The big five personality dimensions and entrepreneurial status: a meta-analytical review

Reliability generalization meta-analysis of the internal consistency of the Big Five Inventory (BFI) by comparing BFI (44 items) and BFI-2 (60 items) versions controlling for age, sex, language factors

INTRODUCTION

The Big Five Inventory (BFI) is a popular measure that evaluates personality on the Big-Five model. Apart from its utilization across cultures, the literature did not reveal any meta-analysis for the reliability of the different versions of the BFI and its translations. The current study carried out a reliability generalization meta-analysis (REGEMA) to establish the reliability of the BFI across cultures and languages.

METHODS

We searched 30 databases for the relevant studies from 1991 to mid-November 2024. The studies that we intended to include in our meta-analysis required to have utilized the BFI (44 items) and the BFI-2 (60 items) and have reported Cronbach's alpha or McDonald's omega reliability estimates. Our coded variables included BFI version, sample size, population type, age, gender, clinical state, and reliability. A total of 57 studies (datapoints) published in 34 research articles (involving 43,715 participants; 60.24% women; Mean age = 30.08) from various cultures and languages were finally included. These studies used BFI and BFI-2 in Arabic, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Malay, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Serbian, Spanish, Swahili, and Turkish. Data analysis was conducted using the metafor and meta packages in R. The average correlation was computed using a random-effects model and reliability coefficients indicated effect size. I2 and Cochran's Q tests were used to examine heterogeneity, with prediction intervals suggesting genuine influences around the pooled estimate. Using funnel plots, regression-based tests (e.g., Egger's regression, rank correlation), and trim-and-fill imputation, publication bias was adjusted to estimate unbiased effects.

RESULTS

We calculated the individual and combined reliability of the BFI and BFI-2 across languages and cultures. The results revealed the reliability of all five factors used in the BFI/BFI-2. The BFI estimates provide the following results: openness is estimated at 0.77 (95% CI: 0.75; 0.80); conscientiousness is estimated at 0.80 (95% CI: 0.78; 0.82); extraversion is also estimated at 0.80 (95% CI: 0.79; 0.82); agreeableness is estimated at 0.73 (95% CI: 0.71; 0.76); and neuroticism is estimated at 0.80 (95% CI: 0.79; 0.82). The BFI-2 estimates are as follows: openness is estimated at 0.83 (95% CI: 0.82; 0.84); conscientiousness is estimated at 0.86 (95% CI: 0.85; 0.87); extraversion is estimated at 0.85 (95% CI: 0.84; 0.86); agreeableness is also estimated at 0.80 (95% CI: 0.79; 81); and neuroticism is estimated at 0.89 (95% CI: 0.88; 0.89).

CONCLUSION

The current meta-analysis represents the first reliability analysis of the BFI and the first comparison between its two different versions, the BFI (44 items) and the BFI-2 (60 items). The generalized reliability of both the BFI and BFI-2 were established. The findings confirm that the BFI and BFI-2 have good reliability across all five factors.

The relationship between entrepreneurial personality patterns linked to risk, innovation and gender across industrial sectors

This study examines the personality patterns of solo founders in both high-tech and non-high-tech sectors during the first seven years of their entrepreneurial journey to emphasize the patterns' implications during policymaking, investment decisions, and self-assessments. IAB/ZEW startup panel microdata for the sector classification of 4470 solo entrepreneurs in Germany were analyzed to identify Big Five trait patterns influenced by risk propensities, innovation inclination, and gender. The entrepreneurial profiles indicate positive openness, emotional resilience, and sector-specific clusters. Conscientiousness suggests flexibility, and while variations in extraversion and agreeableness exist, negative neuroticism was predominantly found, except for gender-related differences and multidimensional service innovators. Big Five traits provide information about important foundational profile patterns to describe unique solo entrepreneur types influenced by risk, innovation, and gender. Originality and value: Risk propensity characterizes 'Adaptive Services,' 'Dynamic Knowledge Innovators,' and 'Strategic Risk Navigators.' Additionally, 'Multidimensional Service Innovators' and 'Focused Tech Innovators' signify innovation understanding. The Big Five profiles show openness and emotional stability across sectors, providing crucial insights for effective entrepreneurial support and investment strategies.

The interaction of narcissism, agreeableness and conscientiousness in entrepreneurial mentoring: Implications for learning outcomes

The personality configuration of mentors and mentees is important in understanding mentoring outcomes. While the best mentors appear to have higher degrees of agreeableness and conscientiousness, entrepreneurs generally score lower on agreeableness and have higher degrees of narcissism, a personality trait that could be detrimental to mentoring. We investigated the interaction of narcissism with two traits from the Big Five Inventory, namely agreeableness and conscientiousness, to see how this interaction influenced learning from the relationship of mentee entrepreneurs. Our findings suggest that mentee narcissism negatively influences learning, and mentor agreeableness mitigates the negative effects on mentee learning. These findings show certain beneficial personality configurations in entrepreneurial mentoring and provide elements to consider in managerial practice when pairing mentors and mentees in this context.

Shaping sustainable futures: The role of micro-entrepreneurs' personality traits in social innovations

In the rapidly evolving business landscape, micro-entrepreneurs stand out as significant contributors to social innovation. However, the link between their personality traits and the social innovations they introduce needs to be studied more. This research, guided by the Big Five model and the Oslo Manual's innovation framework, aims to address this gap. The central question driving this study is whether the personality traits of micro-entrepreneurs, precisely openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism, influence the social innovations they bring forth. Through a comprehensive exploration of literature and empirical analysis-quantitative research on a representative sample of 1848 Polish micro-entrepreneurs-this research examines the interconnectedness between personality characteristics and social innovation outcomes. The key findings suggest that three personality variables characterising micro-entrepreneurs-openness for experience, conscientiousness, and extroversion-emerge as shared, statistically significant factors. These variables positively impact all types of social innovations implemented by micro-entrepreneurs (product and process). In none of the analysed cases, agreeableness and neuroticism were statistically significant. Finally, it's worth emphasising that the chances of micro-entrepreneurs introducing social innovations increase more strongly with an increase in their openness to experience than in the case of extroversion and conscientiousness.

