--

11 (2) 2021

A systematic literature review on personality traits in social entrepreneurship


Author - Affiliation:
Phan Tan Luc - Thu Dau Mot University , Vietnam
Corresponding author: Phan Tan Luc - lucpt@tdmu.edu.vn
Submitted: 06-02-2021
Accepted: 17-07-2021
Published: 14-08-2021

Abstract
The purpose of this study is to provide a systematic literature review on personality trait research in social entrepreneurship, clarify the prevailing research categories and research themes, and suggest potential future research directions. The review process follows the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). A total of 60 publications in the research topic from Web of Science and Scopus were analyzed. This study identifies four main categories in studies of personality traits in social entrepreneurship: ‘comparison of personality traits,’ ‘description of personality traits of social entrepreneurs,’ ‘personality traits and social entrepreneurial intention,’ and ‘personality traits and other factors.’ In addition, the themes in each category are also determined and several research gaps deserving of future investigation are recognized. Policymakers and educators gain a deeper understanding of personality traits in social entrepreneurship to have policies that trigger a change in social entrepreneurship education by cultivating personality traits towards sustainable development. This study classifies publications related to personality traits in social entrepreneurship and provides a guide for researchers by providing a systematic understanding of the research structure in this topic.

Keywords
personality traits; social entrepreneurship; systematic review; traits

Full Text:
PDF

Cite this paper as:

Phan, T. L. (2021). A systematic literature review on personality traits in social entrepreneurship. Ho Chi Minh City Open University Journal of Science – Economics and Business Administration, 11(2), 172-190. doi:10.46223/HCMCOUJS.econ.en.11.2.1433.2021


References

Achleitner, A. K., Lutz, E., Mayer, J., & Spiess-Knafl, W. (2013). Disentangling gut feeling: Assessing the integrity of social entrepreneurs. Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 24 (1), 93-124.


Ahmetoglu, G., Leutner, F., & Chamorro-Premuzic, T. (2011). EQ-nomics: Understanding the relationship between individual differences in trait emotional intelligence and entrepreneurship. Personality and Individual Differences, 51 (8), 1028-1033.


Akar, H., & Ustuner, M. (2017). Mediation role of self-efficacy perceptions in the relationship between emotional intelligence levels and social entrepreneurship traits of pre-service teachers. Journal of Education and Future-Egitim Ve Gelecek Dergisi, 12 (1), 95-115.


Alvord, S. H., Brown, L. D., & Letts, C. W. (2004). Social entrepreneurship and societal transformation: An exploratory study. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 40 (3), 260-282.


Arend, R. J. (2013). A heart-mind-opportunity nexus: Distinguishing social entrepreneurship for entrepreneurs. Academy of Management Review, 28 (2), 313-315.


Ashton, M. C., & Lee, K. (2007). Empirical, theoretical, and practical advantages of the HEXACO model of personality structure. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 11 (2), 150-166.


Ayob, N., Yap, C. S., Sapuan, D. A., & Rashidd, Z. A. (2013). Social Entrepreneurial Intention among Business Undergraduates: An Emerging Economy Perspective. Gadjah Mada International Journal of Business, 15 (3), 249-267.


Bacq, S., & Alt, E. (2018). Feeling capable and valued: A prosocial perspective on the link between empathy and social entrepreneurial intentions. Journal of Business Venturing, 33 (3), 333-350.


Bacq, S., Hartog, C., & Hoogendoorn, B. (2016). Beyond the moral portrayal of social entrepreneurs: An empirical approach to who they are and what drives them. Journal of Business Ethics, 133 (4), 703-718. doi:10.1007/s10551-014-2446-7


Barendsen, L., & Gardner, H. (2004). Is the social entrepreneur a new type of leader? Leader to Leader, 2004 (34), 43-50.


Bargsted, M., Picon, M., Salazar, A., & Rojas, Y. (2013). Psychosocial characterization of social entrepreneurs: A comparative study. Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, 4 (3), 331-346.


Barrett, H., Balloun, J. L., & Weinstein, A. (2005). The impact of creativity on performance in non‐profits. International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing, 10 (4), 213-223.


Barrick, M. R., & Mount, M. K. (1993). Autonomy as a moderator of the relationships between the big five personality dimensions and job performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78 (1), 111-118.


Berings, D., De Fruyt, F., & Bouwen, R. (2004). Work values and personality traits as predictors of enterprising and social vocational interests. Personality and Individual Differences, 36 (2), 349-364.


