Description
The role of personality traits in the decision to start a business and to maintain it successfully is discussed controversially in entrepreneurship research. Our meta-analyses builds upon and extends earlier meta-analyses by doing a full analysis of personality traits that includes a comparison of different traits from a theoretical perspective and by analyzing a full set of personality predictors for both start-up activities as well as success.
Let’s Put the Person Back into Entrepreneurship Research: A Meta-Analysis on the
Relationship between Business Owners’ Personality Traits, Business reation, an! "uccess
"hort Title: Meta-analysis on entrepreneurs’ personality
An!reas Rauch
#ni$ersity o% &iessen '(ow at Eras)us #ni$ersity Rotter!a)*
R"M Eras)us #ni$ersity
Entrepreneurship an! (ew Business +enturin,
Bur,- Ou!erlaan ./
0/12 PA Rotter!a)
The (etherlan!s
Tel-: 304 4/ 5/6 40.2
7a8- : 304 4/ 5/6 9106
E)ail-: arauch:rs)-nl
Michael 7rese
#ni$ersity o% &iessen, ;epart)ent o% Psycholo,y
<ork an! Or,ani=ational Psycholo,y
Otto-Beha,el- "tr- 4/7
0.095 &iessen
&er)any
Tel-: /154> 99 21224
7a8- : /154> 99 21/59
E)ail-: )ichael-%rese
sychol-uni-,iessen-!e
Post-re$iew $ersion
Publishe! in: European ?ournal o% <ork an! Or,ani=ational Psycholo,y
Link: http:>>www-tan!%-co-uk>@ournals>pp>40.9502A-ht)l
Beywor!s: Personality, Entrepreneurship, Meta-analysis
4
Let’s Put the Person Back into Entrepreneurship Research: A Meta-Analysis on the
Relationship between Business Owners’ Personality Traits, Business reation, an! "uccess
AB"TRAT
The role o% personality traits in the !ecision to start a business an! to )aintain it success%ully
is !iscusse! contro$ersially in entrepreneurship research- Our )eta-analyses buil!s upon an!
e8ten!s earlier )eta-analyses by !oin, a %ull analysis o% personality traits that inclu!es a
co)parison o% !i%%erent traits %ro) a theoretical perspecti$e an! by analy=in, a %ull set o%
personality pre!ictors %or both start-up acti$ities as well as success- Theoretically, our article
a!!s to the literature by )atchin, traits to the tasks o% entrepreneurs- The results in!icate that
traits )atche! to the task o% runnin, a business pro!uce! hi,her e%%ect si=es with business
creation than traits that were not )atche! to the task o% runnin, an enterprise 'correcte!
rC-25D 'BC5D, (C40,26/* an! correcte! rC-425 'BC2/, (C 09D.*, respecti$ely*- Moreo$er,
traits )atche! to the task pro!uce! hi,her correlations with success 'correcte! rC-2./, BC52,
(C.1/D* than traits not )atche! to the task o% runnin, a business 'correcte! rC-/26, BC40,
(C2DDD*- The traits )atche! to entrepreneurship si,ni%icantly correlate! with entrepreneurial
beha$ior 'business creation, business success* were nee! %or achie$e)ent, ,enerali=e! sel%-
e%%icacy, inno$ati$eness, stress tolerance, nee! %or autono)y, an! pro-acti$e personality-
These relationships were o% )o!erate si=e in ,eneral an!, )oreo$er, hetero,eneity su,,este!
that %uture research shoul! analy=e )o!erator $ariables-
2
EResearch on personal traits see)s to ha$e reache! an e)pirical !ea! en!F 'Al!rich, 4999, p-
D1*
G(TRO;#TGO(
Relationships between personality traits an! entrepreneurial beha$ior are %reHuently
a!!resse! in entrepreneurship theori=in, an! research- Iet, a !eep-roote! skepticis) pre$ails
in the entrepreneurship literature about the presence an! the stren,th o% this relationship-
<hile so)e narrati$e re$iews conclu!e! that there is in!ee! a positi$e relationship between
personality traits an! both business creation an! business success '* other narrati$e re$iews
conclu!e! that there is no such relationship '- Recent )eta-analyses pro$i!e! e$i!ence %or the
pre!icti$e $ali!ity o% personality traits in entrepreneurial research 'ollins, Jan,es, K Locke,
2//5, "tewart K Roth, 2//4, "tewart K Roth 2//5b, Lhao K "eibert, 2//5* an! su,,est to
%urther analy=e contin,encies that i)pact the si=e o% the relationship- <e buil! upon these
)eta-analyses an! e8ten! the reach o% our )eta-analysis in the %ollowin, way: 7irst, we
propose to stu!y speci%ic traits, such as achie$e)ent )oti$e rather than broa! cate,ories o%
traits, such as the Bi, 7i$e to pre!ict entrepreneurial beha$ior- "econ!, a relate! point is to
ask the Huestion whether the trait is )atche! to the task or not- <e propose that a ,oo! )atch
between traits an! the tasks o% runnin, a business allows %or hi,her $ali!ities in the conte8t o%
entrepreneurship research than personality traits not )atche! to entrepreneurship- Thir!, we
stu!y both business creation as well as business success an! e8a)ine the relationships
between personality an! entrepreneurship in !i%%erent conte8ts - business creation an!
success- 7inally, we inten!e! to be as inclusi$e in the nu)ber o% traits stu!ie! as the literature
allows us to be- The present stu!y atte)pts to test a %ull set o% traits to pro$i!e a co)plete
picture o% the relationship between personality an! entrepreneurship, which in turn per)its us
to present an e)pirical answer to the Huestion o% which traits are $ali! pre!ictors o%
entrepreneurial success-
0
"uch a )eta-analysis has i)portant conseHuences %or theory an! )o!el buil!in,- G% a
)eta-analysis %in!s relationships o% personality with business success to be i)portant,
theories o% entrepreneurship )ust take the !yna)ics o% personality into account an! )o!el
buil!in, nee!s to consi!er personality %actors when pre!ictin, business success, si)ilar to
en$iron)ental an! in!ustry con!itions- There%ore, this paper %irst un%ol!s the theoretical
assu)ptions that @usti%y a positi$e relationship between owners’ personality traits an!
entrepreneurial beha$ior- 7ollowin, this, we !iscuss pre$ious )eta-analyses on traits o%
entrepreneurs be%ore we !e$elop the %ra)ework an! hypotheses use! in the present stu!y-
TJE 7#(TGO( O7 PER"O(ALGTI TRAGT" G( E(TREPRE(E#RGAL PROE""E"
Entrepreneurship has been !e%ine! usin, a beha$ioral !e%initionM %or e8a)ple the
creation o% new or,ani=ations '&artner, 4969*- A %reHuently use! beha$ioral !e%inition o%
entrepreneurs re%ers to in!epen!ent ownership, acti$e )ana,e)ent, an!>or e8presse!
intention to !o so '"tewart K Roth, 2//4*- Other !e%initions o% entrepreneurship !escribe
tasks, such as the reco,nition an! e8ploitation o% opportunities as central to entrepreneurship
'"hane K +enkatara)an, 2///*- <e inclu!e! articles into our )eta-analysis usin, a broa!
beha$ioral !e%inition o% entrepreneurship- On the other han!, we use )ore speci%ic task
!escriptions o% entrepreneurship, such as the one by "hane an! +enkatara)an '2///*, when
!iscussin, the i)portance o% )atchin, personality traits to entrepreneurship-
Personality traits are !e%ine! as !ispositions to e8hibit a certain kin! o% response
across $arious situations 'aprana K er$one, 2///*M personality traits are also en!urin, an!
show a hi,h !e,ree o% stability across ti)e 'Roccas, "a,i$, "chwart=, K Bna%o, 2//2*- <e
%ollow Mcrae an! osta '499/* an! conceptuali=e personality traits as propensities to act-
;i%%erent propensities )ay %acilitate or i)pe!e business owners’ actions an! beha$iours-
There%ore, we assu)e that personality traits are pre!ictors o% entrepreneurial beha$ior 'Rauch
K 7rese, 2///*- Ban%er '4992* re%erre! to personality traits as !istal $ariables- ;istal
5
!ispositions inclu!e non-co,niti$e an! non-ability !ispositions that a%%ect beha$ior an!
per%or)ance in!irectly- "uch traits inclu!e biolo,ical !eter)inants 'such as te)pera)ent*,
broa! personality %actors 'such as the Bi, 7i$e*, )oti$es 'such as achie$e)ent )oti$e*, an!
