The Entrepreneurial Personality: A New Framework and Construct for Entrepreneurship Research and Practice

The aim of this thesis was to investigate individual differences in entrepreneurial personality and their relationship to performance criteria. Specifically, three main objectives were proposed: (a) to develop a theoretical framework of the entrepreneurial personality, based on the principles of differential psychology, (b) to test how this personality construct related to other trait measures of personality, and (c) to assess how this personality construct related to performance outcomes. To this end, the current thesis presented an alternative framework for investigating the entrepreneurial personality, not currently present in entrepreneurship research. The framework followed a critical review of the entrepreneurship literature and a content analysis of the meaning of the concept. Based on this content analysis, a new operational definition of entrepreneurship was proposed: entrepreneurship is an activity related to innovation, recognition and exploitation of opportunities, and creation of value. In this framework, three main tenants were present: 1) the entrepreneurial behaviours identified by the content analysis cannot be exclusive to business founders, 2) there are individual differences in the tendency and ability to engage in these behaviours, 3) individuals who have a greater tendency and ability to engage in these entrepreneurial behaviours, are by definition, perceived as more entrepreneurial. Thus this operational definition provided a basis for a theoretical framework for distinguishing between more and less entrepreneurial individuals. In order to empirically investigate individual differences in entrepreneurial personality, a psychometric approach was undertaken, where a self-report inventory of entrepreneurial tendencies and abilities (META) was developed. The reliability and factor structure of this measure were established, and its construct validity in relation to a multitude of trait measures, including the Big Five personality traits, Trait Emotional Intelligence, Core Self-Evaluations, Locus of Control, Primary and Secondary Psychopathy, Machiavellianism, Vocational Interests, General Mental Ability, Divergent Thinking, as well as relevant demographic variables, was established. Furthermore, META was consistently found to be the single best predictor of performance outcomes across nine studies, including number of businesses started, corporate entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, innovative entrepreneurship, creative achievements within arts and sciences, task and contextual performance, income, engagement, and intentions to quit a current job. META was found to positively and moderately predict these performance outcomes, over and above (incrementally) established psychometric tests. In sum, the results of the doctoral thesis have important theoretical and practical implications for entrepreneurship research and practice. Specifically, the thesis provided a) a new theoretical framework for researching the entrepreneurial personality, b) support for the distinctness of this personality construct in relation to other trait constructs, c) demonstrated that this construct may be able to explain significant performance differences between individuals on criteria that are likely to be of substantial importance for individuals, organisations, and governments alike. The implications of a theoretical understanding and measurement of the entrepreneurial personality can be of practical importance for researchers concerned with investigating the entrepreneurial personality concept, organisations concerned with increasing their competitive advantage through human resources practices of selecting, developing, and managing entrepreneurial individuals, and for individuals and government bodies concerned with increasing the potential of start-ups and business founders to be successful in their new and established ventures by assessing the entrepreneurial tendencies of founders and their team, and customizing intervention strategies in more informed ways

The relationship between the entrepreneurial personality and the Big Five personality traits

Although meta-analyses show that the Big Five personality traits predict business intention, creation, and success (Brandstätter, 2011), they also indicate that narrow personality traits, such as innovativeness, predict these outcomes better than broad traits, such as Conscientiousness and Extraversion (Rauch & Frese, 2007). The current study extends previous research to examine the relationship between the Big Five and a wider range of entrepreneurial outcomes (e.g. founding charitable organisations, organising events, and changing organisational practices). Additionally, it establishes the incremental validity of a narrow measure of entrepreneurial personality over the Big Five (META, Ahmetoglu, & Chamorro-Premuzic, 2010). Both the Big Five and META significantly predict various forms of entrepreneurial success, though META does so more consistently. This suggests that narrow personality traits have incremental validity in predicting entrepreneurial success vis-à-vis the Big Five. Theoretical and applied implications are discussed

