Thesis (MBA) - Cyprus International University. Institute of Graduate Studies and Research Business Adminstration

The aim of this study is to research the relationship between the big five personality traits and individual entrepreneurial orientation. This relationship if found in existence can help decision makers and general stake holders concerned in any part of the continuum between individuals and entrepreneurship make better decisions on what kind of personality types can do better when trained in the art of entrepreneurship. The study also assessed the moderating role of parents’ occupational background in this relationship. The big five personality theory holds that individuals vary in the degree to which they exhibit the five different attributes of this personality framework which are extraversion, openness to new experience, conscientiousness, emotional stability (neuroticism), and agreeableness. Individual entrepreneurial orientation has been defined as the extent to which individuals display qualities that tend to predict entrepreneurial tendencies which are innovativeness, proactiveness, and risk taking. The literature had in time past associated this quality and researched it at firm level or in organizations but recently, a more individualistic view is being shed on it. A survey questionnaire consisting of 27 questions including demographic information, parents occupational background, personality traits, and individual entrepreneurial orientation was filled by 383 respondents all of whom were international students in North Cyprus. Questions used in the survey to measure for individual entrepreneurial orientation (IEO) and personality traits were from instruments previously developed in studies. Responses were analyzed using the statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS). The study found that personality factors have a significant relationship with an individual’s entrepreneurial orientation. It also did not find any significant moderating role of parental occupation on the relationship between personality factors in individual entrepreneurial orientation.