatory space. The study examines a general trend in “doing business performance” among selected African countries and uses the case of Ghana to explore how particular indicators or forces affect the development and deployment of small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) policies.Design/methodology/approachComparative analysis of six African economies on their ease of doing business score. This is followed by a critical review of the literature to develop a six-point explanatory framework to explore the relative position of the six countries on the ease of doing business scores. Using Ghana as a critical case study, the authors deploy an in-depth case study analysis via in-depth interviews of relevant stakeholders to validate the information from secondary sources.FindingsThe study observes that the nature of leadership, socio-cultural imperatives, economic structure and policy and the role of domestic institutional players and international players have implications for the extent to which the state creates an enabling environment for SMEs and entrepreneurial activities. The role of supportive cultural software that will help drive SME and entrepreneurial growth has been established. The study contends that different aspects of national culture do have implications for the tendency for people to be business-minded or to have the ability to take risks. The demand and supply sides are crucial in promoting SME growth.Originality/valueThe study develops a framework that helps explore elements to help explain ease of doing business scores and the viability of SMEs in Africa. These elements were validated through qualitative interviews as well.

Kang W., Guzman K.L., Malvaso A.

Personality relates to employment status. Previous studies have mainly compared the difference between entrepreneurs and managers. It remains unknown how personalities differ in entrepreneurs, managers, supervisors, and employees. In this research, we answer the questions by analyzing data from Understanding Society: the UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS) that consisted of 2,415 entrepreneurs, 3,822 managers, 2,446 supervisors, and 10,897 employees. By using a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and ANOVA, we found that employment status has a significant multivariate effect on personality traits (F(5, 17,159) = 172.51, p < 0.001) after taking account into demographics. Moreover, there were also significant univariate effects for Neuroticism (F(3,19502) = 16.61, P < 0.001), Openness (F(3,19502) = 3.53, P < 0.05), Agreeableness (F(3,19502) = 66.57, P < 0.001), Conscientiousness (F(3,19502) = 16.39, P < 0.001), and Extraversion (F(3,19502) = 31.61, P < 0.001) after controlling for demographics. Multiple comparisons revealed that entrepreneurs are characterized by low Neuroticism, high Openness, high Conscientiousness, and high Extraversion while managers had low Neuroticism, low Agreeableness, high Openness, high Conscientiousness, and high Extraversion. Finally, supervisors are associated with high Conscientiousness. Implications and limitations are discussed.

Mohamed M.E., Elshaer I.A., Azazz A.M., Younis N.S.

Background: The KSA government has envisioned a national transformation plan via Vision 2030. The purpose of this plan is liberalization which provides an opportunity for the private sector to increase its share in the healthcare system. Evaluating the entrepreneurial potential of healthcare students is essential due to their future role in the healthcare environment. Thus, the goal of the current study is to measure entrepreneurial intentions and identify the characteristics and personality dimensions among junior healthcare students and fresh graduates in Saudi Arabia. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study design was utilized to survey healthcare students in their final years of study and fresh graduates at King Faisal University (KFU), Saudi Arabia. The research team identified six as the most common entrepreneurial intention traits. Entrepreneurial traits included internal locus of control, innovativeness, risk-taking, proactiveness, autonomy, and problem-solving. A previously recognized and validated questionnaire was distributed through social media platforms and formal university emails. PLS-SEM was employed for the examination of both the measurement and structural models. Results: Internal locus of control was found to have a positive impact on entrepreneurial intention, so H1 was supported. Likewise, innovativeness showed a positive impact on entrepreneurial intention among healthcare students, which confirmed H2. The results also showed that autonomy substantially impacted entrepreneurial intention, so H3 was supported. Similarly, proactiveness has a direct influence on entrepreneurial intention; thus, H5 was supported. Furthermore, problem-solving personality dimensions also had a positive impact on entrepreneurial intention, so H5 and H6 were supported. Conversely, risk-taking propensity exhibited a negative insignificant effect on entrepreneurial intention. Thus, H4 was not supported. Conclusions: Saudi healthcare students revealed their intention towards entrepreneurship and were quite positive about becoming entrepreneurs. Furthermore, students’ entrepreneurial intention was affected by their quality of proactiveness, innovativeness, internal locus of control, problem-solving, and autonomy but not risk-taking propensity.

