Abstract:

From a psychological perspective, entrepreneurship has been analyzed in a systematic and in-depth way, identifying personality traits and specific skills in isolation and complementarity. However, its relationship to context is more complex and holistic.

This paper provides a more comprehensive conceptual framework, which addresses the generation of an entrepreneurial profile based on the five basic personality traits (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, openness to experience), several skills (seizing and identifying opportunities, creative ability and interest in creativity, proactive character and inertia, vision and usefulness of vision) and several behaviors (initiative, risk-taking, outlook and social influence) closely related to entrepreneurial competence.

The objectives of this work are complementary. On the one hand, to define the entrepreneurial profile of the people involved in entrepreneurial processes according to their entrepreneurial aptitudes and skills and to determine their basic personality traits and some behaviors associated with entrepreneurial competence.

Three questionnaires have been adapted to determine entrepreneurial tendencies and skills (Ahmetoglu, 2015), the Big Five or five essential personality traits (Goldberg, 1992), and a list of behaviors to assess the skill "entrepreneurship" (Villa & Poblete, 2007). The questionnaires have been answered by 130 MBA university students involved in entrepreneurship processes.

People have been classified into three groups: basic, intermediate, and advanced entrepreneurial aptitude. The average profile of each group has been elaborated, defining the average values of the entrepreneurial competencies and capabilities, the basic personality traits and the behaviours associated with entrepreneurial competence.

Subsequently, significant differences between group profiles were analyzed using multivariate statistical techniques.
The results indicate significant differences between advanced, intermediate, and basic profile individuals in some basic personality traits and behaviors associated with entrepreneurial competence.

Keywords:

Entrepreneurial Profile, Personality Traits, Entrepreneurial Behavior, University students, Entrepreneurship education.