Social Entrepreneurial Intentions of Students from Hong Kong

This study examined whether personality traits, creativity and social capital affect social entrepreneurial intentions. Using both online and offline surveys, a sample of 331 Hong Kong students was recruited for analyses. Factor analyses supported that personality traits could be divided into dimensions of extraversion, openness to experience, neuroticism, conscientiousness and agreeableness; creativity could be divided into dimensions of originality and usefulness; and social capital could be divided into dimensions of bridging and bonding. The results from multiple regression analysis revealed that openness negatively predicted social entrepreneurial intentions, whereas originality positively predicted social entrepreneurial intentions. However, no direct association was found between social capital and social entrepreneurial intentions. The reason for the negative relationship between openness and social entrepreneurial intentions, which contradicted our initial claim, is discussed