Influence of Personality Attributes on the Entrepreneurial Intention of Polytechnic Undergraduates in Osun State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined the influence of personality attributes on the entrepreneurial intention of polytechnic undergraduates in Osun State, Nigeria. The study adopted descriptive survey design. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 280 undergraduates for the study. Three null hypotheses were postulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. A questionnaire adapted from literature, designed in 4-Likert format was used for data collection. The instrument was subjected to a panel of experts’ validation. The panel carried out a content analysis of each of the questionnaire items and eliminated those found to be irrelevant to the research problem. A reliability test for the internal consistency of the instrument yielded Cronbach alpha of 0.79. Data analysis was based on 260 valid responses with the aid of regression analysis, ANOVA and correlation coefficient using SPSS version 23. The study found that four of the big-five personality attributes (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreeableness) have a significant positive influence on the entrepreneurial intention of polytechnic undergraduates in Osun State, Nigeria with p<0.05 and Adjusted R2 =.457. The entrepreneurial intention of the undergraduates was found to significantly differ in favour of engineering and management studies. The study concluded that personality attributes have a significant influence on the entrepreneurial intention of polytechnic undergraduates and it was therefore recommended that, in order to boost the level of entrepreneurial intention of polytechnic undergraduates, both students and management should pay better attention to the development of personality attributes such as openness, conscientiousness, and extraversion, which have higher positive influence on the entrepreneurial intention of the students. Keywords: Personality Attributes, Entrepreneurship Education, Entrepreneurial Intention, Polytechnic Undergraduates