The impact of Big Five Personality Traits on entrepreneurial orientation

Our study explores the interplay between the Big Five Personality Traits (B5-PT) and Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) among home and international entrepreneurs in the Middle East, focusing on Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Utilizing fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), we investigate how different combinations of personality traits influence EO in distinct entrepreneurial contexts. The findings reveal four universal configurations and four context-specific configurations that lead to high EO, highlighting the dynamic and configurational nature of entrepreneurial behaviour. For home entrepreneurs, high conscientiousness and agreeableness are key drivers of EO, reflecting a focus on collaboration and resource management within familiar environments. In contrast, international entrepreneurs benefit from openness and extraversion, which foster adaptability and networking capabilities in complex, cross-border markets. By adopting a configurational approach rooted in complexity theory, this study moves beyond reductionist frameworks, offering novel insights into the nonlinear and context-dependent relationships between personality traits and EO. These findings have practical implications for policymakers and entrepreneurs, providing a foundation for designing tailored interventions that enhance entrepreneurial success. The study also enriches the discourse on entrepreneurship in the Middle East by addressing underexplored regional dynamics and advancing the methodological application of fsQCA in entrepreneurship research.