Feasibility of virtual reality and machine learning to assess personality traits in an organizational environment

Introduction

Personality plays a crucial role in shaping an individual's interactions with the world. The Big Five personality traits are widely used frameworks that help describe people's psychological behaviours. These traits predict how individuals behave within an organizational setting.

Methods

In this article, we introduce a virtual reality (VR) strategy for relatively scoring an individual's personality to evaluate the feasibility of predicting personality traits from implicit measures captured from users interacting in VR simulations of different organizational situations. Specifically, eye-tracking and decision-making patterns were used to classify individuals according to their level in each of the Big Five dimensions using statistical machine learning (ML) methods. The virtual environment was designed using an evidence-centered design approach.

Results

The dimensions were assessed using NEO-FFI inventory. A random forest ML model provided 83% accuracy in predicting agreeableness. A k-nearest neighbour ML model provided 75%, 75%, and 77% accuracy in predicting openness, neuroticism, and conscientiousness, respectively. A support vector machine model provided 85% accuracy for predicting extraversion. These analyses indicated that the dimensions could be differentiated by eye-gaze patterns and behaviours during immersive VR.

Discussion

Eye-tracking measures contributed more significantly to this differentiation than the behavioural metrics. Currently, we have obtained promising results with our group of participants, but to ensure the robustness and generalizability of our findings, it is imperative to replicate the study with a considerably larger sample. This study demonstrates the potential of VR and ML to recognize personality traits.

The Importance of Context-Relevance: Entrepreneurial Personality Relates to Entrepreneurial Outcomes Beyond the HEXACO and Dark Triad

Entrepreneurial Personality (EP) is a collection of traits that causes someone to be entrepreneurial, including both an attraction to and success in entrepreneurial activities. Although EP and its inclusion criteria is defined by its relevance to entrepreneurship, research has yet to support that it relates to entrepreneurial outcomes more strongly than extant frameworks of personality, causing uncertainty regarding its theoretical rationale and conceptual foundation. Applying the bandwidth-fidelity dilemma as our theoretical lens, the current article reports two studies to test whether EP relates to entrepreneurial outcomes beyond the HEXACO and Dark Triad dimensions. Using a sample of non-business owners, Study 1 supports that EP explains both more variance than and variance beyond the HEXACO and Dark Triad in outcomes associated with the earlier phases of the entrepreneurial process, such as entrepreneurial goal setting, goal striving, and goal achievement. Using a sample of business owners, Study 2 supports that EP explains both more variance than and variance beyond the HEXACO and Dark Triad in outcomes associated with the later phases of the entrepreneurial process, including entrepreneurial performance and well-being. These results encourage future research on EP by supporting the validity of the personality framework, and we suggest several directions for future research, such as broader applications of the bandwidth-fidelity dilemma.

Persistence of effort in apathy

The syndrome of apathy has generated increasing interest in recent years as systematic evaluations have revealed its high prevalence and strong negative impact on quality of life across a wide range of neurological and psychiatric conditions. However, although several theoretical models have been proposed to account for various aspects of the condition, understanding of this syndrome is still incomplete. One influential model has proposed that apathy might be described as a quantitative reduction of goal-directed behaviour in comparison to an individual's prior level of functioning. Persistence of activity defined as the capacity to continue with a task - sometimes in the face of setbacks, high levels of difficulty or fatigue - is a crucial but understudied aspect of goal-directed behaviour. Surprisingly, it has not been investigated yet in the context of apathy. Here, we provide an overview of theoretical and experimental aspects of persistence in effort that might assist to develop methods for the investigation of persistence in human behaviour, particularly within the pathologic context of apathy.

Exploring the mediating effect of personality traits in the relationship between entrepreneurial intentions and academic performance among students

This study explores the mediating effect of personality traits in the relationship between entrepreneurial intentions and student academic performance. The sample comprised 175 students from a top-ranked Tamil Nadu, India university. Data was collected using a survey questionnaire as the research instrument. A descriptive research design was employed to understand the variables under investigation comprehensively. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) and SPSS v25 was utilized as the statistical analysis tool. This study used the Theory of Planned Behaviour as a theoretical framework to explore the mediating effect of personality traits in the relationship between entrepreneurial intentions and academic performance among university students. The study's findings revealed essential insights into the relationship between entrepreneurial intentions, personality traits, and academic performance. The results showed that personality traits significantly mediate the relationship between entrepreneurial intentions and academic performance. This finding suggests that a student's personality traits influence the impact of entrepreneurial intentions on academic performance. Furthermore, the study found that while entrepreneurial intentions did not have a significant direct effect on academic performance, they did have a substantial indirect effect through personality traits. This indicates that personality traits act as a crucial mechanism through which entrepreneurial intentions can influence academic performance among students.

Characterizing the relationship between personality traits and safety motivation among construction workers

Injury rates in the construction industry have been high. Losses from a construction accident are not limited to the high expenses of the delay in construction and the compensations for the injured workers, sometimes even the worker's life. The worker's unsafe behaviors have been the direct cause of an accident, and it is urgent to reduce them effectively. This study examines the relationships between personality traits, psychological needs, and safety motivation. It attempts to provide evidence and support for using personality traits and psychological needs in improving practical construction safety interventions. First, the constructs for personality traits, psychological needs, and safety motivation have been contextualized for application in the construction industry. Second, hypotheses about the relationships among the three constructs were established based on the literature, and a social survey was conducted to collect data for testing the hypotheses. Third, structural equation modeling was used to investigate the association between the three key constructs. The study found that conscientiousness is associated with social identity and intrinsic safety motivation, and extraversion is related to the worker's self-efficacy and extrinsic motivation. Openness to experience is positively associated with work autonomy and self-efficacy; conscientiousness is positively related to social identity, as well as extraversion to self-efficacy, agreeableness to work autonomy, and neuroticism to self-efficacy. The findings of this study contribute toward a better understanding of how personality accounts for differences in psychological needs and safety motivation and how these differences can be used in customized safety interventions. This study guides using personality traits in promoting safety motivation and shows that assessing personality traits can be a helpful tool in designing customized safety interventions.

