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Personality traits and beliefs on self-employment: An empirical study of the Middle East and North Africa region

Arsalan Safari et al.

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation2026https://doi.org/10.1177/14657503251400968article
AJG 2ABDC C
Weight
0.50

What the paper says

This cross-cultural entrepreneurial study examines the effects of personality traits and beliefs, specifically the internal locus of control (ILC) and religiosity, on self-employment in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. In addition to these two cultural dimensions, our model controls for contextual factors. We estimate a two-level logistic regression model using data from the sixth and seventh waves of the World Values Survey and combining individual-level and contextual (country-year) predictors to explore the potential heterogeneous effects of ILC and religiosity. The findings reveal that the impact of ILC on the likelihood of self-employment across countries is positive and relatively homogeneous. However, the effect of religiosity on self-employment can be positive or negative. It is heterogeneous and contingent on country-year predictors. The country's economic context explains these cross-country variations in the influence of religiosity. Finally, differences in self-employment across countries are mainly driven by individual-level factors, while country-year variables account for only a small proportion of these variations. Given the MENA region's diverse cultural, social, and economic landscape, this study sheds light on an important yet underexplored research area in entrepreneurship: the homogeneous or heterogeneous impacts of ILC and religiosity on self-employment. It offers valuable theoretical and practical insights and policy recommendations for this unique entrepreneurial context.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/14657503251400968

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@article{arsalan2026,
  title        = {{Personality traits and beliefs on self-employment: An empirical study of the Middle East and North Africa region}},
  author       = {Arsalan Safari et al.},
  journal      = {International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/14657503251400968},
}

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

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