Character Strengths and Entrepreneurial Alertness–Model

Abstract

The Character Strengths and Entrepreneurial Alertness–Model (CSEAM), developed by Pirhadi, Soleimanof, and Feyzbakhsh (2023), is a psychometric tool designed to expand the understanding of personal antecedents underlying entrepreneurial thinking. The study utilizes the theory of Character Strengths to investigate how specific traits—namely valor, industriousness, and critical thinking—influence the multi-dimensional capacity for Entrepreneurial Alertness. This alertness is measured across three distinct facets: scanning and search, association and connection, and evaluation and judgment.

The items comprising the model were adapted from existing instruments (Wright et al., 2017; Tang et al., 2012). The research employed rigorous methodological steps, including the Brislin (1980) reciprocal translation process, ensuring the validity of the Farsi translation used in data collection. The sample consisted of students and entrepreneurs located in Iran. The findings provided robust evidence regarding the scale’s internal consistency, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) structure, and psychometric validity.

Keywords

Character Strengths, Critical Thinking, Entrepreneurial Alertness, Industriousness, Valor, Students, Entrepreneurs, Measurement Model, Psychometrics

Authors

Homa Pirhadi, Sohrab Soleimanof, Alireza Feyzbakhsh

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Character Strengths and Entrepreneurial Alertness–Model is to provide a validated measurement framework for assessing the empirical relationships between specific dispositional character strengths and the capacity for opportunity recognition, or entrepreneurial alertness, within populations of students and practicing entrepreneurs.

The instrument was developed specifically to test a theoretical framework positing that inherent character traits serve as crucial personal antecedents that drive an individual’s ability to perceive, process, and evaluate potential business opportunities, thereby contributing to the expansion of entrepreneurial research.

Construct

The CSEAM measures six distinct constructs, organized into two primary domains: Character Strengths and Entrepreneurial Alertness. The measurement models (student and entrepreneur versions) utilize 18 items in total.

• Character Strengths Domain: This domain focuses on traits essential for proactive entrepreneurial behavior:
  • Valor: The courage and conviction to act despite fear or opposition, and to stand by one’s beliefs.
  • Industriousness: The diligence and perseverance required to set goals and complete tasks competently.
  • Critical Thinking: The capacity to objectively examine evidence, assess accuracy, and consider consequences before acting.
• Entrepreneurial Alertness Domain: This domain captures the core processes involved in opportunity recognition, based on the dimensions established in prior literature:
  • Scanning and search: Active seeking of new information and environmental monitoring.
  • Association and connection: The ability to link seemingly unrelated pieces of information or “connect the dots” to form novel insights.
  • Evaluation and judgment: The capacity to assess and distinguish high-value, profitable opportunities from low-value alternatives.

Validity

Comprehensive tests for validity confirmed the structural integrity of the CSEAM across both student and entrepreneur samples.

For Convergent Validity, factor loadings for all items exceeded the satisfactory threshold of 0.6, indicating that the items strongly represented their intended constructs. Furthermore, Discriminant Validity was confirmed by ensuring that the Average Variance Extracted (AVEs) for all constructs were above 0.4 and were greater than the common variance shared between that construct and all other constructs in the model (Fornell & Larcker, 1981). These results collectively demonstrate that the constructs measured are both internally consistent and sufficiently distinct from one another.

Reliability

The reliability of the CSEAM was assessed through measures of internal consistency, confirming the stability and coherence of the instrument’s items.

The internal consistency, measured using Cronbach’s alpha, ranged from 0.74 to 0.87 across the constructs. The Composite Reliability (CR) values, which provide a less conservative measure of internal consistency than Cronbach’s alpha, ranged from 0.65 to 0.89. These ranges indicate acceptable to good reliability across all measured factors in the model.

Factor Analysis

The psychometric properties of the scale were rigorously tested using advanced statistical modeling, yielding consistent results across the two distinct population groups.

Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was employed to test the fit of the proposed measurement models. For the student sample, the CFA indices demonstrated an acceptable fit (Hooper et al., 2008): a chi-square/degree of freedom ratio of 1.97, a Comparative Fit Index (CFI) of 0.96, a Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI) of 0.95, a Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) of 0.04, and a Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR) of 0.04. The entrepreneur sample yielded similarly strong results, confirming an acceptable fit: chi-square/degree of freedom ratio of 1.27, CFI of 0.97, TLI of 0.97, RMSEA of 0.04, and SRMR of 0.04.