Greed is good? Assessing the relationship between entrepreneurship and subclinical psychopathy

a b s t r a c t Despite the stereotype of entrepreneurs as corporate psychopaths, there has been little research on the overlap between individual differences in entrepreneurship and subclinical psychopathy. In line with this issue, the current study investigated whether primary and secondary psychopathy are linked to a measure of entrepreneurial tendencies and abilities, as well as entrepreneurial activities and achievements. Participants were 435 working adults. Structural equation models revealed that individual differences in entrepreneurial tendencies and abilities were positively related to primary psychopathy, but unrelated to secondary psychopathy. Secondary psychopathy did not predict entrepreneurial activity; primary psychopathy predicted some entrepreneurial outcomes, albeit modestly, providing partial support for the 'corporate psychopath' stereotype. Implications for entrepreneurship research and practice are discussed

From Likert scales to images: Validating a novel creativity measure with image based response scales.

The use of image-based testing to assess individual differences has increased substantially in recent years, with proponents arguing that they offer a more engaging alternative to text-based psychometric tests. Yet research examining the validity of these tests is near to non-existent. Traditional image-based formats have been little more than an adaptation of self-reports, with images replacing questions but not response options. The current study develops a novel image-based creativity measure, where images replace conventional response scales, and scores on the measures are obtained using a linear regression scoring algorithm to predict three self-reported creativity measures. Using sequential forward selection on a set of 77 image-based items, an optimal solution of 14 items that were valid predictors of self-reported creativity scores were identified. The image-based measure had good test-retest reliability. Implications are discussed in terms of the usefulness of image-based testing for practitioners seeking engaging and short test formats

Pricing practices: A critical review of their effects on consumer perceptions and behaviour

With the present challenge to compete on price or product assortment, retailers and manufacturers are increasingly focusing on state-of-the-art pricing strategies which have their roots in behavioural economics and psychology. The current review is an empirical investigation on the relative effectiveness of various pricing practices on consumer perceptions and behaviour. Six pricing strategies were reviewed; drip pricing, reference pricing, the use of the word ‘free’, bait pricing, bundling and time-limited offers. The review shows that the former three have received a significant amount of attention and have a robust impact on consumer perceptions and behaviour. There is less research on the latter three; however, the available evidence does suggest that they, too, may be capable of influencing consumers’ choices. Finally, it is also clear that the effects of pricing practices can be moderated by a variety of factors. Overall, the current review indicates that sellers are able to influence perceptions and purchase decisions of consumers based on the manner in which prices are displayed. The implications of these findings for retailers, policy makers and researchers are discussed

Little more than personality: Dispositional determinants of test anxiety (the Big Five, core self-evaluations, and self-assessed intelligence)

This study attempted a hierarchical integration of several dispositional determinants of test anxiety (TA) [Sarason, I.G. (1984). Stress, anxiety and cognitive interference: Reactions to tests. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46, 929–938.], namely the Big Five personality traits [Costa, P.T. Jr., & McCrae, R.R. (1992). Revised NEO personality inventory (NEO-PI-R) and NEO five-factor inventory (NEO-FFI): Professional manual. Odessa: Psychological Assessment Resources.], core self-evaluations (CSE) [Judge, T.A., Erez, A., Bono, J.E., & Thoreson, C.J. (2003). The Core Self-Evaluation Scale: Development of a measure. Personnel psychology, 56, 303–331.], and self-assessed intelligence (SAI) [Furnham, A. (2001). Self-estimates of intelligence: Culture and gender difference in self and other estimates of both general (g) and multiple intelligences. Personality and Individual Differences, 31, 1381–1405.] in a sample of 388 US and UK university students. Structural equation models showed that TA was largely a function of Neuroticism, and that CSE and SAI do not contribute to the prediction of TA over established personality traits. Furthermore, the relationship between CSE and TA was fully accounted for by personality traits, whereas SAI was not a significant predictor of TA. The results undermine the notion that self-beliefs affect TA and suggest that wider dispositions play a salient role determining individual differences in TA. Theoretical and applied implications are discussed, particularly in regards to educational settings