,enerali=e! attitu!es an! belie%s 'such as ,enerali=e! sel%-e%%icacy*- Thus, this stu!y uses the
ter) personality traits ,enerally to !escribe the !istal !ispositions o% entrepreneurs-
lassic econo)ic theori=in, has e)phasi=e! personality traits to !escribe
entrepreneursM e8a)ples are creati$ity '"chu)peter, 490.* an! risk takin, 'Bni,ht, 4924M
Mill, 49.5*- E)pirical stu!ies on nee! %or achie$e)ent pro$i!e! support %or this assu)ption
as business owners ha$e hi,her $alues in nee! %or achie$e)ent than )ana,ers, an! nee! %or
achie$e)ent is positi$ely relate! to business success 'Mclellan!, 4914*- Jowe$er,
subseHuent research raise! serious !oubts as to whether personality plays any role in the start-
up phase an! %or business success- &artner '496.* ar,ue! that entrepreneurs constitute a
hi,hly hetero,eneous ,roup o% people that !e%ies a co))on !e%inition an!, there%ore,
co))on pre!ictorsM in other wor!s, an Na$era,e entrepreneur’ !oes not e8ist an!, there%ore,
an a$era,e personality pro%ile o% entrepreneurs cannot be !eter)ine!- Low an! McMillan
'4966* ar,ue! that personality-base! !escripti$e stu!ies !o not help to !e$elop a theory o%
entrepreneurship 'p- 456*- Re$iewers o% the literature ha$e, there%ore, su,,este! to
!iscontinue the search %or personality traits in entrepreneurship research 'e-,-, Al!rich, 4999*-
The proposal to !iscontinue the stu!y o% personality within entrepreneurship research
was base! on narrati$e re$iews o% the literature- Meta-analysis approaches ha$e ar,ue! that it
is o%ten har! to !etect s)all but i)portant relationships with a narrati$e re$iew 'Junter K
"ch)i!t, 2//5*: ")all relationships are o%ten !i%%icult to !etect, because they are )aske! by
%reHuent non-si,ni%icant %in!in,s 'o%ten a result o% lack o% power* an! the %act that
unreliability o% )easures )ay lea! to s)all attenuate! e)pirical correlations 'in contrast, a
)eta-analysis typically corrects %or reliability issues*- This o%ten lea!s to a )ore ne,ati$e
.
$iew o% the e$i!ence than is calle! %or- All o% these 'an! other* issues )i,ht result in a hi,her
inci!ence o% Type GG errors 'Junter K "ch)i!t, 4991M Tett, ?ackson, K Rothstein, 4994*-
Gn!ee!, recent )eta-analytical e$i!ence pro$i!es support %or the pre!icti$e $ali!ities
o% personality traits- Lhao an! "eibert '2//1* a!!resse! in their )eta-analysis )ultiple traits
by co!in, $arious personality traits into the %i$e %actors o% the Bi, 7i$e )o!el- Results
in!icate! !i%%erences between entrepreneurs an! )ana,ers in conscientiousness, openness to
e8perience, neuroticis), an! a,reeableness- Other )eta-analyses stu!ie! the two speci%ic
personality traits O risk takin, an! achie$e)ent )oti$e - that are theoretically relate! to the
!o)ain o% entrepreneurship- 7or e8a)ple, entrepreneurs risk loosin, their in$est)ents in
contrast to )ana,ersM there%ore, they shoul! be hi,h in risk takin, 'Bni,ht, 4924*- "tewart an!
Roth '2//4>2//5a* %oun! s)all an! si,ni%icant !i%%erences in risk propensity between
entrepreneurs an! )ana,ers- +ariations in e%%ect si=es were %ully e8plaine! by !i%%erent
instru)ents use! to )easure risk propensity: ob@ecti$e )easures pro!uce! hi,her e%%ect si=es
than pro@ecti$e )easures- (ee! %or achie$e)ent is an a!!itional trait that has been relate! to
econo)ic outco)es an! business per%or)ance 'Mclellan!, 4914*- Two )eta-analyses
a!!resse! nee! %or achie$e)ent o% entrepreneurs: The !i%%erence between entrepreneurs an!
non-entrepreneurs was o% )o!erate si=e '!C-55 an! !C-09, ollins et al-, 2//5, "tewart K
Roth, 2//5b, respecti$ely*- Moreo$er, nee! %or achie$e)ent was positi$ely relate! to success
'rC-21, ollins et al- 2//5*- Thus, these )eta-analyses show the $ali!ities o% selecte!
personality $ariables-
<e buil! our )eta-analysis on this prior work an! e8ten! the co$era,e- The pre$ious
)eta-analyses stu!ie! only !i%%erences between entrepreneurs an! )ana,ers 'with the
e8ception o% ollins et al-, 2//5*- Entrepreneurship theory nee!s to know not only how
entrepreneurs’ personality is !i%%erent %ro) non-entrepreneurs but also whether or not
personality traits are relate! to business success- At present we know this only %or one trait O
achie$e)ent )oti$e that was stu!ie! by ollins et al '2//5*- Lhao an! "eibert '2//1*
1
presente! the )ost enco)passin, )eta-analysis up to this point- They concentrate! on the
relationship between personality $ariables an! start-up acti$ities- <e co)ple)ent this stu!y
by e8a)inin, the relationships between traits an! success- Lhao an! "eibert '2//1* !i! not
!irectly analy=e the Bi, 7i$e traits but co!e! stu!ies accor!in, to the %i$e %actor ta8ono)y-
As a conseHuence, they inclu!e! both broa! an! speci%ic traits un!er the sa)e rubric- More
i)portantly, they !i! not !i%%erentiate accor!in, to whether or not the traits )atche! the tasks
o% entrepreneurs ')ore on this later*- This lea!s to the proble) that the relationships )ay
ha$e been un!eresti)ate!- Gn one instance, the authors !i! !i%%erentiate between two %acets o%
conscientiousness O the traits o% achie$e)ent )oti$e an! !epen!abilityM the results showe!