The mediating role of big five traits and self-efficacy on the relationship between entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial behavior: Study of Tunisian university graduate employees

The present paper aimed to explore the mediating roles of entrepreneurial self-efficacy and the big five personality traits in the relationship between entrepreneurship education and university graduate employees' entrepreneurial behavior. Structural equations modeling was applied to data collected through a survey questionnaire among 300 Tunisian employees with a university degree working in the private sector who participated in 2021 in an entrepreneurship education program provided by the Sfax Business Center, a Public-Private organization. The results demonstrate that entrepreneurship education, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and the big five personality traits affect entrepreneurial behavior positively. Moreover, entrepreneurship education has a positive effect on self-efficacy and the big five personality traits. The findings also show a significant partial mediation of self-efficacy and the big five personality traits on the relationships between entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial behavior.

The Antecedents of the Technology Acceptance Model in Microentrepreneurs' Intention to Use Social Networking Sites

Social media platforms offer significant growth opportunities for enterprises, particularly microenterprises, due to the chance to establish direct contact with customers. Drawing on the Technology-Acceptance Model (TAM), in the present study, we investigate the psychological reasons that lead microentrepreneurs to use Social Networking Sites (SNSs) for their business. In doing so, we also extend TAM by taking into account entrepreneurs' personalities (e.g., extraversion and openness to experience) and their perceived risk. We collected data by examining 247 microentrepreneurs engaged in the production of handmade objects. Our results confirm that of all the TAM behavioral antecedents tested, perceived usefulness and attitude toward SNSs' usage for business proved to be the best predictors of the intention to use SNSs for business activity. The results also indicate that extraversion, openness to experience, and perceived risk, as external factors, significantly affect the TAM constructs. We discuss implications and suggestions for future research.

Work-related stressors and coping behaviors among leaders in small and medium-sized IT and technological services enterprises

BACKGROUND

Occupational health interventions for leaders are underrepresented in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). When creating and developing effective occupational health interventions, identification of the specific needs of the target group is regarded as an essential step before planning an intervention. Therefore, the aim of this study was (1) to examine the subjectively experienced work-related stressors of leaders in small and medium-sized IT and technological services enterprises, (2) to explore coping behaviors leaders use to deal with the experienced work-related stressors, (3) to investigate resources supporting the coping process and (4) to identify potentially self-perceived consequences resulting from the experienced stressors.

METHODS

Ten semi-structured interviews with leaders in small and medium-sized IT and technological services enterprises were conducted. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed with content-structuring qualitative content analysis in accordance to Kuckartz.

RESULTS

Leaders in small and medium-sized IT and technological services enterprises experience various stressors caused by work organization as well as industry-related stressors and other work-related stressors. To address the experienced stressors, leaders apply problem focused coping behaviors (e.g. performing changes on structural and personal level), emotional focused coping behaviors (e.g. balancing activities, cognitive restructuring) as well as the utilization of social support. Helpful resources for the coping process include organizational, social and personal resources. As a result of the experienced work-related stressors, interviewees stated to experience different health impairments, negative effects on work quality as well as neglect of leisure activities and lack of time for family and friends.

CONCLUSION

The identified experienced work-related stressors, applied coping behaviors, utilized resources and emerging consequences underpin the urgent need for the development and performance of health-oriented leadership interventions for leaders in small and medium- sized IT and technological services. The results of this study can be used when designing a target-oriented intervention for the examined target group.

Entrepreneurship on Social Networking Sites: The Roles of Attitude and Perceived Usefulness

BACKGROUND

Social media platforms are a significant growth opportunity for enterprises, especially for microenterprises, due to the possibility of establishing direct contact with their customers. We investigate the psychological reasons that drive entrepreneurs towards the use of social networking sites (SNSs) for their business, following two important social psychology theories: the theory of planned behaviour and the technology acceptance model. We also tested for two personality traits: openness to experience and dominance.

METHODS

Data were acquired by examining 325 microentrepreneurs who decided to use either SNSs or traditional sales methods for their businesses.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

Our results confirm that of all the behavioural antecedents tested, perceived usefulness and attitude towards SNSs' effect on business proved to be the best predictors of the intention to use (or continue using) SNSs for business activity. Implications and suggestions for future research are also discussed.

Is transformational leadership always good for innovation? The moderating effect of transformational leadership on the personality–innovativeness link through knowledge sharing

Purpose

Based on the model of Big-Five personality traits and theories of person–environment interaction, this study aims to investigate the moderating effects of personality traits on innovativeness through knowledge sharing (KS).

Design/methodology/approach

A sample of 318 Vietnamese employees was collected. The hypothesized model was tested by using partial least squares structural equation modelling.

Findings

The results indicate that extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness to experience have relationships with innovativeness through the mediating effect of KS. Furthermore, transformational leadership (TL) mitigates the positive relationship between agreeableness and openness to experience and innovativeness.

Practical implications

Based on the research results, the authors suggest several practical implications for enhancing employees' innovative organizational behaviours. Transformational leaders should be aware of and control the relationships with employees high in agreeableness and open to experience to ensure that employees' innovativeness can be freely developed.

Originality/value

This research systematically investigates the effect of each personality on employees' innovativeness. Furthermore, this study contributes to the leadership literature by suggesting the dark side of TL that can negatively influence the innovative ability of employees with certain personality traits.

Big Five personality traits in the workplace: Investigating personality differences between employees, supervisors, managers, and entrepreneurs

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.

Get creative to get ahead? How personality contributes to creative performance and perceptions by supervisors at work

What are creative employees like, aside from being high on Openness to Experience? Based on a sample of 170 full-time working professionals in the consulting industry, the present study investigated the Big Five personality predictors of both supervisory perceptions and performance ratings of creative individuals at work. Results suggested that those with higher Openness and Extraversion but lower Agreeableness, were more likely to be perceived as creative people by their supervisors. In terms of their actual creative performance on the job, employees with higher Openness, Extraversion, and Conscientiousness, received better supervisory ratings. In highlighting the impact of other Big Five traits in addition to Openness, we interpreted the findings in terms of motives to get ahead or get along and further discussed the implications of the study results for personality and creativity research in the workplace.

