Examining the Relationship Between College Students’ Proactive Personality and Entrepreneurial Decision: The Mediating Effects of Entrepreneurial Awareness-Motivation-Capability

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between proactive personality, entrepreneurial awareness-motivation-capability, and college students’ entrepreneurial decisions in the Chinese context. Based on sample data from 1,677 Chinese college students, this study shows that proactive personality positively impacts college students’ entrepreneurial decisions, awareness, motivation, and capability (i.e., opportunity identification and exploitation capabilities). Entrepreneurship awareness and entrepreneurial capability mediate the relationship between proactive personality and college students’ entrepreneurial decisions, while entrepreneurial motivation has a concealment effect. Moreover, the mediating effect of opportunity identification capability is greater than that of entrepreneurship awareness and opportunity exploitation capabilities. By examining how proactive personality affects entrepreneurial decision through entrepreneurial awareness-motivation-capability, this study contributes to the understanding of the relationship between proactive personality and college students’ entrepreneurial behaviors.