Impact of dark tetrad personality traits on nascent entrepreneurial behavior: the mediating role of entrepreneurial intention

Abstract

The impact of negative personality traits on entrepreneurial intention and entrepreneurial behavior has become a research focus in the field of entrepreneurship. This study aimed to identify the influence of dark tetrad personality traits on the nascent entrepreneurial behavior and the mediating role of entrepreneurial intention. This study used partial least square-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to test the hypotheses on a sample of 347 undergraduate and postgraduate university students from China. The results of this study revealed that narcissism, psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and sadism have a positive and significant influence on nascent entrepreneurial behavior and entrepreneurial intention, which significantly partially mediates the relationship between dark tetrad and nascent entrepreneurial behavior. The finding of the study implies China’s higher education and policymakers to unlock the hidden potential of its youth. This study contributes to the emerging literature on psychology and entrepreneurship and provides evidence that individuals with a high level of dark tetrad are more likely to be involved in entrepreneurial action.

Impact of Entrepreneurial Education, Mindset, and Creativity on Entrepreneurial Intention: Mediating Role of Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy

“…This study provides four main contributions to literature on entrepreneurship. First, existing studies have been focused on entrepreneurial traits such as family business (Douglas et al, 2021), big five personality traits (Bazkiaei et al, 2020), the dark side of personality traits (Cai et al, 2021), entrepreneurial self-efficacy (Ceresia and Mendola, 2020), and entrepreneurial alertness (Urban, 2020) to determine the entrepreneurial intention of the student. Second, Wardana et al (2020) argued that there is a lack of study into an entrepreneurial education and entrepreneurial mindset on entrepreneurial intention; most of the previous studies have been investigated on entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial mindset in the context of Europe (Boldureanu et al, 2020), America (Barnard et al, 2019), Africa (Puni et al, 2018), Malaysia (Shamsudin et al, 2017), and India (Jena, 2020), while little attention has been paid by scholars to the context of China.…”

Selfish Personalities Influencing Start-up Intention and Motivation: A Study of Vietnam

“…Therefore, entrepreneurship programs should be considered basic courses for business undergraduates, thanks to which students are trained to have moral and appropriate attitudes, critical skills, and information (Chen, Greene, & Crick, 1998). Furthermore, self-regulation and social responsibility should be developed to reduce the harmful effects of dark characteristics on humanity and business (Cai et al, 2021;Hmieleski & Lerner, 2016).…”

“…Besides, psychopaths have a strong desire for self-promotion and impression by status, dominance, prestige, and nance, which might be well demonstrated in an entrepreneurial career. Therefore, previous articles indicated that a high level of psychopathy within individuals positively correlates with start-up intention (Cai et al, 2021;Kramer et al, 2011).…”

“…Machiavellianism is considered a factor in uencing positively on the intention to establish a new business (Cai et al, 2021;Hmieleski & Lerner, 2016). As Machiavellians represent the "darkest" and the most sel sh characteristics, with which they can exploit other people to satisfy their interests (Li et al, 2020;…”

“…In addition, successful managers and entrepreneurs have a higher psychopathy level than others. The overcon dence in their intellect pushes sympathy away from psychopaths (Kramer et al, 2011) and the lacking induce them to engage in unethical and violent actions on the way to their goals (Cai et al, 2021). Besides, psychopaths have a strong desire for self-promotion and impression by status, dominance, prestige, and nance, which might be well demonstrated in an entrepreneurial career.…”