The influence of personality traits on sustainability-oriented entrepreneurial intentions: the moderating role of servant leadership

Economic, environmental, and social imperatives make sustainability-oriented entrepreneurship an indispensable phenomenon of the day, yet only sparse research exists uncovering the sustainability-oriented entrepreneurial intentions in Asian countries. This study attempts to close the gap by considering the “big five” individual personality traits—neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness—to investigate individuals’ sustainability-oriented entrepreneurial intentions in a developing Asian country, specifically Pakistan. Moreover, the study tests the moderating effects of servant leadership to know whether servant leadership impacts the relationship between personality traits and sustainability-oriented entrepreneurial intentions. Relying on quantitative methods, data were collected from employees of SMEs in the capital territory of Pakistan. The valid responses from 450 individuals were analyzed using SPSS version 23 and PROCESS V3.2. Our results confirm that those five factors significantly impact sustainability-oriented entrepreneurial intentions, and servant leadership moderates the relationships of intention with extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. The study equips academicians, practitioners, and governments to devise strategies to promote sustainable entrepreneurship.