Abstract Microfoundations allow the unpacking of processes by which dynamic capabilities are created. Along this line, managerial cognition has been proposed as a variable related to the dynamic capabilities. However, the high number of cognitive variables reported hinders the theoretical contributions. Thus, this study classifies the managerial cognitive variables of chief executive officers (CEOs) into three types of dynamic managerial capabilities: (1) managerial sensing, (2) managerial seizing, and (3) managerial reconfiguration. We estimate the correlation of these managerial capabilities with firms' dynamic capabilities. We use a three-level random effects model to synthesize 101 correlations reported from 2007 to 2021, representing 6,153 CEOs around the world. This meta-analysis reveals a positive relationship between CEOs' managerial cognition and dynamic capabilities, especially with respect to those cognitive variables that support managerial sensing as the perception of opportunities and entrepreneurial alertness.