The driving factors behind the exploration and search for entrepreneurial intention (EI) are critical to entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial practice. To reveal in depth the influence of personality traits on EI, our study introduces the opposite of proactive personality—the dark triad that consists of narcissism, psychopathy and Machiavellianism. Our study used the MBA students of Tianjin University as a sample to analyze the relationship between the dark triad, entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) and EI. A total of 334 MBA students aged 24–47 years participated and the participation rate is 95.71%. The data collection was largely concentrated in the period from May 15 to June 5, 2018. From the overall perspective of the dark triad, the results show that the dark triad positively predicts EI, and ESE has a partial mediating effect on the dark triad and EI. From the perspective of the three members of the dark triad, the study found that narcissism/psychopathy has a negative effect on ESE and EI; narcissism/psychopathy has a non-linear effect on EI; Machiavellianism has a positive effect on ESE and EI; and ESE has a mediating effect on the three members of the dark triad and EI. In short, our research reveals that the three members of the dark triad have different effects on EI in different cultural contexts, and the research findings have certain reference value for further improvement of entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial practice.

Purpose The study clarifies the relationship between students’ perceptions of university support and heterogeneous entrepreneurial intentions in the Chinese context. It proposes a new construct with the classification of growth- and independence-oriented intentions and examines the moderating role of the Chinese sense of face. This study aims to enrich entrepreneurship education research by incorporating cultural factors. Design/methodology/approach The study uses a questionnaire survey to examine the research hypotheses. Further, the authors collected data from 374 students from Mainland China and applied a regression analysis. Findings The study clarifies the positive relationship between perceived university support and growth-oriented/independence-oriented entrepreneurial intentions. Further, it proposes the differences in the moderating role of the Chinese sense of face in the relationships between entrepreneurial self-efficacy and growth- and independence-oriented intentions. Research limitations/implications Because of the chosen method, the study results may lack generalizability. Hence, future studies are encouraged to test the proposed hypotheses. Practical implications The study results have important implications for entrepreneurship education development. Social implications The study is conducted against the background of the “mass entrepreneurship and innovation” policy in China and combines country-specific characteristics to enrich entrepreneurial education and social entrepreneurship. Originality/value This study fulfills the intention to examine the influence of cultural factors on entrepreneurship education and identify the heterogeneous entrepreneurial intentions in a single construct.

Business incubators (BIs) have gradually evolved to focus increasingly on the development of networks and network functions. However, existing literature indicates that much ambiguity remains regarding the importance and role of cooperation within the incubator networks. In particular, few studies divide incubator networks into internal and external networks to explore how these networks influence the enterprise growth performance (EGP). Based on the social network and organizational learning theories, we analyze the role of entrepreneurial learning (exploratory and exploitative) in the relationship between internal and external networks and EGP in dynamic environments. Through a multiple regression analysis of survey data from 205 incubatees in 14 Chinese business incubators, we find that the BIs' internal and external networks positively impact EGP and exploratory and exploitative learning mediate the relationship between them. Moreover, when incubatees are in a highly dynamic environment, internal networks more positively affect exploitative learning, while external networks inhibit exploratory learning. Finally, we discuss the study's implications.

In order to solve increasingly serious environmental problems, sustainable entrepreneurship based on the concept of sustainable development has gradually attracted attention and discussion in the academic field. Moreover, it is of great significance to analyze the influence of personality on entrepreneurial orientation considering dark and bright personality traits. On the basis of existing research, we analyzed the relationships between the three elements of the dark triad (Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and narcissism), psychological resilience, and sustainable entrepreneurial orientation (SEO) through a questionnaire survey. Results involve data from 328 MBA students in Tianjin University of China. The results showed that Machiavellianism and psychopathy negatively affected SEO, and narcissism positively affected SEO; psychological resilience and SEO had a significant positive association; and psychological resilience had a moderating effect on the relationship between the three elements of the dark triad and SEO. Our research has reference value and its findings have important implications for entrepreneurship research and education.

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