Science and Education Publishing Journal of Behavioural Economics, Finance, Entrepreneurship, Accounting and Transport 2376-1334 3 1 2015 01 30 The Importance of Behavioral Factors: How Do Overconfidence Affect Entrepreneurial Opportunity Evaluation? 12 20 EN SALIMA TAKTAK Sfax University, Tunisia Unity of research GOVERNANCE MOHAMED TRIKI JBE2015312 10.12691/jbe-3-1-2 2014 06 30 2014 12 15 2015 01 30 Even though the entrepreneurship literature places much emphasis on opportunity recognition, little is known about how entrepreneurs actually evaluate opportunities. This study uses a cognitive approach to examine opportunity evaluation, as the perception of opportunity is essentially a cognitive phenomenon. We present a model that consists of four independent variables (overconfidence, risk perception, creativity, Relational networks and environmental factors, experience, education and opportunity identification), two control variables (demographics and age), and the dependent variable (opportunity evaluation). We find that overconfidence and risk perception are related to how entrepreneurs evaluate opportunities. Our results also indicate that entrepreneurial individual factors affect opportunity evaluation.