Choice for an Entrepreneurial Career: Do Cognitive Styles Matter?

Abstract

Abstract Upon graduation, students make the decision to either become an entrepreneur or an employee. Numerous studies have thus investigated personal and environmental factors that impact this decision. As cognitive styles have become more and more important in determining individual and organisational behaviour, and as they are presumed to provide new valuable insights over and above other personal factors, they provide the ideal focus to further explore this career choice. In this article, we aim to explore how creating, planning, and knowing cognitive style relate to entrepreneurial attitudes, intentions, and career choices. Using the Theory of Planned Behaviour, in a first sample, we investigate the direct and indirect impact that cognitive styles have on entrepreneurial intention through attitudes. In our second sample, we look at how career preferences for entrepreneurship or a more traditional career as an employee are affected by cognitive styles. Using structural equation modelling analysis, this study finds evidence for the importance of creating cognitive style on entrepreneurial outcomes. Additionally, we find evidence for the relationship between planning cognitive style and wanting to be an employee. Knowing style does not lead to either preference. This paper extends the current knowledge on cognitive styles and entrepreneurship by analysing the impact of other cognitive styles than the predominantly used innovative styles and by also exploring its impact on important antecedents of entrepreneurial intentions, such as entrepreneurial attitude and career preferences.