To address concerns regarding Common Method Bias (CMV), Harman’s single-factor method was utilized. The results of the Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) showed that a single factor explained only 34% of the variance in the student sample, which is significantly below the 50% threshold often used to flag CMV concern. Similar non-significant results were obtained for the entrepreneur sample, confirming that CMV did not pose a serious threat to the interpretation of the findings.

Instrument

Test Type: Original

Format: Items are rated using a 7-point Likert scale.

Language Available: English, Persian (Farsi)

Population Group: Human (Male and Female)

Age Group: Adulthood (18 yrs & older), including Young Adulthood (18-29 yrs), Thirties (30-39 yrs), and Middle Age (40-64 yrs).

Population Details: Respondents are students and entrepreneurs located in Iran.

Test Methodology: Test Validity, Convergent Validity, Discriminant Validity, Test Reliability, Internal Consistency, Factor Analysis, Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Measurement Model, Structural Equation Modeling.

Keywords

Character Strengths, Entrepreneurial Alertness, Psychometric Scale, Iran, Valor, Critical Thinking

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: No data is Available

Affiliation Email addresses:

• Homa Pirhadi: Sharif University of Technology Management, No data is Available

• Sohrab Soleimanof: Louisiana State University Entrepreneurship, [email protected]

• Alireza Feyzbakhsh: Sharif University of Technology Management, No data is Available

Correspondence Address:
Sohrab Soleimanof: Louisiana State University, E. J. Ourso College of Business, Stephenson Department of Entrepreneurship & Information Systems, 3035 Business Education Complex, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States, 70803, [email protected]

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Permissions: Contact Publisher

Fee: No

Test Year: 2023

Reference’s

Pirhadi, H., Soleimanof, S., & Feyzbakhsh, A. (2023). Unpacking entrepreneurial alertness: How character matters for entrepreneurial thinking. Journal of Small Business Management, 61(1), 155–186. https://doi.org/10.1080/00472778.2021.1907584

Items of the Character Strengths and Entrepreneurial Alertness–Model

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

Test items are available, with their location cited as: 2023-44953-007, Table 3, Page 169; 2023-44953-007, Table 4, Page 169.

Character Strengths and Entrepreneurial Alertness–Model

Student Version

• Valor

  • When necessary, I act even when others hesitate.

  • Those who know me consider me a courageous person.

  • Even when others conform, I maintain my beliefs.

• Industriousness

  • I work very hard for what I want.

  • I always finish what I start in a competent manner.

  • When I set a goal, I work until I achieve it.

• Critical thinking

  • I always identify in advance all of the possible consequences of my actions.

  • I always consider all available evidence before coming to conclusion.

  • I always think before I act.

• Scanning and search

  • I browse the Internet every day.

  • I am an avid information seeker.

  • I am always actively looking for new information.

• Association and connection

  • I see links between seemingly unrelated pieces of information.

  • I am good at “connecting dots.”

  • I often see connections between previously unconnected domains of information.

• Evaluation and judgment

  • I have a gut feeling for potential opportunity.

  • I can distinguish between profitable opportunities and not-so-profitable opportunities.

  • I have a knack for telling high-value opportunities apart from low-value opportunities.

Entrepreneur Version

• Valor

  • Even when others conform, I maintain my beliefs.

  • I act courageously even in the face of strong opposition.

  • Even when others conform, I will express my beliefs.

• Industriousness

  • When I set a goal, I work until I achieve it.

  • I always complete my task no matter what.

  • I am very resourceful.

• Critical thinking

  • I always objectively examine all sides of an issue.

  • I always assess the accuracy of my information.

  • I always think before I act.

• Scanning and search

  • I browse the Internet every day.

  • I am an avid information seeker.

  • I am always actively looking for new information.

• Association and connection

  • I see links between seemingly unrelated pieces of information.

  • I am good at “connecting dots.”

  • I often see connections between previously unconnected domains of information.

• Evaluation and judgment

  • I can distinguish between profitable opportunities and not-so-profitable opportunities.

  • I have a knack for telling high-value opportunities apart from low-value opportunities.

  • When facing multiple opportunities, I am able to select the good ones.

Note. Items are rated using a 7-point Likert scale.