The effects of personality traits on entrepreneurial intention and creativity among Chinese and African college students in era of industry 4.0/5.0

Using samples of Chinese and African college students, this manuscript explored the effect of personality traits on entrepreneurial intention and creativity from the boundaryless career perspective. The empirical results showed that both Chinese and African college students' conscientiousness and openness had significantly positive effects on entrepreneurial intention and creativity, respectively, and boundaryless mindset had a mediating effect in the relationship between conscientiousness, openness, entrepreneurial intention, and creativity. However, the moderating effects of GPA were quite different. While Chinese college students' GPA strengthened the positive effect of boundaryless mindset on entrepreneurial intention and creativity respectively, African college students' GPA weakened the positive effect of boundaryless mindset on entrepreneurial intention and had no significant moderating effect on the relationship between boundaryless mindset and creativity. This study was based on the empirical research of Chinese and African college students through a combination of contrastive and advance study methodology. It has provided new perspectives for exploring influencing factors and effects of employment performance in the context of Industry 4.0/5.0 and it has made theoretical and practical contributions to promote creativity and entrepreneurial intention.

Holacracy, a modern form of organizational governance predictors for person-organization-fit and job satisfaction

This study compares illegitimate tasks and appreciation in traditional work organisations and holacracy work organisations based in Switzerland and Germany. In addition, the study tests whether the fit between employees and holacracy organisations depends on personality characteristics. Ninety-five employees working in holacratic companies participated in an online survey with standardised questionnaires on illegitimate tasks, Big Five personality dimensions, perceived holacracy satisfaction and person-organisation fit. For the comparison of illegitimate tasks and appreciation, a propensity-matching comparison group of people working in traditional companies was used. The results revealed significantly lower illegitimate tasks t(53) = -2.04, p < 0.05, with a lower level (2.49) in holacracy than in traditional work (2.78). Concerning appreciation, the results showed significantly higher values for holacratic (5.33) than for traditional work [4.14, t(53) = 4.86, p < 0.001]. Multiple linear regression of holacracy satisfaction on personality dimensions showed neuroticism (b = -4.72, p = 0.006) as a significant predictor. Agreeableness showed marginally significant results (b = 2.39, p = 0.06). This indicates that people scoring low on neuroticism and high in agreeableness may thrive better in holacracy organisations. Based on the results, theoretical and practical implications as for example implications for corporates hiring strategy, are discussed. Finally, this study presents numerous directions for future research.

A Secure Base for Entrepreneurship: Attachment Orientations and Entrepreneurial Tendencies

Entrepreneurship catalyzes economic growth; it generates jobs, advances the economy and solves global challenges. Hence, it is crucial to understand the factors contributing to entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs' development. While many studies have investigated intrapersonal factors for entrepreneurial tendencies, the present study focuses on a critical yet often overlooked interpersonal aspect: attachment orientations. Specifically, this article examines the relationship between adult attachment orientations and entrepreneurial tendencies. Three studies across three countries (Israel, the UK, and Singapore) indicated that an anxious attachment orientation in close relationships is negatively associated with enterprising tendencies. In Israel (Study 1) and Singapore (Study 2), avoidant attachment in close relationships was also negatively correlated to such tendencies. Overall, the more people feel secure in close relationships (lower scores on attachment anxiety or avoidance), the higher their enterprising tendencies. Limitations and future research suggestions are discussed.

Why can some entrepreneurs restart after businesses failure while others fail for good? – The case of Chinese business owners in Indonesia

This study investigates the personality differences of entrepreneurs who returned to business after bankruptcy and those who left their entrepreneurial careers. Failure narratives of 15 entrepreneurs helped explore enabling conditions that supported post-failure to either seek new business opportunities or abandon entrepreneurship. Analysis of the responses to shame from failure, coping strategies and personality traits revealed similar patterns of personality profile, shame processing and problem coping strategies for the restarter entrepreneurs who overcame their shame. Contrarily, non-restarters who could not cope with shame and depression exhibited distinctly different patterns of personality traits and coping approaches.

Millennial entrepreneurial persistence under harsh contextual environments in Iran

Millennial Iranian entrepreneurs, as an emerging business class, face new realities rarely seen in other countries due to the harsh and uncertain contextual environment. As young and dynamic entrepreneurs, they want to build independent careers by developing new start-up businesses to address the social and economic needs of the masses and, at the same time, to earn an income to ensure their economic survival. However, given the difficult business environment with domestic challenges and international embargos, these entrepreneurs find themselves faced with many problematic issues. Therefore, this research is based on the concept of entrepreneurial persistence for survival and aims to investigate how Iranian millennial entrepreneurs develop businesses in a difficult contextual environment. A new conceptual framework and a number of propositions for future research have been offered in this study on the basis of the findings. Implications for policy and practices are also discussed with the focus on possible policy reform, better entrepreneurial education as well as other incentives to support millennial entrepreneurs.

On the Opportunities and Risks of Examining the Genetics of Entrepreneurship

Recent accomplishments in genome sequencing techniques have resulted in vast and complex genomic data sets, which have been used to uncover the genetic correlates of not only strictly medical phenomena but also psychological characteristics such as personality traits. In this commentary, we call for the use of genomic data analysis to unlock the valuable field of the genetics of entrepreneurship. Understanding what makes an entrepreneur and what explains their success is paramount given the importance of entrepreneurship to individual, organizational, and societal growth and success. Most of the studies into the genetics of entrepreneurship have investigated familial entrepreneurial inclinations in the form of parent-offspring comparisons or twin studies. However, these do not offer a complete picture of the etiology of entrepreneurship. The use of big data analytics combined with the rapidly growing field of genetic mapping has the potential to offer a more complete picture of the etiology of entrepreneurship by allowing researchers to pinpoint precisely which genes and pathways underlie entrepreneurial behavior and success. We review the risks and opportunities which accompany this endeavor and make the case that, ultimately, prioritizing more research into the genetics of entrepreneurship has the potential to be of value to both science and society.