Bernardino, S., Santos, J. F., & Ribeiro, J. C. (2018). Social entrepreneur and gender: What’s personality got to do with it? International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, 10 (1), 61-82.


Boluk, K. A., & Mottiar, Z. (2014). Motivations of social entrepreneurs: Blurring the social contribution and profits dichotomy. Social Enterprise Journal, 10 (1), 53-68.


Brandstätter, H. (2011). Personality aspects of entrepreneurship: A look at five meta-analyses. Personality and Individual Differences, 51 (3), 222-230.


Campbell, W. K., & Miller, J. D. (2011). The handbook of narcissism and narcissistic personality disorder: Theoretical approaches, empirical findings, and treatments. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.


Chamorro-Premuzic, T., & Furnham, A. (2010). The psychology of personnel selection. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.


Chipeta, E. M., & Surujlal, J. (2017). Influence of attitude, risk taking propensity and proactive personality on social entrepreneurship intentions. Polish Journal of Management Studies, 15 (2), 27-36.


Christie, M. J., & Honig, B. (2006). Social entrepreneurship: New research findings. Journal of World Business, 41 (1), 1-5.


Cohen, H., Kaspi-Baruch, O., & Katz, H. (2019). The social entrepreneur puzzle: The background, personality and motivation of Israeli social entrepreneurs. Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, 10 (2), 211-231.


Cooper, C. (1998). Individual differences. London, UK: Arnold.


Costa, P. T., Jr., & McCrae, R. R. (1992). Four ways five factors are basic. Personality and Individual Differences, 13 (6), 653-665.


Dacin, P. A., Dacin, M. T., & Matear, M. (2010). Social entrepreneurship: Why we don’t need a new theory and how we move forward from here. Academy of Management Perspectives, 24 (3), 37-57. doi:10.5465/amp.2010.52842950


Dees, J. G., & Anderson, B. B. (2003). For-profit social ventures. International Journal of Entrepreneurship Education, 2 (1), 1-26.


Dees. J. G. (1998). The meaning of social entrepreneurship. Miriam and Peter Haas Centennial Professor in Public Service Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, US.


Diaz, F. (2003). Locus of control, nach and values of community entrepreneurs. Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal, 31 (8), 739-747.


Douglas, E., & Prentice, C. (2019). Innovation and profit motivations for social entrepreneurship: A fuzzy-set analysis. Journal of Business Research, 99 (1), 69-79.


Drayton, W. (2002). The citizen sector: Becoming as entrepreneurial and competitive as business. California Management Review, 44 (3), 120-132.


Elliot, A. J., & Thrash, T. M. (2001). Narcissism and motivation. Psychological Inquiry, 12 (4), 216-219.


Ernst, K. (2011). Heart over mind–An empirical analysis of social entrepreneurial intention formation on the basis of the theory of planned behaviour (Doctoral dissertation). University of Wuppertal, Berlin, Germany.


Foster, J. D., Shenesey, J. W., & Goff, J. S. (2009). Why do narcissists take more risks? Testing the roles of perceived risks and benefits of risky behaviors. Personality and Individual Differences, 47 (8), 885-889.


Fuller, B., Liu, Y., Bajaba, S., Marler, L. E., & Pratt, J. (2018). Examining how the personality, self-efficacy, and anticipatory cognitions of potential entrepreneurs shape their entrepreneurial intentions. Personality and Individual Differences, 125 (1), 120-125.


Germak, A. J., & Robinson, J. A. (2014). Exploring the motivation of nascent social entrepreneurs. Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, 5 (1), 5-21.


Ghalwash, S., Tolba, A., & Ismail, A. (2017). What motivates social entrepreneurs to start social ventures? An exploratory study in the context of a developing economy. Social Enterprise Journal, 13 (3), 268-298. doi:10.1108/sej-05-2016-0014


Herrmann, N. (1991). The creative brain. The Journal of Creative Behavior, 25 (4), 275-295.


Hockerts, K. (2015). The social entrepreneurial antecedents scale (seas): A validation study. Social Enterprise Journal, 11 (3), 260-280. doi:10.1108/sej-05-2014-0026


Hockerts, K. (2017). Determinants of social entrepreneurial intentions. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 41 (1), 105-130.


Hsu, C. Y., & Wang, S. M. (2018). Social entrepreneurial intentions and its influential factors: A comparison of students in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 1 (1), 1-11.


