Relationship Between Personality Traits and Opportunity Recognition: The Mediating Role of Entrepreneurial Alertness and Conditional Indirect Effect of Self-Efficacy

Opportunities represent a pivotal aspect of the entrepreneurial process. Consequently, the question of why some individuals are more adept at recognising opportunities than others represents a significant area of research. In this study, we sought to investigate the individual antecedents of entrepreneurial opportunity recognition and to elucidate the relationships between them. The study examined the effects of the Big Five personality traits on the entrepreneurial opportunity recognition, the mediating effects of entrepreneurial alertness and the conditional indirect effects of self-efficacy. The hypotheses developed in the study were tested using data collected from a sample of 450 undergraduate and graduate students. The findings indicate that personality traits exert a considerable influence on the entrepreneurial opportunity recognition. Furthermore, entrepreneurial alertness is shown to act as a complete mediator, while self-efficacy exerts a conditional indirect effect. The results of this study may prove valuable for future research and practitioners alike.