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

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.     

Entrepreneurship Economic Development and Quality of Life in Third-World Countries

This article deals with perhaps the greatest problem of our time, the ever increasing world’s neglected and ignored poor. I argue here that economic development can be cultivated by endogenously from the bottom up (implemented through entrepreneurship) and that the economic output to be exported globally. Unique characteristics of entrepreneurs and their contribution to the economy can make it possible for third world countries to grow their economies faster and provide economic means to enhance social, health, and environmental well-being (basic dimensions of quality of life), along with products and services that the poor need in these countries. Developing countries need to develop entrepreneurial cultures for economic growth and enhanced quality of life. But, sheer presence and positive performance is not totally adequate since the above mentioned dimensions are only necessary but not sufficient conditions. Note: This paper draws from A. Coskun Samli (2008), “International Entrepreneurship and Quality of Life,” in W. E. Kilbourne and J. D. Middelstaedt (eds), The 33rd Annual Meeting of the Macro-Marketing Society 2008, 109–116.     

Overconfidence and underconfidence: When and why people underestimate (and overestimate) the competition

It is commonly held that people believe themselves to be better than others, especially for outcomes under their control. However, such overconfidence is not universal. This paper presents evidence showing that people believe that they are below average on skill-based tasks that are difficult. A simple Bayesian explanation can account for these effects and for their robustness: On skill-based tasks, people generally have better information about themselves than about others, so their beliefs about others’ performances tend to be more regressive (thus less extreme) than their beliefs about their own performances. This explanation is tested in two experiments that examine these effects’ robustness to experience, feedback, and market forces. The discussion explores the implications for strategic planning in general and entrepreneurial entry in particular.     

The role of career adaptability in predicting entrepreneurial intentions: A moderated mediation model

Guided by the Career Construction Theory (Savickas, 2013), we view entrepreneurship as an adaptive vocational behavior driven by an individual's self-regulatory capacity to thrive in a complex entrepreneurial career context. Our research model posited that individuals rely on their adaptive resources and entrepreneurial self-efficacy as they form entrepreneurial intentions. Career adaptability, as self-regulatory competencies, is further strengthened by prior exposure to family business. We collected data over three measurement periods from Serbian business students (n = 380) and validated the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale (CAAS). The moderated mediation model was supported and as predicted: (a) career adaptability was positively associated with entrepreneurial intentions and (b) the mediated relationship between career adaptability and entrepreneurial intentions via entrepreneurial self-efficacy was stronger for individuals with prior exposure to family business. In addition, we provide evidence for the psychometric properties of CAAS by examining its internal consistency, test–retest reliability, and factor structure. Taken together, our study offers the groundwork for understanding successful adaptation in the entrepreneurial career context and supports the cross-national measurement equivalence and utility of CAAS in a developing economy.     

Rule-breaking,crime, and entrepreneurship: A replication and extension study with 37-year longitudinal data

Is there an intimate biographical relationship between entrepreneurship and antisocial tendencies? Drawing from Zhang and Arvey's retrospective study [Zhang, Z. & Arvey, R.D. (2009). Rule breaking in adolescence and entrepreneurial status: An empirical investigation. Journal of Business Venturing, 24(5), 436–447], which found a link between entrepreneurship status of male adults and their recalled early antisocial rule-breaking behavior in adolescence, the present study utilized prospective longitudinal data from a Swedish cohort study to clarify the connection between antisocial rule-breaking, crime, and entrepreneurship by applying a developmental perspective. Regression results, which controlled for early socioeconomic background and intellectual competencies, indeed identified early antisocial rule-breaking behavior in adolescence as a valid positive predictor of a subsequent entrepreneurial career in adulthood in men (but not in women). In contrast, registered crime (teenage crime, adult crime, and prototypical trajectories of criminal behavior) as well as rule-breaking attitude in adolescence, as a more latent form of early antisocial tendencies, were relatively unimportant in the prediction of entrepreneurship in both genders. The results are discussed with a focus on rule-breaking and agency theories of entrepreneurship, youth theories, and the importance of looking at gender differences in entrepreneurial development.     

Opportunity recognition and the tendency to be an entrepreneur: A bivariate genetics perspective

We applied quantitative genetics techniques to a sample of 851 pairs of monozygotic and 855 pairs of dizygotic female twins to examine the influence of genetic factors on the variation across people in opportunity recognition. We also examined the extent to which the same genetic factors contribute to both opportunity recognition and the tendency to be an entrepreneur. We found substantial heritability for opportunity recognition (0.45), with no influence of the shared environment. Moreover, we found that 53% of the phenotypic correlation between opportunity recognition and the tendency to be an entrepreneur had a common genetic aetiology.     

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, Leutner, & Chamorro-Premuic, 2011). 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.     

The paradox of the contented female business owner

According to survey responses from 201 business owners, although the firms of male business owners were more successful than those of female business owners on frequently used measures of business success (business performance compared to competitors and sales), business owner sex did not predict satisfaction with business success, supporting the existence of a “paradox of the contented female business owner”. A differential values explanation for this paradox was strongly supported, whereas a differential inputs explanation was unsupported. Female business owners placed less value on achieving business success than their male counterparts. Also, female business owners’ satisfaction with business success was less related to fluctuations in business performance and sales than that of male business owners. However, results for male business owners displayed a different kind of paradox, as their satisfaction with business success was positively related to business performance and negatively related to sales.     

EQ-nomics: Understanding the relationship between individual differences in Trait Emotional Intelligence and entrepreneurship

Past studies highlight the importance of Trait Emotional Intelligence (EI) in the prediction of career success. Given the evidence that trait EI predicts job performance and job satisfaction, it is reasonable to expect this construct to also predict other forms of career success. In this study, we examine whether EI predicts entrepreneurship; that is, whether higher trait EI is linked to entrepreneurial behaviours and entrepreneurial success, and whether any effects of trait EI on entrepreneurship are independent of the personality trait of Core Self-Evaluations, demographic variables, and individual differences in entrepreneurial personality. Results show that trait EI predicts only some entrepreneurial outcomes beyond other variables examined, and with small effect sizes. This suggests that individual differences in entrepreneurship result only in part from inter-personal differences in trait EI. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Studying entrepreneurial occupations in the Terman women

To achieve a better understanding of entrepreneurship development in women, longitudinal data on 672 individuals collected from 1922 to 1959 were analysed in a secondary investigation of the Terman Longitudinal Study. Women's reports on their occupations during 10 different years were assigned to one of two categories: work for pay (0/1), and work allowing for self‐employment (0/1) in the respective year. Structural equation modelling supported earlier results concerning male entrepreneurial activity. Personality and aspects of the parenting context the women had experienced by the average age of 12 predicted early entrepreneurial competencies (inventions, leadership) and occupational interests by age 13, which related to an entrepreneurship‐related career goal in 1936, when the participants were about 27 years of age on average. Such a career goal in turn predicted a higher number of occasions of entrepreneurship‐prone work. Surprisingly, we also found a relationship to divorce. Women who had experienced the failure of a marriage were in occupations with a potential for entrepreneurship more often. Reasons are discussed against a backdrop of historical timing and current findings to identify general aspects of entrepreneurship development.