Ip, C. Y., Liang, C., Wu, S. C., Law, K. M. Y., & Liu, H. C. (2018). Enhancing social entrepreneurial intentions through entrepreneurial creativity: A comparative study between Taiwan and Hong Kong. Creativity Research Journal, 30 (2), 132-142.


Ip, C. Y., Wu, S. C., Liu, H. C., & Liang, C. (2018). Social entrepreneurial intentions of students from Hong Kong. The Journal of Entrepreneurship, 27 (1), 47-64.


İrengün, O., & Arıkboğa, S. (2015). The effect of personality traits on social entrepreneurship intentions: A field research. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 195 (1), 1186-1195.


Jilinskaya-Pandey, M., & Wade, J. (2019). Social entrepreneur quotient: An international perspective on social entrepreneur personalities. Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, 10 (1), 1-23.


Judge, T. A., & Bono, J. E. (2000). Five-factor model of personality and transformational leadership. Journal of Applied Psychology, 85 (5), 751-765.


Kedmenec, I., Rebernik, M., & Perić, J. (2015). The impact of individual characteristics on intentions to pursue social entrepreneurship. Ekonomski Pregled, 66 (2), 119-137.


Kong, E. (2010). Innovation processes in social enterprises: An IC perspective. Journal of Intellectual Capital, 11 (2), 158-178.


Lacap, J. P. G., Mulyaningsih, H. D., & Ramadani, V. (2018). The mediating effects of social entrepreneurial antecedents on the relationship between prior experience and social entrepreneurial intent: The case of Filipino and Indonesian university students. Journal of Science and Technology Policy Management, 9 (3), 29-346. doi:10.1108/jstpm-03-2018-0028


Lakey, C. E., Rose, P., Campbell, W. K., & Goodie, A. S. (2008). Probing the link between narcissism and gambling: The mediating role of judgment and decision‐making biases. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 21 (2), 113-137.


Lam-Lam, S., Ahumada-Tello, E., Plascencia-López, I., & Perusquia-Velasco, J. M. (2018). Social entrepreneurship as the novel approach to modern innovative entrepreneurs. In The 2018 IEEE Technology and Engineering Management Conference (TEMSCON) (pp. 1-6). Hangzhou, China: IEEETEMS Technology & Engineering Management Society.


Leadbeater, C. (1997). The rise of the social entrepreneur. London, UK: Demos.


Li, W. D., Fay, D., Frese, M., Harms, P. D., & Gao, X. Y. (2014). Reciprocal relationship between proactive personality and work characteristics: A latent change score approach. Journal of Applied Psychology, 99 (5), 948-965.


Liang, C. T., Peng, L. P., Yao, S. N., & Liang, C. Y. (2015). Developing a social enterprise performance scale and examining the relationship between entrepreneurs’ personality traits and their perceived enterprise performance. Journal of Entrepreneurship Management and Innovation, 99 (5), 89-116.


Llewellyn, D. J., & Wilson, K. M. (2003). The controversial role of personality traits in entrepreneurial psychology. Education and Training, 45 (6), 341-345.


Lukes, M., & Stephan, U. (2012). Nonprofit leaders and for-profit entrepreneurs: Similar people with different motivation. Ceskoslovenska Psychologie, 56 (1), 41-55.


Lumpkin, G., Moss, T. W., Gras, D. M., Kato, S., & Amezcua, A. S. (2013). Entrepreneurial processes in social contexts: How are they different, if at all? Small Business Economics, 40 (3), 761-783.


Mair, J., & Marti, I. (2006). Social entrepreneurship research: A source of explanation, prediction, and delight. Journal of World Business, 41 (1), 36-44. doi:10.1016/j.jwb.2005.09.002


Mair, J., Battilana, J., & Cardenas, J. (2012). Organizing for society: A typology of social entrepreneuring models. Journal of Business Ethics, 111 (3), 353-373. doi:10.1007/s10551-012-1414-3


Martin, R. L., & Osberg, S. (2007). Social entrepreneurship: The case for definition. Stanford Social Innovation Review Stanford, 5 (1), 28-39.


Martínez, C. N., Bañón, A. R., & Laviada, A. F. (2019). Social entrepreneur: Same or different from the rest? VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 30 (3), 443-459.


Mendoza, D. B., & Lacap, J. P. G. (2015). Personality traits and entrepreneurial intentions of business administration students of selected higher education institutions in Pampanga, Philippines. PEOPLE: International Journal of Social Sciences, 1 (1), 613-631.


Mort, G. M. S., Weerawardena, J., & Carnegie, K. (2003). Social entrepreneurship: Towards conceptualisation. International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing, 8 (1), 76-88.