Personality and Entrepreneurial Behavior: Relations among Entrepreneurship-Relevant Traits and Entrepreneurial Status, Intentions, and Prior Venture Experiences

Increasing investments in incubators, accelerators, and academia coincide with current and historical perceptions of the United States as a world leader in creating new businesses, as well as an economic force dependent, in part, on entrepreneurship. Research identifies various personality characteristics related to entrepreneurship, however, entrepreneur-specific personality measures have rarely been studied. This study investigates relationships between the 11-factor Entrepreneur Core Characteristics Profile and entrepreneurial outcomes in a sample including students, working adults, and current entrepreneurs. Results expand our understanding of how entrepreneur-specific measures may be useful for predicting entrepreneurial outcomes, with implications for practitioners who work with entrepreneurs.

The role of individual variables as antecedents of entrepreneurship processes: Emotional intelligence and self-efficacy

Currently, entrepreneurship is a priority for economic, social, and technological growth. Therefore, the interest in understanding entrepreneurship processes has increased significantly. Individual variables play a fundamental role, and academic research has pointed out the influence of emotional intelligence in entrepreneurial processes; however, its relationship with other interpersonal processes and individual variables, such as personality and self-efficacy, has not been extensively studied. The aim of this research was to analyze the relationship among emotional intelligence, self-efficacy, and entrepreneurial intention, controlling for the effects of personality, gender, and age. Multiple hierarchical regression analyses were applied through a questionnaire survey of 1,593 college students to test the relationship between the constructs in the model. The results show that the personality traits are associated with entrepreneurial self-efficacy, emotional intelligence positively influences entrepreneurial intention, and self-efficacy mediates the relationship between emotional intelligence and entrepreneurial intention. Practical implications for training programs are examined, and future lines of research were discussed.

The impact of the big five personality variables on self-employment survival

Based on large, representative Australian household panel, this study investigates to what extent the Big Five personality variables influence self-employment survival and differentiates between successful or unsuccessful exit. In addition, the influence of two moderating variables, tertiary education and the motivation to become self-employed, are considered. Contrary to expectations, we found no impact of the Big Fives variable on self-employment survival in general. In the case of unsuccessful exit, we found that entrepreneurs with a higher level of Conscientiousness tend to stay self-employed although they may not be satisfied with their job. Similarly, entrepreneurs with a tertiary education prolong unsuccessfully self-employment stints, particularly if they exhibit higher level of Emotional Stability. Necessity-driven entrepreneurs exit unsuccessful stints earlier, especially if they exhibit a lower level of conscientiousness.

The role of five big personality traits and entrepreneurial mindset on entrepreneurial intentions among university students in Saudi Arabia

The big five personality traits and entrepreneurial mindset (EM) are crucial individual-level elements that determine entrepreneurial intention (EI). This study examines the impact of big five personality traits and EM, on EI using the theory of planned behavior. Besides, this study examined the role of entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) and attitude toward entrepreneurship (ATE) influences EI. To achieve the research objectives, a quantitative approach was used. Structural equation modeling (SEM) and path analysis were conducted using SmartPLS software. Data were collected from 270 respondents through online questionnaires. Findings of the study revealed that big five personality traits influence ESE and ATE which led to EI. Finally, the moderating role of entrepreneurial passion was also found to have strong effect on influence ESE and ATE. This study offers evidence and insights that academics, educators, and others involved in the creation or expansion of entrepreneurial knowledge can use as a reference point.

Curious enough to start up? How epistemic curiosity and entrepreneurial alertness influence entrepreneurship orientation and intention

Epistemic curiosity as the desire to acquire new knowledge and ideas is considered as an important attribute for successful entrepreneurs among practitioners, yet there is lacking empirical evidence of epistemic curiosity having an effect on entrepreneurial outcomes. This study aims to put a spotlight on epistemic curiosity as a predictor for entrepreneurial intentions and orientation. We found that epistemic curiosity has a stronger influence on entrepreneurial outcomes in comparison to the Big Five personality trait openness to experience, which is a widely used and conceptually related predictor for entrepreneurship. Furthermore, we found evidence for a mediating role of entrepreneurial alertness which gives further insights about how personality influences the ability to recognize business opportunities and leads to the formation of entrepreneurship orientation and intentions. Our findings contribute to the field of entrepreneurship research by emphasizing that epistemic curiosity may be one of the most important personality indicators for the emergence of entrepreneurial intentions and behavior.

The Influence of Physical Exercise Frequency and Intensity on Individual Entrepreneurial Behavior: Evidence from China

Physical exercise can benefit individuals' physical and mental health and also influence individuals' long-term behavioral choices. Doing exercise is particularly important given that physical exercise can impact individuals' cognitive abilities and positive emotional states, which may further impact entrepreneurial behavior. Therefore, understanding the relationship between exercise and entrepreneurial behavior is essential, because it can provide policy suggestions for popularizing athletic activities and boosting entrepreneurship. Consequently, the present study examined whether physical exercise could predict entrepreneurial behavior and the possible psychological mechanisms within this relationship. Based on the 2017 Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS2017), this study tested the hypotheses using the Probit and Tobit models. The results showed that individuals' physical exercise intensity and frequency positively affected their entrepreneurial behavior. In addition, five variables moderated the relationships between physical exercise and individual entrepreneurial behavior: urban-rural differences, education level, marital status, the existence of minor children, and age. Moreover, positive emotions and physical/mental health mediated the influence of physical exercise (exercise frequency and exercise intensity) on individual entrepreneurial behavior. Endogeneity explanations were ruled out by including instrumental variable, copula terms and adopting coarsened exact matching.

