Abstract
This paper aims to examine the impact of personality characteristics on the perceptions of youth in Qatar toward entrepreneurship. The research also attempts to test the moderating role of demographics in the links between these two variables. Using a self-administered questionnaire, 194 full-time university students participated in the study. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the collected data. The results demonstrate that personality characteristics play significant roles in shaping the perceptions of youth toward entrepreneurship. Although all six personality components were found significant, the committed, leader and outgoing traits showed the strongest associations with youth perceptions of entrepreneurship. Moreover, the findings also reveal that demographic characteristics significantly moderate the association between personality attributes and the perception of entrepreneurship. This study offers insights to policymakers and educators to guide strategic planning that considers the influence of personality traits on entrepreneurship, with the goal of enhancing entrepreneurial activity and promoting socio-economic development. The implications of the results for both researchers and practitioners are also discussed in the paper.

1. Introduction
From a historical point of view, the concept of entrepreneurship could be dated back to the late 1930s when Shigeru Fiji first introduced education in entrepreneurship, at Kobe University, Japan (Alberti et al., 2004; Mathushan, Citation2020). Currently, the supply of labor exceeds its demand, creating a highly competitive job market in terms of employment prospects (Keat et al., Citation2011; O’Shea et al., Citation2021). As traditional job markets become increasingly competitive, many students are turning to alternative career paths to secure their futures. Weldehawartiat et al. (Citation2024) argued that startups and entrepreneurial ventures are likely to be a key source of employment for students worldwide in the future.

Entrepreneurship plays a substantial role in a country’s economic development. In a similar vein, Gautam and Lal (Citation2021) and Sánchez (Citation2013) pinpointed that economists and policymakers generally consider that the higher levels of entrepreneurship in a country coincide with the greater levels of innovation and economic growth. Moreover, times of crisis often increase the need for entrepreneurial activities. This has led to a significant rise in entrepreneurship research in recent decades.

Certainly, there has been a noticeable shift in the programs offered by institutions, with an increased focus on entrepreneurial courses, forums, dialogues and training. The primary objective of these initiatives is to promote entrepreneurial intention and encourage positive change of attitude among students (Ali et al., Citation2021; Keat et al., Citation2011). Such entrepreneurship-focused courses help students gain necessary qualities in the entrepreneurial field. Furthermore, the quality of entrepreneurial education plays a key role in determining students’ attitudes toward entrepreneurship. Yasa et al. (Citation2023) highlighted that the higher the quality of entrepreneurial education, the more students tend to develop a positive attitude toward entrepreneurship. Hintikka et al. (Citation2023) used personality characteristics and entrepreneurial education as variables to advance and enhance entrepreneurial activity. Amalia and von Korflesch (Citation2021) and Sánchez (Citation2013) argued that general education in the area of entrepreneurial performance and entrepreneurial training help students gain motivation, self-confidence and creativity. Business students with proactive personalities are not only inclined to launch a startup, but also tend to establish multiple ventures over time (Phong et al., Citation2020).

Dabic et al. (Citation2012) argued that regardless of the increasing number of women in entrepreneurship around the globe, the number of male entrepreneurs is still greater than the number of female entrepreneurs. This argument is still valid, according to Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (Citation2020) report. The same report highlighted that Qatar is an exception, as the number of female entrepreneurs exceeds that of their male counterparts.

The current literature, for instance, Awwad and Al-Aseer (Citation2021) and Ouni and Boujelbene (Citation2023) attempted to study the relationship between personality attributes and entrepreneurial behavior with a greater focus on the role of the Big Five personality traits in shaping this link. However, the role of personality characteristics in predicting the perceptions toward entrepreneurship, especially among youth, remains understudied. According to Ouni and Boujelbene (Citation2023), for example, the links between personality and entrepreneurial orientation remain unclear and require further study. Accordingly, the current study aims to examine the role of personality characteristics in influencing the Qatari youth perception toward entrepreneurship. More specifically, this research project aims to achieve the following objectives:

To assess the personality characteristics of Qatari youth that shape their perception toward entrepreneurship.

To investigate the impact of demographic characteristics on personality characteristics.

To examine the role of demographic characteristics in predicting Qatari youth perception toward entrepreneurship.

To test the moderating role of demographic characteristics in the relationship between personality characteristics and the perception toward entrepreneurship.

Hence, the main research questions of this study are:

How do personality characteristics influence the perception of entrepreneurs toward entrepreneurship?

How do demographics moderate the relationship between personality characteristics and perception toward entrepreneurship?

Despite a growing global interest in entrepreneurial education and entrepreneurial intention, the majority of existing research is heavily concentrated in Western and developed economies. Foundational theories—such as Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and Shapero’s entrepreneurial event model—have been widely applied in these contexts, but their applicability to non-Western, developing, or transitional economies, particularly in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, remains underexplored (Franzke et al., Citation2022; Jaim & Nazmul Islam, Citation2018; Maheshwari et al., Citation2023).

Similarly, Bergner et al. (Citation2023) and Omeihe (Citation2023) highlighted the fact that most of the research in the area of entrepreneurship is conducted in mature economies, mainly western contexts and that the generated findings of these studies may not be applicable to the other parts of the world such as Africa and parts of Asia. For instance, Costa and Pita (Citation2020) indicated that there is a noticeable gap in research concerning the development of entrepreneurship in the Qatari context. The importance of this work lies in its contribution to closing the knowledge gap at the national, regional and global levels. The State of Qatar is one of the Asian Arab countries with a population of around three million in 2019 (Planning and Statistics Authority, Citation2020b). Qatar is rich in natural hydrocarbons (World Health Organization, Citation2006). Its per capita income ranks among the highest globally. Qatar’s real GDP per capita was the highest in the world in 2019 with the amount of $112,531 (Planning and Statistics Authority, Citation2020a).

As highlighted in Qatar’s National Vision 2030, the funds generated by oil and gas contribute to the country’s economic development by investing this wealth in entrepreneurship and innovation, infrastructure, public services and development of the workforce (Planning and Statistics Authority, Citation2008). Qatar supports entrepreneurship by establishing remarkable organizations to serve entrepreneurs, for example, Qatar Business Incubation Center (QBIC), Qatar Development Bank (QDB), Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP), Social Development Center, Qatar Foundation, Silatech, Qatar University–Center for Entrepreneurship, Digital Incubation Center (DIC), Enterprise Qatar and, INJAZ Qatar (Hassen, Citation2020).

Full Article: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311975.2025.2563039#d1e280