that only achie$e)ent )oti$e was relate! to entrepreneurship O with ! 'correcte!* C -.9 while
!epen!ability !i! not show a si,ni%icant relationship 'with ! 'correcte!* C -/4*- These
!i%%erentiations are washe! out when reportin, the Bi, 7i$e cate,ory o% conscientiousness
'which pro!uce! a ! 'correcte!*C -5.*- 7or this an! %urther theoretical reasons 'see below*, we
think that it is necessary to e8a)ine speci%ic traits an! their relationships with business
creation an! with business success- Moreo$er, we think it is necessary to !i%%erentiate traits
into those that can be theoretically )atche! to the tasks o% entrepreneurs an! those that are not
)atche! to these tasks- <e propose that a ,oo! )atch between traits an! the tasks o% runnin,
a business allows %or hi,her $ali!ities in the conte8t o% entrepreneurship research than
personality traits not )atche! to entrepreneurship-
Matchin, personality traits to the task o% entrepreneurship
There is a !ebate within work an! or,ani=ational psycholo,y whether researchers
shoul! use broa! traits or whether they shoul! rely on speci%ic traits to pre!ict per%or)ance-
7or e8a)ple, Ones an! +iswes$aran '4991* ar,ue! that broa! bi, %i$e traits are better
pre!ictors o% @ob per%or)ance than )ore speci%ic traits, because speci%ic traits ha$e low
reliabilities an! criterion relate! $ali!ity- Gn contrast, another set o% authors su,,este! to
D
!i%%erentiate between broa! an! narrow traits 'Barrick K Mount, 2//., ;u!ley, Or$is,
Lebiecki, K ortina, 2//1M Tett, "teele, K Beaure,ar!, 2//0*- As Barrick an! Mount '2//.*
pointe! out, Enarrow traits rely on e8plicit !escription that )ay be situate! in ti)e, place, or
roleF ' p- 01D*- The use%ulness o% speci%ic traits in pre!ictin, @ob per%or)ance was supporte!
'Barrick K Mount, 2//.M Tett et al, 2//0*-
<e ar,ue in the %ollowin, %or an e8plicit !i%%erentiation o% speci%ic traits into those
that are EroleF-relate! an! those that are not 'in the sense o% Barrick K Mount, 4994*, that is
we ask the Huestion which traits )ay be relate! to the tasks o% entrepreneurship- This also
%ollows %ro) a ,eneral approach to un!erstan! work tasks %irst an! then look at the rele$ant
pre!ictors o% per%or)ance '7leish)an K Puaintance, 4965* as well as %ro) entrepreneurship
research 'Bau) K Locke, 2//5M ollins et al- 2//5*-
Broa! trait ta8ono)ies use personality base! $ariation to or,ani=e speci%ic personality
traits into )eanin,%ul clusters- As a result, these ,lobal traits loose speci%ic criterion relate!
$ariance- More speci%ic traits can a!! to the pre!iction o% a criterion because the best
pre!ictors )i,ht $ery well be speci%ic traits that represent !i%%erent bi, %i$e %actors rather than
)any traits %ro) one sin,le %actor 'Paunonen K Ashton, 2//4*- An e8a)ple is the %actor
conscientiousness which inclu!es sub-%actors o% achie$e)ent stri$in, an! !uti%ulness- A
rou,h analysis o% the tasks o% entrepreneurs shows that achie$e)ent stri$in,s shoul! show
positi$e correlations with entrepreneurial success an! start-up acti$ities while !uti%ulness
shoul! show =ero or e$en ne,ati$e relationships- G% o$erall conscientiousness is use! to
pre!ict entrepreneurial success, the two un!erlyin, contra!ictory correlations )ay lea! to an
o$erall s)all positi$e correlation- Many stu!ies on s)all business owners’ personality were
not theoretically !ri$en, but were !escripti$e in nature- Because both task relate! as well as
non-task relate! personality $ariables were )i8e! to,ether, the o$erall conclusion o%ten was
that there is only a $ery weak o$erall relationship between personality an! entrepreneurial
per%or)ance- Thus, links between the personality traits, business start-up, an! success nee! to
6
be e8plicitly conceptuali=e! 'Low K MacMillan, 4966*M true e%%ects will be un!eresti)ate! i%
one !oes not select the appropriate personality traits that are )ore likely to be pre!icti$e o%
entrepreneurship - Traits that are )ore likely to pre!ict entrepreneurial beha$ior are those
traits that )atch personality with work characteristics 'Jollan!, 496.M +inchur, "chipp)ann,
"wit=er, K Roth, 4996*-
Recently, the literature on entrepreneurship has )a!e ,reat stri!es to !e%ine essential
para)eters or roles o% entrepreneurs- 7or e8a)ple, entrepreneurs ha$e to !etect an! e8ploit
opportunities, ha$e to )ake rapi! !ecisions un!er uncertainty an! in a resource constraint
en$iron)ent, they ha$e to work har!er than )ost e)ployees, an! they ha$e to possess a wi!e
$ariety o% skills, knowle!,e, an! abilities 'inclu!in,, e-,-, lea!ership, )ana,e)ent,
)arketin,, an! inno$atin,* '"hane, 2//0M "aras$athy, 2//4*- E8a)ples o% traits that are
)atche! to such tasks are nee! %or achie$e)ent, inno$ati$eness, proacti$e personality,
,enerali=e! sel%-e%%icacy, stress tolerance, nee! %or autono)y, internal locus o% control, an!
risk takin,- Need for achievement i)plies that one chooses tasks o% )o!erate !i%%iculty,
accepts responsibility %or results an! seeks %ee!back on action outco)es- Gt is i)portant %or
entrepreneurship because entrepreneurs nee! to be intereste! in the tasks that they are !oin,
to per%or) well- Gn so)e o% the ol!est work on the !i%%erentiation between entrepreneurs an!
)ana,ers, Mclellan! '4914* showe! that achie$e)ent )oti$e was hi,her in entrepreneurs-
Only i% they !i! well at tasks o% )o!erate !i%%iculty, accepte! responsibility %or results, an!
sou,ht %ee!back on business outco)es were entrepreneurs able to !o well 'Mclellan!,
4914*- Innovativeness assu)es a person’s willin,ness an! interest to look %or no$el ways o%
action 'Patchen, 491.*- The trait o% inno$ati$eness helps entrepreneurs to %oster inno$ations in
their %ir)s 'Jeunks, 4996*- Gnno$ation has been one o% the core concepts o% "chu)peter’s
approach to entrepreneurship 'e-,-, "chu)peter, 490.M see also ;rucker, 4990*, an!
inno$ation is relate! to business success 'Bausch K Rosenbusch, 2//.*- People hi,h on pro-
acti$e personality want to in%luence their en$iron)ent 'rant 4991* an! proacti$e personality
9
is a personal !isposition %or personal initiati$e beha$ior '7rese K 7ay, 2//4*- Pro-acti$e
personality is i)portant %or entrepreneurs because by !e%inition, entrepreneurs ha$e to be sel%-
startin, an! in%luence their en$iron)ent by %oun!in, new or,ani=ations an! by i!enti%yin,
an! actin, upon opportunities- Generalized Self-efficacy is i)portant %or entrepreneurs
because they )ust be con%i!ent in their capabilities to per%or) $arious 'an! o%ten
unanticipate!* tasks in uncertain situations 'Bau) K Locke, 2//5*- <e %ollow the literature to
!i%%erentiate ,enerali=e! sel%-e%%icacy 'a personality concept* %ro) speci%ic sel%-e%%icacy 'the
latter is not a personality trait* 'E!en, 4966* an! only e8clu!e! stu!ies with speci%ic sel%-
e%%icacy 'such as Bau) an! Locke, 2//5*- People with hi,h ,enerali=e! sel%-e%%icacy are
likely to perse$ere when proble)s arise an! search %or challen,es an!, there%ore, challen,in,
opportunities 'Ban!ura, 4962, 499D*M they also show a hi,her !e,ree o% personal initiati$e
'"peier K 7rese, 499D*M they ha$e hi,her hopes %or success an!, there%ore, take a lon,-ter)
perspecti$e 'Jeckhausen K "chul=, 499.*M they also acti$ely search %or in%or)ation 'Ash%or!
