Capturing the entrepreneurial spirit: A study to identify the personality characteristics of entrepreneurs.

摘要

This study investigates the little understood phenomena known as the entrepreneur and breaks new ground by using the 5 personality domains of the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) test to define the Entrepreneurial Spirit (ES). The ES and 5 domains are: Neuroticism; Extraversion; Agreeableness; Openness; and Conscientiousness. Three research questions were formulated to assess ES as it related to Demographics and Success Indicators (SI): (a) What effect does SI (years in business, number of employees, and financial security) have on the ES? (b) What effect does Demographics (age, race, education, and gender) have on the ES? (c)What effect does Demographics have on the ES? Eleven separate non-directional hypotheses were formulated for the 3 research questions. In addition, 2 open-ended questions were formulated: (a) What characteristics are important to entrepreneurs? and (b) How is success defined? 51 self-identified entrepreneurs were given both the NEO-FFI and a survey to obtain demographics and success-related data. Quantitative data were analyzed using analyses of variance and eta squared. Qualitative data were analyzed using ATLAS/ti software. Four of the 11 hypotheses were supported. A significant effect was found with (a) gender on the agreeableness subscale of ES; (b) age on the SI of number of years in business and number of employees; (c) race on the SI financial security; and (d) gender of entrepreneur on the SI of number of years in business. The participant's definition of success was analyzed using McCelland Needs Theory. The participants identified characteristics was analyzed using the 5 personality domains. A discussion of these results, in addition to the results of the open-ended question analysis, is included. Implications for future research was discussed.