Impact of Big Five, Narcissism and Machiavellianism on Enterprise Potential and Individual Entrepreneurial Orientation

Abstract

The paper examines the influence of dimensions of the Big Five, Narcissism, and Machiavellianism on dimensions of Enterprise potential and Individual entrepreneurial orientation. The research was carried out in Serbia, and the respondents were students, with the sample consisting of 400 respondents (students). Openness to experience has the strongest positive influence on the Enterprise potential and Individual entrepreneurial orientation dimensions, followed by Narcissism, Conscientiousness, and Extroversion. In doing so, the following influences are especially highlighted: Openness to experience on Creativity and Innovativeness; Narcissism on Leadership and Achievement; Consciousness on Proactiveness; Extroversion on Achievement and Risk-taking. The positive influence of Conscientiousness and Machiavellianism on Leadership, as well as the negative influence of Neuroticism on the observed dependent variables, should still be highlighted. The results are discussed in the paper. The theoretical significance of the work is that the influence of personal characteristics and internal mechanisms of individuals, which activate entrepreneurial potential and entrepreneurial orientation, were examined as a basis for the subsequent possible development of immediate entrepreneurial intentions. Previous research is mainly based on examining the direct effects of personal characteristics on entrepreneurial intentions.