Resilient entrepreneurs? - revisiting the relationship between the Big Five and self-employment

The Big Five personality traits and their influence on entrepreneurial action have been repeatedly studied using a trait-based approach. The present paper partly deviates from this perspective by analysing the role of personality prototypes in relation to entrepreneurship. This person-centred approach suggests that combinations of Big Five traits form individual personalities. By using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), we show that at least three prototypes can be identified, one of which - the resilient type - can be hypothesized to significantly increase the likelihood of entrepreneurial action. Our regression results provide evidence of a positive impact of this prototype on the likelihood of and transitioning into self-employment but not the likelihood of exit. We also show that the prototyping approach explains individual self-employment decisions over and above what can already be explained by the profiling approach, another person-centred Big Five approach. The paper concludes with implications for policy and research.

Association of Personality Traits with Life and Work of Medical Students: An Integrative Review

BACKGROUND

Personality traits are the basic components of an individual's personality. Although there are many published articles about the impact of personality traits on medical students, there is a lack of integrative reviews of existing articles. To close this gap, this review aims to summarize the impact of personality traits on medical students from two perspectives: life and work.

METHODS

The search was performed using the following databases: PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and EMBASE. All publications that assessed the impact of personality traits on life and work until February 2022 were selected.

RESULTS

Ninety-seven studies were included. The results suggest that personality traits could affect life performance, health outcomes, life satisfaction, the formation of doctor-patient relationships, mastery of knowledge, academic performance, and career planning. Different personality traits can have positive or negative impacts on these aspects.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this review suggest that personality traits can affect medical students' lives and work. Therefore, based on the evaluation of the personality traits of medical students, it is necessary to design targeted courses and training for students to improve their personality traits, to bring about better results in their lives and work.

Implications of entrepreneurial education, self-efficacy and personality traits on the entrepreneurial intentions of deaf/hard of hearing students post COVID-19 lockdown

BACKGROUND: Implications of entrepreneurial education (EE), entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) and personality traits (PT) on the entrepreneurial intentions of the deaf is yet unknown in existing literature. OBJECTIVE: To examine the influence of EE, ESE and PT on the entrepreneurial intentions among some 250 Deaf and Hard of hearing (DHH) students from two post-secondary institutions in Oyo state, Nigeria. METHODS: A descriptive research design was adopted, while a structured paper questionnaire was used for data collection. The data generated were analysed using descriptive statistics and the inferential statistics of Pearson Product Moment Correlation and hierarchical multiple regression at a 0.05 level of significance. RESULTS: The entrepreneurial intentions of DHH college students had a significant positive correlation with EE (r = 0.18, p < 0.05), agreeableness (r = 0.23, p < 0.05), and conscientiousness (r = 0.19, p < 0.05); but had a negative correlation with ESE, neuroticism and openness. Furthermore, personality traits and ESE were the highest predictors of entrepreneurial intention among DHH college students. CONCLUSIONS: Personality traits were the greatest predictor of the entrepreneurial intention of DHH college students post the COVID-19 lockdowns in Nigeria. Therefore, higher education institutions should intensify their efforts in entrepreneurial education and parents of DHH students should encourage them to seek entrepreneurial opportunities.

Personality Traits and Entrepreneurial Intentions: Financial Risk-Taking as Mediator

The interaction between environment and individual personality determines career. Over the past decades, the role of personality traits in explaining entrepreneurship cannot get much attention of researchers. To fill this gap, this study aims to investigate the effect of personality traits (extraversion, openness to experience, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and agreeableness) on the entrepreneurial intentions (EI) along with the mediating role of financial risk taking (FRT). Sample size consists of 500 students of business and management of different universities of Pakistan, out of which 466 useable questionnaires were collected and analyzed. The results of the study are consistent with conventional wisdom as explored by past studies. In line with past studies and proposed hypothesis, we found that both extraversion and openness to experience have a positive association with FRT, whereas neuroticism, conscientiousness, and agreeableness have negative association with FRT. The results also revealed that there is positive association between FRT and EI; however, FRT did not mediate the relationship between agreeableness and EI.

Students of entrepreneurship: Sorting, risk behaviour and implications for entrepreneurship programmes

Despite the wide adoption of entrepreneurship programmes by higher education institutions, little is known about how such programmes help students cultivate rationality in decision making. This is surprising, since individuals are bounded rational and prone to systematic biases in high-risk business processes, including entrepreneurship. This article suggests that entrepreneurship programmes should include curricula that furnish awareness of the cognitive mechanisms involved in biased decision making with financial risk. In support of our proposition, this article builds on data from a laboratory-based money games experiment in which students who enrol in entrepreneurship programmes are compared with students who do not in their risk behaviour. We show when, why and how students suffer from specific biases – namely, the prior gain effect and the degree-of-risk effect – that are relevant in environments characterised by high financial risk, and specifically in entrepreneurship. These insights challenge the adequacy of entrepreneurship programme curricula in addressing bounded-rational decision making, as topics such as risk and biased decision making are often overlooked. Second, we discuss possible ways to create such awareness in entrepreneurship learning and education.

A systematic literature review on SME internationalization: a personality lens

The importance of the individual decision-maker within the internationalization process of SMEs has extensively been acknowledged in the International Entrepreneurship field. Yet, despite this, the current discourse is mainly limited to socio-demographics, and social and human capital, and does not seem to advance towards the influence and role of, e.g., deeper-level personality aspects on the SME’s internationalization process. Findings are scattered across different fields of research and disciplines, making it difficult to build upon existing knowledge. To address this, we execute a Systematic Literature Review focusing on internationalization, SMEs, and personality, with specific attention for deeper-level personality aspects. Our findings reveal a rather young body of literature which uses a behavioral perspective, and can be subdivided into three overarching research themes: Internationalization Behaviors, Internationalization Initiation, and Internationalization Performance. Our thematic analysis and cross-thematic discussion provide a fertile ground for further studies on the entrepreneur’s deeper-level personality aspects in relation to SME internationalization. In the future research section, we recommend the exploration of alternative behavioral theories, and multi-level and holistic approaches to further explore this promising sub-domain.