Naffziger, D. W., Hornsby, J. S., & Kuratko, D. F. (1994). A proposed research model of entrepreneurial motivation. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 28 (3), 29-42.


Neneh, B. N. (2019). From entrepreneurial alertness to entrepreneurial behavior: The role of trait competitiveness and proactive personality. Personality and Individual Differences, 138 (1), 273-279.


Nga, J. K. H., & Shamuganathan, G. (2010). The influence of personality traits and demographic factors on social entrepreneurship start up intentions. Journal of Business Ethics, 85 (2), 259-282.


Nsereko, I., Balunywa, W., Munene, J., Orobia, L., & Muhammed, N. (2018). Personal initiative: Its power in social entrepreneurial venture creation. Cogent Business & Management, 5 (1), 1-15. doi:10.1080/23311975.2018.1443686


O’Boyle, E. H., Jr., Humphrey, R. H., Pollack, J. M., Hawver, T. H., & Story, P. A. (2011). The relation between emotional intelligence and job performance: A meta‐analysis. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 32 (5), 788-818.


Pate, L., & Wankel, C. (2014). Emerging research directions in social entrepreneurship. New York, NY: Springer Science & Business Media.


Penner, L. A., Dovidio, J. F., Piliavin, J. A., & Schroeder, D. A. (2005). Prosocial behavior: Multilevel perspectives. Annual Review of Psychology, 56 (1), 365-392.


Penner, L. A., Fritzsche, B. A., Craiger, J. P., & Freifeld, T. R. (1995). Measuring the prosocial personality. Advances in Personality Assessment, 10 (1), 147-163.


Peredo, A. M., & McLean, M. (2006). Social entrepreneurship: A critical review of the concept. Journal of World Business, 41 (1), 56-65. doi:10.1016/j.jwb.2005.10.007


Phan, L. T., Le, H. N., & Pham, L. X. (2019). A systematic literature review on social entrepreneurial intention. Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, 11 (3), 1-16.


Politis, K., Ketikidis, P., Diamantidis, A. D., & Lazuras, L. (2016). An investigation of social entrepreneurial intentions formation among South-East European postgraduate students. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 23 (4), 1120-1141.


Praszkier, R., Nowak, A., & Zablocka-Bursa, A. (2009). Social capital built by social entrepreneurs and the specific personality traits that facilitate the process. Social Psychology [Psychologia Spoleczna], 40 (10/12), 42-54.


Preethi, C., & Priyadarshini, R. (2018). The Intention towards Social Entrepreneurship among Students and its link with Big 5 Model. Paper presented at the The 3rd International Conference on Materials and Manufacturing Engineering 2018, Tamilnadu, India.


Preston, S. D., & De Waal, F. B. (2002). Empathy: Its ultimate and proximate bases. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 25 (1), 1-20.


Prieto, L. C. (2011). The influence of proactive personality on social entrepreneurial intentions among African American and Hispanic undergraduate students: The moderating role of hope. Academy of Entrepreneurship Journal, 17 (2), 77-96.


Rahman, R. S. A. R., & Pihie, Z. A. L. (2014). Validity and reliability of the social entrepreneurial personality. Paper presented at the 10th European Conference on Management, Leadership & Governance, Zagreb, Croatia.


Rauch, A., & Frese, M. (2007). Let’s put the person back into entrepreneurship research: A meta-analysis on the relationship between business owners’ personality traits, business creation, and success. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 16 (4), 353-385.


Roy, A., Brumagim, A., & Goll, I. (2014). Predictors of social entrepreneurship success: A cross-national analysis of antecedent factors. Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, 51 (1), 42-59.


Satar, M. S., & John, S. (2016). A conceptual model of critical success factors for Indian social enterprises. World Journal of Entrepreneurship Management and Sustainable Development, 12 (2), 113-138. doi:10.1108/wjemsd-09-2015-0042


Satar, M. S., & John, S. (2019). The critical success factors of social entrepreneurship in India: An empirical study. International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 37 (3), 309-341.


Schjoedt, L., & Shaver, K. G. (2012). Development and validation of a locus of control scale for the entrepreneurship domain. Small Business Economics, 39 (3), 713-726.


Seiz, R. C., & Schwab, A. J., Jr. (1992). Entrepreneurial personality traits and clinical social work practitioners. Families in Society, 73 (8), 495-502.


