Entrepreneurship and Emotional Intelligence: A Quantitative Evaluation of the Moderating Effect of Emotional Intelligence on Resilience and Entrepreneurial Orientation

December 3, 2025

Entrepreneurship and Emotional Intelligence: A Quantitative Evaluation of the Moderating Effect of Emotional Intelligence on Resilience and Entrepreneurial Orientation

Myron Evans | 2021

Abstract

Entrepreneurship is a phenomenon that has been considerably researched in the academic fields of leadership and management. In particular, the entrepreneurial orientation (EO) construct has gained much attention with scholars when examining this concept at the firm level. However, limited research has been conducted on EO at the individual level and the antecedents that influence EO. Literature has also highlighted the importance of resilience (R) and emotional intelligence (EI) for entrepreneurial success. However, the lack of empirical evidence to support whether these constructs influence individual entrepreneurial orientation (IEO) have yet to be explored. The current study examined IEO with entrepreneurs who have engaged in entrepreneurial activity outside of the firm- level perspective with the intention of providing quantifiable answers to the following research questions: To what extent does R positively influence IEO? To what extent does EI effectively moderate the relationship between R and EO at the individual level? I drew on the self-efficacy theory to support the connection of this relationship. I used the IEO instrument developed by Bolton and Lane (2011) to measure the dimensions of IEO. Ciarrochi, Chan, and Bajgar’s (2001) four factors and subscales were used for Schutte, Malouff, and Bhullar’s (2009) Assessing Emotions Scale to measure the dimensions of EI. The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) 25 was used to measure R based on the scales Ayala and Manzano (2014) proposed. I collected data from 156 self-identified entrepreneurs who had 3 or more years of experience and who were either self-employed or operated a small- to medium-sized enterprise of 500 employees or less. The nine main hypotheses and the 36 subhypotheses of this study were tested using moderated hierarchical multiple regression analysis. The findings of the research indicate that R does positively influence IEO and that EI was shown to strengthen this relationship. However, gender, as the control variable, did not have a statistically significant impact on the findings. I discuss the scholarly and practical implication of this study and recommend future areas for research.

Keywords: emotional intelligence, individual entrepreneurial orientation, resilience, self-efficacy

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