Childhood financial difficulty and entrepreneurial intention: The roles of work-family conflict and openness to experience

Abstract

Drawing upon the theory of underdog or challenge-based entrepreneurship, this study tested a moderated mediation model to answer how and when childhood financial difficulty affects adults’ entrepreneurial intention. It proposes that work–family conflict would serve as a mediation mechanism between childhood financial difficulty and entrepreneurial intention. This study also tested the moderating effect of openness to experience on the relation between work–family conflict and entrepreneurial intention. The data were collected from 217 full-time adult employees in China. Results supported that individuals’ childhood financial difficulty was positively related to the current work–family conflict, which in turn was positively related to their entrepreneurial intention. Additionally, the positive effect of work–family conflict on entrepreneurial intention was stronger when openness to experience was weaker, as was the indirect positive effect of childhood financial difficulty on entrepreneurial intention. These findings have important theoretical and practical contributions.