Sengupta, S., Sahay, A., & Croce, F. (2018). Conceptualizing social entrepreneurship in the context of emerging economies: An integrative review of past research from BRIICS. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 14 (4), 771-803. doi:10.1007/s11365-017-0483-2


Shane, S., & Venkataraman, S. (2000). The promise of entrepreneurship as a field of research. Academy of Management Review, 25 (1), 217-226.


Shaw, E., & Carter, S. (2007). Social entrepreneurship: Theoretical antecedents and empirical analysis of entrepreneurial processes and outcomes. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 14 (3), 418-434.


Smith, M. M., Sherry, S. B., Chen, S., Saklofske, D. H., Flett, G. L., & Hewitt, P. L. (2016). Perfectionism and narcissism: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Research in Personality, 64 (1), 90-101.


Smith, R., Bell, R., & Watts, H. (2014). Personality trait differences between traditional and social entrepreneurs. Social Enterprise Journal, 10 (3), 200-221.


Stephan, U., & Drencheva, A. (2017). The person in social entrepreneurship: A systematic review of research on the social entrepreneurial personality. In G. Ahmetoglu, T. Chamorro-Premuzic, B. Klinger & T. Karcisky (Eds.), The Wiley handbook of entrepreneurship (1st ed., pp. 205-229). West Sussex, UK: John Wiley.


Tan, W. L., Williams, J., & Tan, T. M. (2005). Defining the ‘social’ in ‘social entrepreneurship’: Altruism and entrepreneurship. The International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 1 (3), 353-365.


Tiwari, P., Bhat, A. K., & Tikoria, J. (2017a). An empirical analysis of the factors affecting social entrepreneurial intentions. Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, 7 (1), 1-25.


Tiwari, P., Bhat, A. K., & Tikoria, J. (2017b). Relationship between entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intentions: A Validation Study. In M. J. Manimala & P. Thomas (Eds.), Entrepreneurship Education: Experiments with Curriculum, Pedagogy and Target Groups (1st ed., pp. 171-188). Singapore: Springer.


Tiwari, P., Bhat, A. K., & Tikoria, J. (2017c). The role of emotional intelligence and self-efficacy on social entrepreneurial attitudes and social entrepreneurial intentions. Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, 8 (2), 165-185. doi:10.1080/19420676.2017.1371628


Tran, A. T. P., & Von Korflesch, H. (2016). A conceptual model of social entrepreneurial intention based on the social cognitive career theory. Asia Pacific Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 41 (1), 17-38. doi:10.1108/apjie-12-2016-007


Van Gelderen, M., & Jansen, P. (2006). Autonomy as a start-up motive. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 18 (3), 23-32.


Van Gelderen, M., Brand, M., Van Praag, M., Bodewes, W., Poutsma, E., & Van Gils, A. (2008). Explaining entrepreneurial intentions by means of the theory of planned behaviour. Career Development International, 13 (6), 538-559.


Van Ryzin, G. G., Grossman, S., DiPadova-Stocks, L., & Bergrud, E. (2009). Portrait of the social entrepreneur: Statistical evidence from a US panel. Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 20 (2), 129-140.


Weerawardena, J., & Mort, G. S. (2006). Investigating social entrepreneurship: A multidimensional model. Journal of World Business, 41 (1), 21-35. doi:10.1016/j.jwb.2005.09.001


Wood, S. (2012). Prone to progress: Using personality to identify supporters of innovative social entrepreneurship. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 31 (1), 129-141. doi:10.1509/jppm.11.060


Xia, N., Zou, P. X., Griffin, M. A., Wang, X., & Zhong, R. (2018). Towards integrating construction risk management and stakeholder management: A systematic literature review and future research agendas. International Journal of Project Management, 36 (5), 701-715.


Yu, T. L., & Wang, J. H. (2019). Factors affecting social entrepreneurship intentions among agricultural university students in Taiwan. International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, 22 (1), 107-118. doi:10.22434/ifamr2018.0032


Zahra, S. A., Gedajlovic, E., Neubaum, D. O., & Shulman, J. M. (2009). A typology of social entrepreneurs: Motives, search processes and ethical challenges. Journal of Business Venturing, 24 (5), 519-532.


Zampetakis, L. A., Kafetsios, K., Bouranta, N., Dewett, T., & Moustakis, V. S. (2009). On the relationship between emotional intelligence and entrepreneurial attitudes and intentions. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, 15 (6), 595-618.


Zhao, H., & Seibert, S. E. (2006). The Big Five personality dimensions and entrepreneurial status: A meta-analytical review. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91 (2), 259-271.



Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.