Spirituality, religiosity, entrepreneurial motivation and performance among Nigerian entrepreneurs

Abstract

Available evidence has shown that the several government policy interventions to promote entrepreneurship among the youths had not yielded much fruits in Nigeria. Thus, the perceived lack of entrepreneurial interest amongst youths has given reason for concern in view of the increased level of unemployment in the country. As such, until this date finding new explanations to what will trigger and sustains entrepreneurship amongst the youths remains the focus of the Nigerian Government. Although search for meaningful work (spirituality) and religious beliefs (religiosity) have been found to affect entrepreneurial behaviour in other parts of the world, yet there is precious little information available regarding spirituality and Islamic religiosity and their effects on entrepreneurial outcomes in developing countries. This study is an attempt to empirically examine the relationship between spirituality, Islamic religiosity and entrepreneur motivation and performance in the Nigerian context. The survey data used for this empirical research was drawn from total 556 Muslim entrepreneurs (i.e. 150 for pilot and 406 for main study respectively) across 19 states of Nigeria. Principal component analysis (i.e. PCA using SPSS version 18) and confirmatory factor analysis (i.e. CFA using AMOS version 20) were initially carried out to assess the dimensionality and construct validity of Entrepreneurs Spirituality, Religiosity, Motivation, and Performance. Thereafter, structural equation modeling (SEM) was utilised to test the seven hypotheses proposed. The study found that both entrepreneur spirituality and religiosity independently and collectively exert positive effects on entrepreneur motivation and entrepreneur performance. Similarly, the study found evidence in support of the mediating role of entrepreneur motivation in the relationship of entrepreneur spirituality/religiosity and performance. The findings of the study have several implications for theory, policy and practice. By answering call for additional research across different cultures, this research has made an important contribution to the spirituality literature through extending the building of entrepreneurship theory beyond the Western context. In addition, based on the findings of the study, integrating spiritual and religious values in entrepreneurship curricula may strengthen entrepreneurship interest among Nigerian university students whose mindset is normally focused on salaried employment.