The Antecedents to Habitual Entrepreneurship: Exploring the Role of Entrepreneurs' Narcissism and Educational Level

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze the antecedents leading to habitual entrepreneurship by investigating the role of entrepreneurs' narcissism and their level of education. While the literature provides a general understanding of what motivates individuals to pursue their entrepreneurial ideas, the possible antecedents to the individual's decision to become a habitual entrepreneur remain unexplored and untested. Relying on a sample of 343 start-up entrepreneurs, hypotheses are tested through the partial least squares analysis. Results show that entrepreneurs' educational levels fully mediate the relationship between narcissism and the choice to become habitual entrepreneurs. The study contributes to the literature on entrepreneurs' personality, decision-making, and human capital, also underlining a few practical implications.