Evaluating Users' Emotional Experience in Mobile Libraries: An Emotional Model Based on the Pleasure-Arousal-Dominance Emotion Model and the Five Factor Model

As a part of user experience, user emotion has rarely been studied in mobile libraries. Specifically, with the proposed emotional model in combination with the Pleasure-Arousal-Dominance (PAD) Emotion Model and the Five Factor Model (FFM), we evaluate user emotions on the mobile library's three IS features (i.e., user interface, interaction quality, and service environment). An experience procedure with three tasks has been designed to collect data. 50 participants were enrolled, and they were asked to fill in questionnaires right after the experience. The correlations among the PAD emotions were examined. Specifically, users have a low perception of pleasure (P), high perception of arousal (A), and low perception of dominance (D). However, these three emotional states were not always significantly correlated with each other. This study extends mobile library research by focusing on users' emotional experience. Specifically, the detailed PAD emotions have been examined. This study provides a new approach for application developers and managers to evaluate the user experience of an application.

Uncovering dominant characteristics for entrepreneurial intention and success in the last decade: systematic literature review

This study presents a systematic literature review to identify dominant characteristics that predict entrepreneurial intention and entrepreneurial success in the twenty-first century. The aim was to provide insights to entrepreneurs, academicians, policy makers, counsellors and all those charged with the responsibility of entrepreneurship development. The study applied a systematic review of the literature contained in the two databases, namely Semantic Scholar and Google Scholar. The analysis of the literature identified self-efficacy, conscientiousness, locus of control, need for achievement and innovativeness as the indisputably and unarguably key top personal characteristics that predict both entrepreneurial intention and guarantee entrepreneurial success. The study also finds that characteristics that predict entrepreneurial intention also guarantee entrepreneurial success. The review of the existing literature shows that there are gaps in it. For example, there are not many countries where studies have been done in the area of interest, and the research methods used in those studies are not balanced because they are mostly quantitative. The major contribution of the study was the identification of key dominant personal characteristics that predict both entrepreneurial intention and lead to entrepreneurial success in today’s dynamic environment. The other key contribution is stages, methodology and the analysis that can be replicated and employed by other researchers (scholars and practitioners) to conduct other studies or better still, similar studies in the future.

Big Five Personality, Academic Entrepreneurial Motivation, and Academic Entrepreneurial Intention: A Research Method Based on Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis

Scholars are the main force behind academic entrepreneurship. The method of how to stimulate scholars’ academic entrepreneurial intention and how to further promote social and economic development are important questions for the academic community. Research on the “net effect” of the factors affecting academic entrepreneurial intention has achieved some theoretical results. However, the results that affect academic entrepreneurial intention are complex and not influenced by a single factor, but rather by the interaction between various factors. Therefore, this study used a fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis research method to explore how various factors can affect scholars’ academic entrepreneurial intention from two dimensions: the Big Five personality traits and academic entrepreneurial motivation. Our findings showed two configurations that affect high academic entrepreneurial intention of university scholars: the openness to experience—ribbon—dominant path, and the ribbon—dominant path. Additionally, two configurations were revealed for the formation of not-high academic entrepreneurial intention: extraversion—conscientiousness—inhibition and extraversion—agreeableness—gold—hindrance paths. Moreover, this study revealed that a causal asymmetry exists between the high and the not-high academic entrepreneurial intention configurations. This study broadens the application of the fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis method in the research of academic entrepreneurial intention and provides theoretical and practical insights for researchers and practitioners on how to effectively stimulate scholars’ academic entrepreneurial intention.

Managing knowledge reuse: the duality of innovator personality

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide new insights for managing knowledge reuse in terms of the duality of innovator personality. Continuously developing new products is crucial for firms to maintain and enhance their competitive advantages. However, the limited and highly specialized knowledge can cause innovators of firms to face difficulties in the process of new product development (NPD). In this setting, knowledge reuse becomes a solution that may benefit innovators to overcome the innovation dilemma. Given the fact that innovators with different personality are likely to form incongruent cognitions and affection on knowledge reuse, thus subsequently affecting the performance of NPD, there is an urgent need to investigate the effects of innovator personality in the entire process of knowledge reuse.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper exploits five-factor model (FFM) of personality to comprehensively investigate the dual effects of innovator personality in managing knowledge reuse based on the two distinct sets of knowledge reuse initiation and implementation.

Findings

By using the data from 981 innovators of knowledge-intensive firms in China, this study finds that the FFM traits of conscientiousness and agreeableness had opposing effects on initiation and implementation of knowledge reuse. While the FFM traits of emotional stability and openness to experience both positively affect the knowledge reuse initiation and implementation. Moreover, the FFM traits of extraversion benefit the shaping of knowledge reuse initiation whereas encumbering the implementation of knowledge reuse.

Originality/value

First, this study reveals the different roles of cognitive and affective traits of personality in shaping knowledge reuse. Second, this study exposes the role of innovator personality in determining the performance effects of knowledge reuse implementation. Third, this study highlights the dual effects of innovator personality in managing knowledge reuse. This study offers evidence for arranging the innovators with appropriate FFM traits in various stages of knowledge reuse.

Entrepreneurial Capability, Career Development, and Entrepreneurial Intention: Evidence From China's HR Survey Data

Based on 2018 China's Human Resource Employees Survey Data, this study uses the probit model to examine the impact of entrepreneurial ability and career development on HR's entrepreneurial intention. In terms of entrepreneurial ability, the results show that the educational background of Human Resource Management, cross-disciplinary knowledge, job-hopping experience, and the number of subordinates have significant positive impacts on HR's entrepreneurial intention. In terms of career development, lack of promotion space, skill upgrading opportunities, and lower than expected income have significant positive impacts on HR's entrepreneurial intention, and these impacts are heterogeneous among different enterprises. This study suggests that potential entrepreneurs can be identified from the explicit characteristics, which reflect HR's entrepreneurial abilities, and it is necessary to face up to the influence of career development on HR's entrepreneurial intention and encourage them to participate in on-the-job entrepreneurship. This study suggests that HR's entrepreneurial ability should be regarded as an important starting point for entrepreneurial success, and it is necessary to improve HR's career development system to create more opportunities for on-the-job entrepreneurship, and government should implement differentiated and precise entrepreneurial support policies to encourage HR's entrepreneurship.