Tsaknis P.A., Sahinidis A.G., Tsakni G.J., Vassiliou E.E., Kavagia C.A., Giovanis A.N., Stavroulakis D.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the direct effects of personality traits on entrepreneurial intention (EI), the theory of planned behavior (TPB) on EI, as well as the indirect effects of personality traits on EI through the elements of TPB. In order to enhance the originality of this study, the model of personality and the theory of planned behavior were combined to explain entrepreneurial intention (Zhang & Cain, 2017; Sousa, Blamey, Reason, Ramos, & Trigo, 2018). This study utilized a 55-item questionnaire to assess personality traits (openness to experience (O), conscientiousness (C), extraversion (E), agreeableness (A), neuroticism (N), and risk aversion (R)), the elements of TPB (attitude (AT), subjective norms (SN), and perceived behavioral control (PBC)) and EI (Tsaknis, 2022). The study sample (n = 315) included students of the business department of a public university in Athens. The results indicate that C has a direct negative impact on EI. O, C and E have an indirect positive effect on EI through AT and PBC. N has an indirect negative effect on EI through PBC and finally R has an indirect negative effect on EI through AT and PBC. Finally, AT and PBC have a direct and positive effect on EI. The data were analyzed empirically using the Jamovi program and R language (Rosseel, 2012). In light of these findings, more studies are needed to corroborate and validate the findings presented here, especially in other settings.

Ahmed M.A., Khattak M.S., Anwar M.

Crum M., Nelson T., de Borst J., Byrnes P.

Galvão A., Marques C., Ferreira J.J.

Purpose This study aims to understand how entrepreneurship education and training programmes (EETPs) influence the development of entrepreneurial competencies and creation of business ventures. Design/methodology/approach The study included a questionnaire distributed to 103 EETP participants. The data were processed using SmartPLS software to construct a structural equation model. Findings The results show, first, that the respondents’ motivations have a positive impact on participation in entrepreneurship education programmes and company creation. Second, participation in these programmes positively influences individual entrepreneurial orientation and entrepreneurial skills. The findings also include that the entrepreneurship education programme under study has strengthened its participants’ capacities and competencies, making these people more autonomous and facilitating their creation of new businesses. Originality/value This study sought to contribute to a fuller empirical understanding of how EETPs affect their participants’ individual entrepreneurship orientation and capacities (human resource development), thereby fostering company formation and regional development. Theoretical and practical implications are presented, with an emphasis on what needs to be done to improve EETPs.

Şahin F., Karadağ H., Tuncer B.

Purpose The literature considers the big five personality traits and entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) to be important individual-level factors that determine entrepreneurial intention. However, little is known about the profiles of personal characteristics of individuals who express a high level of entrepreneurial intention. The purpose of this paper is to carry out a comparative analysis of personal characteristics that contribute to new business start-up intention. Design/methodology/approach Using survey data from two samples, fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) was performed to extract patterns of personal characteristics (i.e. the big five personality traits and ESE) that impact entrepreneurial intention. Findings The outcomes of the analyses demonstrate that a high level of entrepreneurial intention can be realized through multiple configurations of the big five personality traits and ESE. Practical implications This paper can inform practice on entrepreneurship education. Specifically, the paper includes implications for the development of ESE, and for understanding multiple configurations of personal characteristics that lead to a high level of entrepreneurial intention. Originality/value This paper addresses an identified need to understand how personal characteristics operate conjointly and among individuals.

Vodă A., Florea N.

Entrepreneurs bring an enormous contribution to a country’s economic growth. Developing individual’s interest into new venture creation represents an important asset, especially for less developed countries where entrepreneurial activities are fundamental in enhancing economic growth. The recent economic crisis turned the attention of European policymakers towards entrepreneurship as a driving force for the creation of new job opportunities, regional/national competitiveness and growth. The aim of this article is to verify what relations are between locus of control, need for achievement and entrepreneurial intention of youth, following a cognitive approach and how much entrepreneurial education consolidates entrepreneurial skills and informs the young that entrepreneurship is a career option. To analyse entrepreneurial intentions, locus of control, need for achievement and entrepreneurial education in the context of Romania, this research used a quantitative design based on the answers to the questionnaire conducted during March 2017 to October 2017 on a sample of 270 students from two important Romanian universities. From the methodological point of view, several hypotheses have been developed and tested using multivariate logistic regression estimates, frequency analysis, internal consistency reliability of the constructs and moderating effects. The results illustrate that locus of control, need for achievement and entrepreneurial education proved to be important determinants for venture creation among young students, both independently and under the action of control variables. Also, respondents’ gender had a significant influence on one’s intention of opening a business in the future, with males being more inclined to become entrepreneurs than females.

Montoya A.K.