K Tsui, 4994*, which lea!s to a better knowle!,e- There%ore, ,enerali=e! sel%-e%%icacy is
relate! to business creation an! success '#tsch, Rauch, Roth%uss, K 7rese, 4999M Poon,
Ainu!!in, K ?unit, 2//1*- Stress tolerance is i)portant because entrepreneurs typically ha$e a
hi,h workloa! an! take %inancial an! personal risks- "tress tolerance is essential because
entrepreneurs shoul! not ,et straine! in situations that are typically characteri=e! by hi,h
insecurity an! pressure- (eed for autonomy is associate! with entrepreneurs’ a$oi!ance o%
restricti$e en$iron)entsM they pre%er to )ake !ecisions in!epen!ent o% super$isors, to set their
own ,oals an! !e$elop their own plans o% actions, an! to control ,oal achie$e)ent
the)sel$es- People hi,h in nee! %or autono)y want to be in control, they a$oi! the
restrictions an! rules o% establishe! or,ani=ations, an! thus, choose the entrepreneurial role
'Bran!stQtter, 499DM ro)ie, 2///*- Internal locus of control is relate! to entrepreneurship
because owners )ust belie$e that their own actions !eter)ine the rewar!s 'business
outco)es* they obtain 'Rotter, 4911*- "ince people with a hi,h internal locus o% control %eel
4/
that they are able to control outco)es, they shoul! e8ert )ore e%%ort an! persistence towar!
inten!e! outco)es which, in turn, shoul! help to start an enterprise an! to )aintain it
success%ully- Gn contrast, e8ternally controlle! people )ay be )ore passi$e- G% one belie$es
that one is not able to control outco)es, one has no reasons to acti$ely chan,e one’s
en$iron)ent an! to start a %ir)- 7inally, the tasks o% entrepreneurship inclu!e takin, risks, %or
e8a)ple, because !ecisions are )a!e in uncertain situations 'Bni,ht, 4924*- There%ore,
entrepreneurs show risk-taking propensity 'c%-, "tewart K Roth, 2//5a*-
A theoretical issue in the personality literature relates to the i)pact o% the situation- A
truis) o% psycholo,y has been the !ictu) by Lewin '49.4* that beha$ior is a %unction o% the
person an! the situation- Personality traits can a%%ect beha$ior only i% the situational
constraints allow their e8pression 'Mischel, 4916*- Typically, weak situations that are
characteri=e! by low structure, little an! a)bi,uous in%or)ation, an! hi,h autono)y allow
the e8pression o% in!i$i!ual !i%%erences 'Jattrupp K ?ackson, 4991*- Gn contrast to the work
o% e)ployees whose or,ani=ational settin,s are usually relati$ely stron,ly in%luence! by
institutionali=e! )eans, rules, ,ui!elines an! rewar! structures ';a$is-Blake K P%e%%er,
4969*, there is )ore roo) %or )aneu$er %or business owners- Business owners usually
!eter)ine !ecisions, rules, rewar! structures, an! business strate,y- This su,,ests that
entrepreneurs act within weak situations because they )aneu$er in situations o% hi,h
autono)y, low structure, an! they ha$e to )ake !ecisions base! on uncertain an! a)bi,uous
in%or)ation- There%ore, personality traits shoul! be relate! to business creation an! success-
Gn su))ary, we hypothesi=e that:
J4: There is a positi$e relationship between business owners’ personality traits an!
entrepreneurial beha$ior 'business creation an! business success*-
44
J2: Personality traits that are )atche! to the task o% entrepreneurship 'nee! %or achie$e)ent,
inno$ati$eness, pro-acti$e personality, sel%-e%%icacy, stress tolerance, nee! %or autono)y,
internal locus o% control, an! risk takin,* pre!ict entrepreneurial beha$ior 'business creation,
business success* )ore stron,ly than traits that are not )atche! to entrepreneurship-
METJO;
;e$elopin, the !ata base
<e inclu!e! stu!ies that !e%ine! business owners as in!epen!ent ownership, acti$e
)ana,e)ent, an!>or e8presse! intention to !o so '"tewart K Roth, 2//4*- Personality traits
were )easure! at the in!i$i!ual le$el 'there%ore, we !i! not inclu!e stu!ies on entrepreneurial
orientation*- <e inclu!e! all those stu!ies that ha! so)e )easure o% a personality trait an!
so)e )easure o% business success or business creation-
<e use! %i$e !i%%erent strate,ies to i!enti%y stu!ies %or the )eta-analysis- 7irst, we
inspecte! !atabases 'PsycLit>PsycGn%o '46/1-2//1*, ERG '4911-2//1*, EconLit
'4919-2//1*, ABG>Gn%or) '49D4-2//1*, ;issertation Abstracts Online '496D-2//0*, ;i,ital
;issertations Online '2//5-2//1*, an! ""G '49D2-2//1*- "econ!, we re$iewe! the past 20
$olu)es o% the ?ournal o% Applie! Psycholo,y, Aca!e)y o% Mana,e)ent ?ournal,
A!)inistrati$e "cience Puarterly, ?ournal o% ")all Business Mana,e)ent, ?ournal o%
Business +enturin, '496.-2//1*, an! Entrepreneurship Theory an! Practice- Thir!, we
analy=e! the con%erence procee!in,s o% the Aca!e)y o% Mana,e)ent '496/-2//1*,
Gnternational ouncil o% ")all Businesses '4990-2//.*, an! Babson- Bau%%)an on%erence
'4964-2//.*- 7ourth, we e8a)ine! article re%erence lists %or other articles that were not
i!enti%ie! with the other approaches- 7inally, we contacte! se$eral research ,roups that we
knew were acti$e in the area an! aske! %or rele$ant !ata an! unpublishe! papers- The latter
two strate,ies were particularly use%ul in i!enti%yin, unpublishe! stu!ies, allowin, to analy=e
42
both publishe! an! unpublishe! !ata 'an i)portant !esi!eratu) o% )eta-analyses, c%- Junter
K "ch)i!t, 2//5*-
riteria %or inclusion an! e8clusion o% stu!ies- Results o% )eta-analyses !epen! on
which stu!ies are inclu!e! or e8clu!e! 'co)pare, e-,-, the contro$ersy by Miner K Ra@u,
2//5 an! "tewart K Roth, 2//5a*- There%ore, we atte)pte! to be $ery care%ul in !e$elopin,
our criteria %or the inclusion o% stu!ies- 7irst, since we atte)pte! to stu!y in!epen!ent
sa)ples, we care%ully checke! that each sa)ple was inclu!e! only one ti)e in our analysis
'only the )ost recent publication was analy=e! when we %oun! )ore than one publication on
a sa)ple*- 7or e8a)ple, we e8clu!e! Miner, ")ith, an! Braker '4969*, because the sa)ple
o$erlappe! with the lon,itu!inal analysis publishe! in 4995 'Miner, ")ith, K Braker, 4995*-
"econ!, we inclu!e! only stu!ies that reporte! statistics that coul! be trans%or)e! into the r
statistic- 7orty-ei,ht stu!ies were e8clu!e! because they !i! not contain su%%icient statistical
in%or)ation to co)pute e%%ect si=es 'e-,-, only si,ni%icant relationships or only )ulti$ariate
statistics were reporte!*- Thir!, we !i! not inclu!e stu!ies reportin, only si,ni%icant results
'e-,-, Lerner, Brush, K Jisrich, 499DM "in,h, 4969*- 7ourth, we chose not to esti)ate e%%ect
si=es %ro) appro8i)ate p $alues 'p R -/., etc-M e-,-, Jull, Bosley, K #!ell, 496/*M while it is
possible to esti)ate e%%ect si=es %ro) e8act p $alues, trans%or)in, appro8i)ate e%%ect si=es
can lea! to wron, e%%ect si=e esti)ates- 7i%th, we inclu!e! stu!ies that reporte! results on
so)e personality )easure e$en i% the stu!y itsel% !i! not e8plicitly %ocus on a personality
approachM %or e8a)ple, we inclu!e! Jeunks '4996*, because he inclu!e! a creati$ity )easure,
&atewoo!, "ha$er, an! &artner '499.* because they use! an internal locus o% control scale,
an! Robinson, "ti)pson, an! Jue%ner '4994* because their )easure is conceptually relate! to
personality research an! was speci%ically !e$elope! %or the conte8t o% entrepreneurship- "i8th,
sin,le ite) )easures o% owners’ traits were e8clu!e! because o% unreliability proble)s-
7inally, laboratory stu!ies were not inclu!e!-
40
7inal sa)ple- Our %inal )eta-analytic !atabase consiste! o% 441 in!epen!ent sa)ples
%ro) 4/5 !i%%erent articles that )et the criteria %or inclusion an! pro$i!e! the necessary
in%or)ation %or co)putin, the statistics 'with an o$erall ( o% 21,D//*- O% these, 12 stu!ies
!ealt with business creation an! .5 stu!ies teste! relationships between owners’ traits an!
