Similar but yet different: individual cognitive traits and family contingencies as antecedents of intrapreneurship and self-employment

Abstract Entrepreneurship is of great significance to individuals, families and society. Recently, intrapreneurship, i.e., business ventures within established organisations, has also attracted widespread interest among individuals and organisations. However, we still know little about how individuals make decisions when they face diverse types of entrepreneurial activities. Based on theories of entrepreneurial action and conservation of resources and the literature on family embeddedness, this paper proposes an integrated framework for entrepreneurial choice—including intrapreneurship, self-employment and non-entrepreneurship, and examines the roles of socio-cognitive traits and family contingency factors in the entrepreneurial choice process. By using secondary and survey data, the empirical results show that (a) entrepreneurial alertness (EA) and self-efficacy (ESE) both positively affect individuals’ choice towards intrapreneurship and self-employment, with a stronger effect on the latter; (b) the interaction between EA and ESE has a negative effect on intrapreneurship but a positive effect on self-employment; (c) family-to-work conflict weakens the aforementioned interactive effect on both intrapreneurship and self-employment, whereas work-to-family conflict strengthens its effect on self-employment; (d) household income strengthens the interactive effect on both intrapreneurship and self-employment. Overall, these findings contribute to a nuanced understanding of the relationship among individual cognitive traits, family contingencies and entrepreneurial choice. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.