Moderation hypotheses appear in every area of psychological science, but the methods for testing and probing moderation in two-instance repeated measures designs are incomplete. This article begins with a short overview of testing and probing interactions in between-participant designs. Next I review the methods outlined in Judd, McClelland, and Smith (Psychological Methods 1; 366–378, 1996) and Judd, Kenny, and McClelland (Psychological Methods 6; 115–134, 2001) for estimating and conducting inference on an interaction between a repeated measures factor and a single between-participant moderator using linear regression. I extend these methods in two ways: First, the article shows how to probe interactions in a two-instance repeated measures design using both the pick-a-point approach and the Johnson–Neyman procedure. Second, I extend the models described by Judd et al. (1996) to multiple-moderator models, including additive and multiplicative moderation. Worked examples with a published dataset are included, to demonstrate the methods described throughout the article. Additionally, I demonstrate how to use Mplus and MEMORE (Mediation and Moderation for Repeated Measures; available at http://akmontoya.com ), an easy-to-use tool available for SPSS and SAS, to estimate and probe interactions when the focal predictor is a within-participant factor, reducing the computational burden for researchers. I describe some alternative methods of analysis, including structural equation models and multilevel models. The conclusion touches on some extensions of the methods described in the article and potentially fruitful areas of further research.

Xu T., Kerr W.R., Kerr S.P.

We review the extensive literature since 2000 on the personality traits of entrepreneurs. We first consider baseline personality traits like the Big-5 model, self-efficacy and innovativeness, locus of control, and the need for achievement. We then consider risk attitudes and goals and aspirations of entrepreneurs. Within each area, we separate studies by the type of entrepreneurial behavior considered: entry into entrepreneurship, performance outcomes, and exit from entrepreneurship. This literature shows common results and many points of disagreement, reflective of the heterogeneous nature of entrepreneurship. We label studies by the type of entrepreneurial population studied (e.g., Main Street vs. those backed by venture capital) to identify interesting and irreducible parts of this heterogeneity, while also identifying places where we anticipate future large-scale research and the growing depth of the field are likely to clarify matters. There are many areas, like how firm performance connects to entrepreneurial personality, that are woefully understudied and ripe for major advances if the appropriate cross-disciplinary ingredients are assembled.

Kiriakidis S.

Ajzen (Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 50:179–211, 1991, Annual Review of Psychology 52:27–58, 2001) argued that according to the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), a model widely applied in consumer behaviour research, people act in accordance with their intentions and perceptions of control over the behavior. Intentions are determined by attitude towards the behavior, a personal factor, and a social factor, subjective norm, perceived social pressures from significant referents to perform the behavior and the actors’ motivation to comply with the referents. Attitude and subjective norm are in turn determined by the salient beliefs people hold about the behavior. The TPB extends the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) by including a third determinant of intention and behavior, perceived behavioral control (PBC). PBC is assumed to reflect past experience with the performance of the behavior and anticipated obstacles that could inhibit behavior. It seems that the concept of PBC is not defined in a way that is acceptable by every researcher. There has been a variety of operationalisations among researchers and different labeling of the measures used in the literature. It is proposed that factors internal to the individual could be phrased and assessed in terms of ability and factors external to the individual in terms of control. This clarification of the dimensions of PBC would be helpful in consumer behaviour research, as it is expected to enhance the reliability and validity of the definition of the concept of PBC and accordingly enhance the predictive accuracy of both the variable of PBC and the model of the TPB.

Montoya A.K., Hayes A.F.

Researchers interested in testing mediation often use designs where participants are measured on a dependent variable Y and a mediator M in both of 2 different circumstances. The dominant approach to assessing mediation in such a design, proposed by Judd, Kenny, and McClelland (2001), relies on a series of hypothesis tests about components of the mediation model and is not based on an estimate of or formal inference about the indirect effect. In this article we recast Judd et al.'s approach in the path-analytic framework that is now commonly used in between-participant mediation analysis. By so doing, it is apparent how to estimate the indirect effect of a within-participant manipulation on some outcome through a mediator as the product of paths of influence. This path-analytic approach eliminates the need for discrete hypothesis tests about components of the model to support a claim of mediation, as Judd et al.'s method requires, because it relies only on an inference about the product of paths-the indirect effect. We generalize methods of inference for the indirect effect widely used in between-participant designs to this within-participant version of mediation analysis, including bootstrap confidence intervals and Monte Carlo confidence intervals. Using this path-analytic approach, we extend the method to models with multiple mediators operating in parallel and serially and discuss the comparison of indirect effects in these more complex models. We offer macros and code for SPSS, SAS, and Mplus that conduct these analyses. (PsycINFO Database Record