business success- Twenty se$en stu!ies ca)e %ro) sources other than peer-re$iewe! @ournals-
o!in, proce!ure- <e use! ratin,s %ro) a ,roup o% e8perts %or )atchin, traits to the
tasks o% entrepreneurs- <e aske! 4/ sub@ect )atter e8perts %ro) business stu!ies an!
entrepreneurship to co!e how %ar traits were relate! to the task o% entrepreneurs- E8perts were
%i$e pro%essors an! %i$e Ph-;- stu!ents %ro) the #", Europe, an! Australia who ha! !one
research in the area o% entrepreneurship- <e chose these e8perts because they were Huali%ie!
to rate the rele$ance o% a particular trait %or entrepreneurship- The e8perts recei$e! a short
intro!uctory letter e8plainin, the ratin,M they were aske! to co!e the .2 !i%%erent traits stu!ie!
in the articles i!enti%ie! %or our )eta-analysis 'Table 4*- "peci%ically, they in!icate! on a .-
point ratin, scale the i)portance o% each trait with re,ar! to entrepreneurship- <e only
analy=e! traits that showe! hi,h interrater a,ree)ent '?a)es, ;e)aree, K <ol%, 4990*- The
cut-o%% point %or interrater a,ree)ent was rw, S-D/ 'Lance, Butts, K Michels, 2//1*- The rw,
o% opti)is) was a little lower 'rw,C-19*M howe$er, it was near enou,h to the cut-o%% point
o% -D/ to inclu!e it in the analysis- <e !e%ine! traits bein, )atche! to entrepreneurship when
e8perts in!icate! the) to be as i)portant or $ery i)portant %or entrepreneurship 'a )ean
ratin, o% 5-/ an! abo$e*- Table 2 !isplays the results o% the e8pert co!in,: 44 traits were
consistently co!e! as bein, task relate! an! 42 traits were co!e! as bein, not task relate!- Gt is
interestin, to note that so)e traits 'e-,-, tenacity, passion %or work* ha$e not been stu!ie!
%reHuently enou,h to be able to inclu!e the) into separate )eta-analyses %or personality traits
)atche! to the task o% entrepreneurship- Moreo$er, so)e traits %reHuently !iscusse! in
entrepreneurship research, such as internal locus o% control an! risk takin,, were not inclu!e!
in Table 2 because e8perts !isa,ree! consi!erably on their rele$ance %or entrepreneurship-
45
Althou,h the $ariability o% e8pert @u!,)ents with re,ar! to internal locus o% control an! risk-
takin, was hi,h, we inclu!e! these traits in the analysis reporte! in Table 5 because these two
traits ha$e been %reHuently su,,este! in the literature
4
-
The co!in, o% the type o% entrepreneurial beha$ior consiste! o% two cate,ories:
Business creation an! success- Business creation consiste! o% stu!ies co)parin, business
owners to other populations- The latter cate,ory consiste! )ainly o% )ana,ers, but also o%
e)ployees, stu!ents, non-%oun!ers 'e-,-, heirs*, or o% a representati$e sa)ple o% the
population- "ince the co)parison ,roup Eother populationsF consists o% Huite hetero,eneous
occupations, we teste! whether there are !i%%erences in the o$erall e%%ect o% personality traits
%or the co)parison between owners $ersus )ana,ers an! owners $ersus non-)ana,ers an!
%oun! that the e%%ect si=es were o% si)ilar si=e '= C /,9D., ns-*- A typical e8a)ple %or business
creation is the stu!y o% ro)ie an! ?ohns '4960* that co)pare! a ran!o) sa)ple o% 52
%oun!ers o% in!epen!ent businesses with 54 )i!!le an! senior )ana,ers an! %oun! that
entrepreneurs ha! hi,her $alues in internal locus o% control- 7inally, stu!ies a!!ressin,
business success usually conceptuali=e! personality traits as pre!ictors o% business outco)es-
7or e8a)ple, Bo8 an! <hite '4990* stu!ie! 90 %oun!ers o% in!epen!ently owne! enterprises
an! reporte! a positi$e correlation between internal locus o% control an! business success
'a$era,e annual e)ploy)ent ,rowth*-
Meta-analytic proce!ure
<e e)ploye! the )eta-analytic proce!ures su,,este! by Junter an! "ch)i!t '2//5*,
utili=in, "chwar=erTs '4969* an! Borenstein an! RothsteinTs '4999* co)puter so%tware- To
allow co)parisons between !i%%erent analyses, all e%%ect si=es were trans%or)e! into ErF
statistics- <e %irst calculate! the (-wei,hte! a$era,e correlations an! their 9. U con%i!ence
inter$als- Each wei,hte! correlation was then correcte! %or attenuation 'correcte! r, base! on
4
Gnternal locus o% control was inclu!e! ./ ti)es in the literature re$iewe! here an! risk-takin, 0. ti)es-
4.
reliabilities*- This correction was applie! to traits an! success $ariables- "ince )any stu!ies
!i! not pro$i!e in%or)ation about reliabilities, we a,,re,ate! !ata on reliabilities %or each
subset o% analyses an! applie! this a,,re,ate to the analysis-
To assess the $ariability o% the wei,hte! correlations, we calculate! the obser$e!
$ariance, the sa)plin, error $ariance, an! the resi!ual $ariance- <e co)pute! the obser$e!
