Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Insights
  • Home
  • Content
    • Perspectives
    • Innovative Programs & Policies
    • Research You Should Know
    • In Case You Missed It
  • About Endeavor
    • Our Mission
    • Our Model
    • Our Entrepreneurs
    • Insight & Research
    • Investor Network
    • Programs
    • Our Background
    • FAQS
  • About EEI
Research You Should Know 0

The Connection Between Personality and Entrepreneurship

By Endeavor Insight · On September 8, 2014

Does personality play a role in determining who is a good entrepreneur?

A recent study seeks to understand the influence of personality traits among entrepreneurs. It analyzes what psychologists call the “Big 5” personality traits:

  1. Openness to new experiences: imagination and insight; having a broad range of interests;
  2. Extraversion: excitability, sociability, talkativeness, assertiveness, and high amounts of emotional expressiveness;
  3. Neuroticism: emotional instability, anxiety, moodiness, irritability, and sadness;
  4. Conscientiousness: thoughtfulness, good impulse control, goal-directed behaviors, rule consciousness, good organization and mindfulness of details;
  5. Agreeableness: trust, altruism, lack of selfishness, kindness, affection, and other pro-social behaviors.

Openness to new experiences is the personality trait linked most to starting one’s own business. However, the researchers found that this trait lowers earnings among entrepreneurs. Agreeableness and extroversion were also found to increase the likelihood that someone becomes an entrepreneur, though at lower levels. Agreeableness was also associated with lower earnings among founders, while extroversion was associated with higher earnings.

The study concludes that policies that seek to encourage entrepreneurship are largely ineffective. These policies often provide additional encouragement to people with the “wrong” personality traits for entrepreneurship (i.e., traits associated with lower entrepreneurial performance), rather than prompting individuals with personalities that would allow for success to start new firms.

To read the full report, please click here.

Contributed by Haley Goodman.

Print Friendly
entrepreneurial ecosystementrepreneurship ecosystemsentrepreneurship policypersonality traitspolicypublic policyresearchresearch reportsuccess
Share Tweet

You Might Also Like

  • Research You Should Know

    Place-Based Innovation Policies are Important for Building Entrepreneurial Ecosystems

  • Research You Should Know

    Middle American Cities Are Some of the Nation’s Largest Talent Generators

  • Research You Should Know

    National Governments Want More Companies to Scale

No Comments

Leave a reply Cancel reply

Subscribe to our monthly update

  • Popular
  • Comments
  • Tags
  • How Can Decision Makers Foster Productive Entrepreneurship Communities?

    October 29, 2018
  • Three Tips for Entrepreneurship Policy-Makers from Philip Auerswald

    October 14, 2015
  • The Three Most Important Resources Companies Need to Succeed

    March 10, 2014
  • Start-Up Chile: Heading toward Failure or Success?

    September 9, 2014
  • How Five Percent of Kenyan Companies Can Help Create 3.9 Million Jobs

    May 11, 2015
  • How Local and State Governments Can Best Support Entrepreneurship

    April 15, 2015
  • ride says: Тhanks for finally writing about >The Three Most Important Resourϲes Compan...
  • American Dreamers says: Very insightful article. This can help out all aspiring ...
  • Steven Koltai says: In my work in 36 countries over the past 8 years beginning as the first Senior...
  • Mark Neild says: Of course it may be that just providing entrepreneurs in developing countries ...
  • Endeavor Insight says: Thank you, Julia! Big hugs from Team Insight....
entrepreneurial ecosystem entrepreneurship ecosystems access to finance entrepreneurship startups access to capital jobs scaleups entrepreneurship policy research success high-growth firms economic growth smes public policy economic development europe high-growth

Perspectives

  • Network Building Sets Women Entrepreneurs Up for Success

    February 12, 2020
  • Emerging Fintech Entrepreneurship in the African Remittance Market

    June 29, 2017
  • Xavier Niel is Building the World’s Largest Startup Incubator in Paris

    May 26, 2016

Innovative Programs & Policies

  • How Social Entrepreneurs ‘Zig-Zag’ Their Way to Scale

    December 5, 2019
  • Five Ways for Entrepreneurship Support Programs to Become More Effective

    November 22, 2019
  • What Types of Companies Have the Strongest Impact on Economic Growth?

    June 7, 2019

Research You Should Know

  • Place-Based Innovation Policies are Important for Building Entrepreneurial Ecosystems

    March 30, 2020
  • Middle American Cities Are Some of the Nation’s Largest Talent Generators

    March 23, 2020
  • National Governments Want More Companies to Scale

    March 12, 2020

In Case You Missed It

  • What Is the Typical Career Path of CEOs at Large Firms?

    July 24, 2019
  • The Fintech Sector is Rapidly Expanding in Latin America

    June 25, 2018
  • Scaling Entrepreneurs Drive Innovation in Emerging Markets

    June 7, 2018

Endeavor

To learn more about Endeavor and our worldwide network of high-growth companies please visit our website.

© Endeavor 2019. All rights reserved.