Psychological Traits and Entrepreneurial Success Among Small Business Owners in Kwara State

This study examines the relationship between selected psychological traits and entrepreneurial success among small business owners in Kwara State, North Central Nigeria, investigating how individual-level characteristics including achievement motivation, locus of control, tolerance for ambiguity, and self-efficacy correlate with business performance outcomes. Entrepreneurship psychology research has generated extensive evidence on the traits associated with entrepreneurial success, but this evidence base is predominantly drawn from Western contexts and requires validation and contextual elaboration in the Nigerian SME environment. The study employs a descriptive correlational design, administering a composite psychological traits questionnaire and a business performance assessment to 200 small business owners in Ilorin and Offa Local Government Areas. Data were analysed using multiple regression. Findings indicate that entrepreneurial self-efficacy and internal locus of control are the strongest psychological predictors of business performance, with a standardised regression coefficient of 0.42 and 0.38 respectively. Achievement motivation shows a positive but weaker association. Tolerance for ambiguity is positively associated with market expansion behaviour but not with near-term financial performance. The psychological trait-to-performance relationships are stronger for businesses above three years of age than for newer ventures, suggesting that psychological capital becomes increasingly differentiated over time. The study recommends that entrepreneurship education programmes in Kwara State explicitly target self-efficacy building and internal attribution training as core psychological development objectives. Keywords: entrepreneurial psychology, self-efficacy, locus of control, small business performance, Kwara State.