How Does Long-Term Orientation Influence the Investments of Venture Capitals? Evidence From the Organizational Level

Amid great uncertainty along with the possibility of huge returns, venture investment decisions are both technical and artistic. Past studies have paid much attention to the influences of objective factors on venture investment. However, subjective factors have been relatively ignored. As a salient psychological mechanism, temporal focus is of great importance for venture capitalists when making their investment decisions. This study performed content analysis to investigate how temporal focus at the organizational level affects investment decisions of venture capital (VC) firms. The results revealed that VCs with higher level of long-term orientation prefer to invest in less popular industries and ventures in the expansion period. Meanwhile, they are less likely to invest in very new start-ups. Moreover, long-term oriented VCs tend to re-invest in start-ups in their portfolios instead of just shooting once on numerous single start-ups. However, the author did not find any support on preferences of VCs for ventures with high level of human capital.

From Trait Affect and Conscientiousness to Individual Entrepreneurial Orientation: The Mediating Role of Cognitive Flexibility

This study investigates the mediating role of cognitive flexibility on the relationship between trait positive/negative affect, and conscientiousness with individual entrepreneurial orientation. A total of 508 (175 male and 333 female) undergraduate students participated in the study. Three separate mediation analyses were carried out. The results revealed that cognitive flexibility partially mediated the relationship between trait positive affect and individual entrepreneurial orientation as well as the relationship between conscientiousness and individual entrepreneurial orientation. The results also showed that cognitive flexibility fully mediated the association between trait negative affect and individual entrepreneurial orientation. Findings of this study show that interventions and individual development programs may be conducted to increase cognitive flexibility of individuals with high levels of trait negative affect, low levels of conscientiousness and low levels of trait positive affect. This might potentially strengthen their levels of individual entrepreneurial orientation.

The Relationship Between Personality Traits and Entrepreneurial Intention Among College Students: The Mediating Role of Creativity

Significant research has been conducted on the influence of entrepreneurial intention on entrepreneurial education and entrepreneurship practice. Similarly, this study aims to explore how creativity plays a mediating role in the influence of personality traits on entrepreneurial intention. As many as 674 valid questionnaires were collected from college students in China, allowing the relationship between personality traits, creativity, and entrepreneurial intention to be analyzed in detail. The following results are found through a series of explorations. First, neuroticism in personality traits has a significant negative impact on entrepreneurial intention, while conscientiousness, openness, and extraversion have a significant positive impact. Second, neuroticism has a significant negative impact on creativity, while conscientiousness, openness, and extraversion have a significant positive impact. Third, creativity has a significant positive impact on entrepreneurial intention, it has a partial mediating role between neuroticism, conscientiousness, extraversion, and entrepreneurial intention along with a complete mediating role between openness and entrepreneurial intention. The research results further provide a reference value for the improvement and optimization of entrepreneurial practice.

Entrepreneurial tendency across the adult lifespan

This study examines whether age associates with entrepreneurship tendencies across the lifespan, after taking into account aspects of personality that affect entrepreneurship. Participants (N = 963) aged 18–81, including 200 actual entrepreneurs, completed questionnaires about entrepreneurship tendency, personality traits, and attachment orientations. Results show that age is associated with a reduced tendency to engage in entrepreneurial activity. However, this decline is quite limited, it weakens with age, and is absent after age 50. In addition, the negative association of age with entrepreneurial tendency is smaller in participants with above-median entrepreneurship tendency scores relative to those with below-median scores, and it disappears in actual entrepreneurs. Furthermore, most of the traits that have been previously associated with entrepreneurial tendencies, especially Openness to Experience and Extraversion, remain unchanged with age, accounting for the stability of entrepreneurial tendency over time. The results have implications for policy makers who wish to encourage older adults to engage in entrepreneurial activity.

Openness and Entrepreneurial Performance During COVID-19 Pandemic: Strategic Decision Comprehensiveness as an Inconsistent Mediator

The COVID-19 pandemic severely hit small and micro-businesses. In the face of the impact of the pandemic, how to help entrepreneurs, especially small- and micro-businesses that are more sensitive to the impact of the pandemic, make decisions to reduce losses has become an issue worth paying attention to. From the perspective of personality approach, this article studied openness, which is the strongest predictor of entrepreneurial performance among the big five personality traits, and explored the impact of entrepreneurs' openness on entrepreneurial performance during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the inconsistent mediating role of strategic decision comprehensiveness on entrepreneurial performance. An online questionnaire survey was conducted among 238 entrepreneurs of small- and micro-businesses when China was recovering from the pandemic and starting to resume work and production (February 18 - February 26, 2020). Entrepreneurial performance during the COVID-19 pandemic was measured by comparing the business conditions before and after the pandemic. The results showed that entrepreneurs' openness positively impacted strategic decision comprehensiveness and entrepreneurial performance during the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the two competing hypotheses proposed by summarizing previous research, the results supported that strategic decision comprehensiveness negatively affected entrepreneurial performance. It indicated that entrepreneurs who tend to collect and analyze information extensively and then make decisions during the pandemic could not seize opportunities and improve their entrepreneurial performance. The results further supported that strategic decision comprehensiveness was an inconsistent mediator between openness and entrepreneurial performance, showing that entrepreneurs with low openness can also reduce the loss of entrepreneurial performance during the pandemic by making incomplete but rapid strategic decisions. This study found that the openness of entrepreneurs had a positive impact on strategic decision comprehensiveness for the first time and provided more empirical evidence for the negative effect of strategic decision comprehensiveness on entrepreneurial performance in the context of information uncertainty and unanalyzable situations. The inconsistent mediating effect of strategic decision comprehensiveness revealed in this study also has practical significance for helping entrepreneurs make correct decisions to reduce the losses caused by the pandemic.