$ariance o% the wei,hte! correlation to pro$i!e an esti)ate o% the $ariations in the
correlations- To assess hetero,eneity o% wei,hte! correlations, we also calculate! sa)plin,
error $ariance- <e assu)e! ho)o,eneity o% e%%ects, i% D. percent or )ore o% the obser$e!
$ariance coul! be e8plaine! by sa)plin, error $ariance 'Junter K "ch)i!t, 499/*- "o)e o%
our analyses were base! on a s)all nu)ber o% stu!ies, causin, a secon! or!er sa)plin, error-
G% the obser$e! e%%ect si=es o% these stu!ies happene! to co)e $ery close to the e8pecte!
$alue, the obser$e! $ariance en!e! up bein, s)aller than the sa)plin, error $ariance- "till,
the correct conclusion in such cases is that all obser$e! $ariance coul! be accounte! %or by
sa)plin, error $ariance 'Junter K "ch)i!t, 499/*- G% results in!icate! hetero,eneity, we
co!e! the stu!ies %urther into subsets an! teste! %or the cate,orical )o!erator- A $ariable is
co))only classi%ie! as a )o!erator when the population e%%ect si=e $aries %ro) subset to
subset an! the resi!ual $ariance a$era,e is lower in the subsets than %or the e%%ect as a whole
'Junter K "ch)i!t, 499/*- 7or testin, the si,ni%icance o% a )o!erator e%%ect we analy=e!
!i%%erences in the wei,hte! correlations by usin, a =-test as a critical ratio 'Junter K "ch)i!t,
499/, p- 056*-
RE"#LT"
Jypotheses Tests
Jypothesis 4 propose! that personality traits woul! relate to entrepreneurial beha$ior,
such as business creation an! success- Results !isplaye! in Table 0 supporte! this hypothesis
O personality )easures were si,ni%icantly positi$ely correlate! with both business creation
41
'correcte! r C -49/* an! business success 'correcte! r C -49.*- "ince the lower boun!aries o%
the 9.U con%i!ence inter$als were ,reater than =ero, these e%%ects were si,ni%icant- The
)a,nitu!e o% the e%%ects was )o!erate 'ohen, 49DD*- A!!itionally, the analyses re$eale!
hetero,eneity, su,,estin, the presence o% )o!erators-
Jypothesis 2 su,,este! that personality traits that are )atche! to the task o%
entrepreneurship are better pre!ictors o% entrepreneurial beha$ior than traits not )atche! to
entrepreneurship- Gn line with Jypothesis 2, e%%ect si=es %or business creation were hi,her %or
traits )atche! to the task o% entrepreneurship than %or traits not )atche! to the task o% runnin,
a business 'correcte! r C -25D an! r C -425, respecti$ely*- The !i%%erence in the wei,hte!
correlations was si,ni%icant '= C 2,60, p R -/4*- Jypothesis 2 was also supporte! re,ar!in, the
relationship between personality traits an! business success 'Table 0*- The correcte!
relationships with success were r C -2./ %or traits )atche! to entrepreneurship an! r C -/26 %or
traits not )atche! to the task an! the !i%%erence in the wei,hte! correlations was si,ni%icant '=
C .,0D , p R -/4*- The e%%ect si=e o% traits not )atche! to the task o% entrepreneurship was not
si,ni%icant, as the lower boun!ary o% the con%i!ence inter$al was below =ero- Jetero,eneity
o% e%%ect si=es, howe$er, in!icate! the presence o% other )o!erator $ariables- There%ore, we
teste! %or the relationship between personality traits )atche! to the task o% entrepreneurship
an! !i%%erent types o% entrepreneurial beha$ior 'Table 5*- Traits that were !irectly an!
si,ni%icantly correlate! with success were inno$ati$eness 'correcte! r C -2D0*, pro-acti$e
personality 'correcte! r C -2D/*, an! ,enerali=e! sel%-e%%icacy 'correcte! rC-25D*, while stress
tolerance was consistently relate! to business creation 'correcte! r C -4/5*- Thus, %or so)e
traits, we %oun! !irect relationships with speci%ic entrepreneurial beha$iors that were not
)o!erate! by other $ariables-
4D
Post-Joc Tests
Althou,h we !i! not ha$e any speci%ic hypotheses, we per%or)e! post-hoc analyses on
business creation an! success- <e !i! this because %uture research )i,ht be intereste! in the
!i%%erential pre!iction o% these criteria in the entrepreneurship literature- Table 0 !isplays that
the o$erall correlations between personality traits an! business creation an! between
personality traits an! success were o% si)ilar si=e '= C /,5., ns-*- A!!itionally e%%ect si=es o%
type o% entrepreneurial beha$ior 'business creation an! success* !i! not !i%%er %or nee! %or
achie$e)ent, inno$ati$eness, ,enerali=e! sel%-e%%icacy, stress tolerance, nee! %or autono)y,
internal locus o% control, an! risk takin, 'Table 5*- These traits pre!icte! !i%%erent
entrepreneurial beha$iors in a si)ilar way-
<e also co)pare! the two cate,ories o% business success: Bey in%or)ant ratin,s an!
or,ani=ational per%or)ance )easures- Bey in%or)ant ratin,s inclu!e! )ainly ,lobal sel%-
ratin,s o% success, satis%action, an! e8ternal ratin,s 'e-,-, by the inter$iewer*- These )easures
share! sub@ecti$e assess)ent o% non-%inancial success )easures- Measures o% or,ani=ational
per%or)ance inclu!e! in%or)ation about %inancial outco)es, such as accountant base!
)easures, an! ,rowth- These sub-!i)ensions partially o$erlap, both theoretically an!
statistically 'c%-, o)bs, rook K "hook, 2//.*- Our post hoc analyses re$eale! that key
in%or)ant ratin,s o% success pro!uce! hi,her e%%ect si=es than )easures o% or,ani=ational
success- The !i%%erence in the si=e o% correlations was si,ni%icant %or ,enerali=e! sel%-e%%icacy
'=C0,62, pR-/4* an! stress tolerance '= C 0,62, p R -/4*-
"ince our stu!y inclu!e! both publishe! an! unpublishe! !ata, we per%or)e! post-hoc
analyses to test whether publication bias ha! an i)pact on the propose! relationships- Results
in!icate! that publication bias ha! an i)pact on the hypothesi=e! relationships with business
creation- Peer-re$iewe! publications 'rw C -452, ( C 41,/02, B C ..* reporte! s)aller e%%ect
si=es than stu!ies not publishe! in peer-re$iewe! @ournals 'rw C -25., ( C 2,6/0, B C D* %or
46
personality !i%%erences between owners an! other populations '= C 2,64, pR-/4*- The e%%ect
si=es o% the relationship between personality traits an! success were not !i%%erent %or peer-
re$iewe! stu!ies 'rw C -450, ( C .,952, B C 0D* as co)pare! to other publications 'rw C -41D,
( C 4,904, B C 4DM = C /,1/, ns*-
;G"#""GO(
Al!rich '4999, p-1D* ar,ue! that research on personality traits see)e! to ha$e reache!
an e)pirical !ea! en! because the correlations between personality traits an! entrepreneurial
beha$ior were too s)all to )atter- Others concurre! with hi) on this $er!ict 'Brockhaus K
Jorwit= 496.M &artner, 4969M Low K MacMillan, 4966* O all o% these conclusions were base!