Marketing to UnStereotype Audiences: Investigating the Relationship Between Stereotypical Thinking and Creativity in Marketing Campaigns

Stereotyping others may be negatively related to one’s creativity, yet there is currently scant empirical evidence of a link between stereotyping and creativity; here, we explore this link in the marketing domain. In a field study, we introduced a novel intervention to disrupt marketeers’ dependency on stereotypes and boost creativity. The intervention decreased marketeers’ use of stereotypes when labeling consumer segmentation while enhancing the creativity of ideas. In a pair of online experiments, we asked participants to rate the stereotypicality and creativity of British advertisements and their purchase intention for the advertised product or service. We found a linear relationship between perceived stereotypicality and creativity. We also found a quadratic relationship between perceived stereotypicality and purchase intention, such that advertisements perceived as low and high stereotypicality induced higher purchase intention than the mediums. Finally, we discuss the psychological mechanisms that potentially link stereotyping and creativity and the implications for marketing

Ecological rationality and entrepreneurship::How entrepreneurs fit decision logics to decision content and structure

During new venture creation, entrepreneurs make decisions in a variety of areas from seeking funding to hiring employees. When and why entrepreneurs use effectual or causal logics to make such decisions is poorly understood. In this study, we integrate ecological rationality theory and effectuation theory to examine how the nature of decisions influences entrepreneurs' use of decision logics. In a qualitative study with 41 entrepreneurs across 290 decisions, we explore how decision content (what the decision is about) and decision structure (what information about a decision is represented in the decision-maker's mind) influence entrepreneurs' use of effectual or causal logics. We extend our findings in an experiment with 224 entrepreneurs where we manipulate decision structure. Our results suggest that decision content influences entrepreneurs' mental representations of decision structure. In turn, the combination of two elements of decision structure — decision complexity and the perceived costs of implementing different options — drives entrepreneurs' use of decision logics. We contribute to the effectuation literature by integrating it with ecological rationality theory, introducing the concept of decision fit as a driver of decision logics, and developing our understanding of hybrid decision-making (the simultaneous use of effectuation and causation)

Who art thou? Personality predictors of artistic preferences in a large UK sample: The importance of openness

The present study examined individual differences in artistic preferences in a sample of 91,692 participants (60% women and 40% men), aged 13–90 years. Participants completed a Big Five personality inventory (Goldberg, 1999) and provided preference ratings for 24 different paintings corresponding to cubism, renaissance, impressionism, and Japanese art, which loaded on to a latent factor of overall art preferences. As expected, the personality trait openness to experience was the strongest and only consistent personality correlate of artistic preferences, affecting both overall and specific preferences, as well as visits to galleries, and artistic (rather than scientific) self-perception. Overall preferences were also positively influenced by age and visits to art galleries, and to a lesser degree, by artistic self-perception and conscientiousness (negatively). As for specific styles, after overall preferences were accounted for, more agreeable, more conscientious and less open individuals reported higher preference levels for impressionist, younger and more extraverted participants showed higher levels of preference for cubism (as did males), and younger participants, as well as males, reported higher levels of preferences for renaissance. Limitations and recommendations for future research are discussed

Who Wants to Be an Entrepreneur? The Relationship Between Vocational Interests and Individual Differences in Entrepreneurship

The current study examines the relationship between individual differences in entrepreneurship and vocational interests in a sample of 565 adults. Specifically, it investigates associations between vocational interests (as assessed by Holland’s realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, and conventional model), entrepreneurial potential (as assessed by measure of entrepreneurial tendencies and abilities [META]), and entrepreneurial activity, both within and outside organizations. Results reveal predictable associations between Holland’s taxonomy of vocational interests and entrepreneurial outcomes. Incremental validity tests show that Holland’s vocational interests predict entrepreneurial activity even when entrepreneurial potential and demographic variables are taken into account. Furthermore, structural equation modeling indicates that META is the strongest and most consistent predictor of entrepreneurial activity. Practical and theoretical implications for vocational guidance and career assessment are considered