Introduction: Entrepreneurial Opportunity Recognition (EOR) is central to entrepreneurship, yet its underlying cognitive processes remain underexplored, limiting a comprehensive understanding. EOR is intrinsically a cognitive endeavor, involving perception, decision-making, mental models, information processing, and alertness under uncertainty. This research aligns with ICAP 2026's New Directions in Applied Psychology theme by addressing an emerging, transdisciplinary field with significant societal applications for enhancing well-being.


Purpose: Addressing the fragmented literature and the critical need for a robust cognitive perspective, this study conducts a systematic literature review (SLR) and bibliometric analysis. Its purpose is to synthesize existing scholarship and objectively map the field's intellectual structure, thereby enhancing clarity and furthering understanding for EOR research from a cognitive processes lens.


Method: A mixed-method approach, integrating an SLR with bibliometric analysis, was employed. The SLR followed SPAR-4-SLR (Paul et al., 2021) and PRISMA 2020 guidelines (Page et al., 2021), extracting 170 empirical studies from Web of Science and Scopus databases. Complementing this, a bibliometric analysis, spanning from 1995 to 2024 (30 years), comprehensively mapped the field's evolution through citation analysis, bibliographic coupling, and co-word analysis.


Results: Analysis indicates exponential growth in EOR scholarship from a cognitive perspective since the mid-2010s. Foundational studies highlight prior knowledge, pattern recognition, entrepreneurial alertness, self-efficacy, and creativity as central cognitive mechanisms. Four key thematic clusters emerged from the science mapping: Cognitive Foundations; Entrepreneurial Alertness and Intentions; Entrepreneurial Cognition and Innovation; and Gender, Self-Efficacy, and Entrepreneurial Intention.


Conclusion: Findings reveal theoretical gaps concerning the dynamic interaction of cognitive resources in EOR and the underdeveloped understanding of opportunity evaluation. Practically, these gaps hinder entrepreneurship education, complex opportunity recognition by practitioners, and effective policy interventions. This review offers a vital foundation and roadmap, advancing cognitive perspectives in entrepreneurship for improved theoretical grounding, empirical basis, and practical impact, ultimately promoting societal well-being and sustainable development.