on narrati$e re$iews- Our )eta-analysis paints a !i%%erent picture o% the relationships between
personality traits an! entrepreneurial beha$ior: 7irst, we %oun! that business owners’
personality traits were positi$ely relate! to business creation an! business success
'Jypothesis 4* with correcte! rTs o% -49/ an! -49. , respecti$ely- <hile the si=e o% these
relationships is only )o!erate 'ohen, 49DD*, it is about the sa)e si=e as the correlation
between personality an! per%or)ance in ,eneral 'Barrick K Mount, 4994* an! the correlation
between personality traits an! both lea!ership e)er,ence an! lea!ership e%%ecti$eness '?u!,e,
Bono, Glies, K &erhar!t, 2//2*- Thus, entrepreneurship research nee!s to take personality as
seriously as research on e)ployees’ personality has !one-
Once we !i%%erentiate! between traits that are )atche! to the task o% entrepreneurship
an! traits not )atche! to the task o% entrepreneurship, we %oun! hi,her correlations %or
personality traits )atche! to entrepreneurship than %or traits not )atche! to the task o%
entrepreneurship 'Jypothesis 2*- Gn a!!ition, the correlation between a particular personality
trait an! entrepreneurial beha$ior can be as hi,h as e-,-, r C -0D6 ',enerali=e! sel%-e%%icacy
with business creation* an! rC-0/5 'nee! %or achie$e)ent with success* - this see)s to us to
49
be a clear $er!ict a,ainst the ,eneral conclusion that personality traits are not i)portant in
entrepreneurship research-
Gt )ay be use%ul to co)pare our results with the stu!y by Lhao an! "eibert '2//1* as
our stu!y replicates their %in!in,s on business creation an! e8ten!s the brea!th o% co$era,e by
inclu!in, speci%ic traits an! other outco)e $ariables, such as business success 'please note
that Lhao an! "eibert '2//1* use ! instea! o% r O ! nee!s to be rou,hly !i$i!e! by two to ,et
at the eHui$alent si=e o% the correlations r, c%- Junter an! "ch)i!t, 2//5*- "i)ilar to Lhao an!
"eibert '2//1*, our )eta-analysis also %in!s that personality is relate! to business creation
'an! our results are si)ilar in si=e with a correlation o% -49/ which is rou,hly eHui$alent to
the ! o% -5.*- More i)portantly, we %in! that those traits that are )atche! to the tasks o%
entrepreneurs showe! si,ni%icantly hi,her relationships than those that are not- 7or e8a)ple,
nee! %or achie$e)ent show relati$ely hi,h correlations, as shown by other )eta-analyses as
well 'ollins et al, 2//5M Lhao K "eibert, 2//1*- "ince speci%ic personality traits ha$e hi,h
$ali!ity, speci%ic personality traits can a!! to the pre!iction o% entrepreneurial beha$ior
'Paunonen K Ashton, 2//4*-
(ee! %or achie$e)ent an! risk takin, showe! si)ilar e%%ect si=es as those %oun! in the
pre$ious )eta-analyses on these two traits o% entrepreneurs 'ollins et al-, 2//5M "tewart K
Roth, 2//4M "tewart K Roth 2//5aM "tewart K Roth, 2//5b*- "ince our approach enable! us
to stu!y se$eral traits, we %oun! a!!itional traits that are i)portant pre!ictors o%
entrepreneurial beha$ior: Gnno$ati$eness, proacti$e personality, ,enerali=e! sel%-e%%icacy,
stress tolerance, nee! %or autono)y, an! internal locus o% control were relate! to
entrepreneurial beha$ior-
Gnterestin,ly, two traits that ha$e been stu!ie! relati$ely %reHuently in
entrepreneurship research O internal locus o% control an! risk takin, O were not co!e! to be
well )atche! to the tasks o% entrepreneurs by the e8perts in our e8pert sur$ey- Gnternal locus
o% control )i,ht not only be i)portant %or entrepreneurs but also %or other occupations such
2/
as )ana,ers or politicians- "i)ilarly, runnin, a business with a risky strate,y )ay be ,oo!
%or Huick success but also %or early %ailure- Our )eta-analysis showe!, in!ee!, that the e%%ect
si=es o% entrepreneurial risk takin, an! internal locus o% control were relati$ely s)all
'correcte! %ro) r C -/04 to -4/0 %or risk takin,, an! %ro) r C -/42 to -466 %or internal locus o%
control*-
<hile, pre$ious )eta-analyses %ocuse! only on !i%%erences between entrepreneurs an!
non-entrepreneurs 'with the e8ception o% ollins et al-, 2//5*, our stu!y !esi,n enable! us to
test whether or not traits are !i%%erentially relate! to !i%%erent types o% entrepreneurial
beha$iors: Business creation an! business success*- "o)e authors ar,ue! that personality
traits a%%ect the !ecision to start an enterprise )ore stron,ly than subseHuent business success,
because the i)pact o% the in!i$i!ual business owner !ecreases with increasin, si=e o% the
enterprise 'Be,ley K Boy!, 496DM 7rese, +an &el!eren, K O)bach, 2///*- Jowe$er, our
results as well as the )eta-analysis by ollins et al '2//5* challen,e! this proposition- Traits,
such as nee! %or achie$e)ent an! ,enerali=e! sel%-e%%icacy were $ali! pre!ictors o% both
business creation an! business success in the sa)e way-
Theoretical i)plications
Our results in!icate that a %ew care%ully selecte! personality traits can pre!ict well
entrepreneurial beha$ior- <hile there is e$i!ence that the co))on $ariance o% traits
contribute to entrepreneurial beha$ior 'Lhao K "eibert, 2//1*, our results su,,est that traits
)atche! to the task o% entrepreneurs pro!uce speci%ic $ariance that contribute to the
pre!iction o% entrepreneurial beha$ior- Gn!ee!, the traits that )atche! to entrepreneurial tasks,
such as ,enerali=e! sel%-e%%icacy, proacti$e personality, inno$ati$eness, an! achie$e)ent
)oti$es are the %actors )ost stron,ly relate! to entrepreneurial beha$ior- "ince these )atche!
traits belon, to !i%%erent bi,-%i$e %actors, they share little co))on $ariance an!, there%ore,
nee! to be e8ploite! separately- #n%ortunately, there are a nu)ber o% i)portant
24
entrepreneurship-relate! personality %actors that scholars o% entrepreneurship ha$e only
starte! to be intereste! in, but that ha$e not been a!!resse! in enou,h stu!ies to be inclu!e!
into a )eta-analysis- Our e8pert sur$ey re$eale! that so)e traits, such as passion %or work
an! tenacity 'Bau) K Locke, 2//5*, )i,ht be i)portant %or runnin, a businessM they were not
stu!ie! %reHuently enou,h to be inclu!e! into a )eta-analysis- Other e8a)ples are co,niti$e
an! perceptual processes 'Baron, 2//5*, such as co,niti$e alertness 'Busenit=, 4991M Bir=ner,
499D*, an! practical intelli,ence '"ternber,, 2//5*- There%ore, e8plorin, a!!itional task
)atche! traits )ay be a %ruit%ul a$enue %or %uture research-
Beyon! the incre)ents in the beha$ioral pre!iction, the use o% such )atche! traits can
lea! to i)portant a!$ances in the e8planation o% entrepreneurial beha$ior, because it is
possible that a sin,le trait can ha$e !i%%erential relationships with !i%%erent types o%
entrepreneurial beha$iors- 7or e8a)ple, while opportunity reco,nition !epen!s on co,niti$e
properties, the !ecision to e8ploit an opportunity in$ol$es traits, such as risk takin, an!
