Abstract
In this article, we examine how individual-level psychological characteristics such as empowerment, integrity, humility, and need for cognition influence sustainable leadership behavior in firms with levels of high and low entrepreneurial orientation (EO). For this, we utilized fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) using data from 2,117 employees working in firms located and operating in different countries and diverse industries. Our results show that specific psychological characteristics possessed by the members of the organizations can be beneficial for engaging in entrepreneurial activity in both high and low EO firms. Our results e.g. show that need for cognition has a differential impact on sustainable leadership behavior in high and low EO firms. However, integrity is essential for a high level of sustainable leadership behavior in both high as well as low EO firms.