Cognitive style, entrepreneurial leadership and career success: the moderating role of social norms

Purpose: Drawing on self-determination theory, this study reveals the formative and functional mechanism of entrepreneurial leadership and constructs an integrated model that combines objective and subjective career success. Design/methodology/approach: Using data from 189 leaders from China, this study examined the relationship among cognitive style, social norms, entrepreneurial leadership and career success. Using SPSS version 25.0 and AMOS version 23.0, factor analysis, correlation, path analysis and moderation analysis were performed. Findings: The results indicated that innovative cognitive style is positively related to entrepreneurial leadership, and this relationship is reinforced by social norms. Adaptive cognitive style is negatively related to entrepreneurial leadership, but this relationship is not regulated by social norms. Besides, this study found a significantly positive relationship between entrepreneurial leadership and objective career success, while entrepreneurial leadership does not demonstrate a significant relationship with subjective career success. Originality/value: By combining subjective and the objective career success into entrepreneurial leadership research, the findings provide a new perspective for understanding what other experiences entrepreneurship can bring to leaders. Furthermore, the current study analyzes the informal institutional environment's promoting and impeding roles between cognitive style and entrepreneurial leadership.