The double-edged sword of narcissism: influences of university students’ grandiose and vulnerable narcissism on entrepreneurial intention

While narcissism provides an essential understanding of entrepreneurial intention, the connections between grandiose narcissism and entrepreneurial intention and between vulnerable narcissism and entrepreneurial intention in college students remain unclear. To address this issue, this study employed regulatory focus theory to elucidate the psychological process and condition under which narcissism either promotes or inhibits subsequent entrepreneurial intention. In Study 1, we considered promotion and prevention focus as the mediating mechanism between narcissism and entrepreneurial intention. Questionnaires were distributed three times, each with a 30-day interval. Results of 531 college students from Taiwan indicated that grandiose narcissism positively predicts entrepreneurial intention via promotion focus, and vulnerable narcissism negatively predicts entrepreneurial intention via prevention focus. Study 2 considered whether entrepreneurship education programmes (EEPs) played a moderating role. Based on a sample of 231 Australian college students, the findings revealed that perceiving high-quality EEPs can increase the positive impact of promotion focus on entrepreneurial intention. Additionally, these EEPs helped mitigate the adverse impact of prevention focus on entrepreneurial intention. Finally, grandiose narcissism positively predicts entrepreneurial intention via promotion focus, particularly when students perceive that they are educated in high-quality EEPs. Vulnerable narcissism negatively predicts entrepreneurial intention via prevention focus when students are educated in high-quality EEPs. This study offers crucial theoretical insights, managerial implications, and suggestions for future research.