opti)is)- At the sa)e ti)e, such traits !o not necessarily increase the probability o% success
because they li)it realistic %orecasts o% the %uture '"hane K +enkata)aran, 2///*- Other
scholars ha$e calle! %or a process $iew o% entrepreneurship an! ar,ue! that the i)pact o%
speci%ic traits $ary throu,h the process 'Baron, 2//DM Baron K Mark)an, 2//5*- <hile the
e)pirical e$i!ence is preli)inary an! inconsistent at present, e8plorin, the role o% task
)atche! traits on !i%%erent entrepreneurial beha$iors shoul! be teste! in %uture research-
Moreo$er, %uture research nee!s to a!!ress processes an! con!itions that a%%ect the
relationship between personality traits an! entrepreneurial beha$ior- Our approach o%
)atchin, traits to the tasks o% entrepreneurs )ay lea! away %ro) a pure static orientation in
personality- <e a,ree with Mischel an! "ho!a '499.* that a ,oo! personality !escription
takes into account not @ust trait co)ponents but also )e!iational processes- 7or e8a)ple,
Jerron an! Robinson '4990* ar,ue! that )oti$ation is a )e!iator throu,h which personality
traits !eter)ine entrepreneurial beha$ior- Other processes )e!iatin, the e%%ects o% personality
22
traits inclu!e intentions, ,oals, an! sel%-re,ulatory processes 'Barrick, Mitchell, K "tewart,
2//0M Bau), 7rese, K Baron, 2//D, 7rese, et al-, 2///*- Gn entrepreneurship research, such
)e!iatin, processes are rarely stu!ie! an!, there%ore, there is too little literature a$ailable to
su))ari=e )e!iatin, processes in a )eta-analysis- E8ceptions are Bau) an! Locke '2//5*
who i!enti%ie! situation-speci%ic )oti$ation ',oal settin,, speci%ic sel%-e%%icacy* as a )e!iator
in the relationship between personality traits an! business success or 7rese, Brauss, Beith,
Escher, &rabarkiewic=, Lunen,, Jeers, #n,er an! 7rie!rich '2//D*, who use! acti$e plannin,
as )e!iator %or personality-success relationships in s)all-scale enterprises- "i)ilarly, tests on
co,niti$e processes an! heuristics are in our $iew a use%ul approach to stu!yin, the
relationship between personality traits an! success 'e-,-, Baron, 2//5M Busenit=, 4991M Palich,
K Bab,y, 499.*- 7or e8a)ple, risk-takin, propensity )i,ht lea! to o$eropti)istic heuristics
an!, as a conseHuence, to the !ecision to start a business $enture-
7uture research shoul! a!!ress the i)pact o% situational con!itions in the sense o%
personality 8 situation interactions 'Ma,nusson K En!ler, 49DD*- Personality traits can a%%ect
beha$ior only i% situations are rele$ant an! not constraine! to allow the e8pression o%
in!i$i!ual !i%%erences 'Mischel, 4916*- Thus, potential )o!erators are en$iron)ental
constraints ';ess K Bear!, 4965M Jerron K Robinson, 4990*, such as the econo)ic situation
at the ti)e o% stu!y, the !e)an!s o% the speci%ic in!ustry, or the sta,e in the business li%e
cycle 'Baron, 2//D*- #n%a$orable en$iron)ents 'e-,-, !ecreasin, !e)an!s, hi,h co)petition*
)ay constrain the e8pression o% in!i$i!ual !i%%erences- 7a$orable en$iron)ents 'e-,-, ,rowin,
)arkets an! !e)an!s* )ay allow the e8pression o% in!i$i!ual traits, %or e8a)ple, owners
with a hi,h nee! %or achie$e)ent )ay be able to pursue )ore opportunities than owners with
a low nee! %or achie$e)ent- "i=e o% business is another %actor that )i,ht also )o!erate the
e%%ects o% personality traits: Gn $ery s)all co)panies the owner can !eter)ine !ecisions,
,oals, an! co)pany culture '$an &el!eren, 7rese K Thurik, 2//4* an! in lar,er businesses,
the in%luence o% the business owner !ecreases an!, there%ore, or,ani=ation-le$el
20
entrepreneurship beco)es )ore i)portant than the in!i$i!ual traits o% the business owner-
#n%ortunately, there is lack o% research an! theory on the rele$ant conte8t con!itions as
)o!erators both in work an! or,ani=ational psycholo,y 'Barrick, et al-, 2//0* an! in
entrepreneurship research- Jowe$er, i!enti%yin, )o!erators is all the )ore i)portant as we
calle! %or the use o% task )atche! traits an!, as a conseHuence, we linke! personality to the
situation o% entrepreneurship-
Practice i)plications
Our %in!in,s su,,est that practitioners )ay consi!er task-speci%ic personality traits as
criteria %or !ecision )akin,- The e%%ect si=es are hi,h enou,h to pro$i!e practical utility that
)ay accu)ulate o$er ti)e 'ollins et al- 2//5*- To illustrate this point consi!er the %act that
the e%%ect si=es %or the task-relate! traits are as hi,h as the e%%ect si=es %or the %ollowin,
)e!ical !ia,nostics: on$entional 8-rays an! tooth ca$ities 'r C -01* or car!iac tests an!
pre!iction o% !eath or )yocar!ial in%arct within one week o% $ascular sur,ery 'r C -2/* 'Meyer
et al-, 2//4*- These correlations are si=eable enou,h to !raw practical conclusions in )e!icine
an! they shoul! be consi!ere! si=eable enou,h to in%luence practice in entrepreneurship- 7or
e8a)ple, people intereste! in startin, a business )ay e$aluate their traits an! use this
in%or)ation to support their career choice an! to )atch the)sel$es to the task o% runnin, a
business or to !eci!e on partners who co)pensate %or their weaknesses- "i)ilarly,
,o$ern)ent a,encies )ay use task-speci%ic traits to select potential entrepreneurs )ore
success%ully- 7or e8a)ple, in 4995 the &er)an &o$ern)ent ai)e! to support
entrepreneurship by intro!ucin, the so calle! Gch-A&- One o% the )ost i)portant criteria %or
atten!in, the pro,ra) was a %or)al re,istration o% une)ploy)ent- Our results woul! su,,est
to use, at least a!!itionally, e-,-, achie$e)ent )oti$ation an! inno$ati$eness as criteria %or
atten!in, the pro,ra)- Moreo$er, it woul! be interestin, to research what a)ount o% $ariance
o% the task )atche! traits can be chan,e! throu,h trainin,- &enerali=e! sel%-e%%icacy can be
25
increase! by trainin, 'E!en K A$ira), 4990*- Jow )uch !oes chan,in, personal initiati$e
lea! to chan,es in proacti$e personality '7rese, &laub, &ra)ber,, Jass, 7rie!rich, K
"olo)on 2//D*V 7inally, banks or $enture capitalists )ay consi!er task-)atche! traits %or
,ui!in, in$est)ent !ecisions-
Meta-analytical e$i!ence )ay not only help to i!enti%y pre!ictors that can ,ui!e the
!ecisions o% practitioners but also pro$i!e in%or)ation about the i)portance o% a particular
pre!ictor- 7or e8a)ple, nee! %or achie$e)ent pro!uces hi,her e%%ect si=es than risk takin,
an!, there%ore, shoul! recei$e a hi,her wei,ht in the !ecision )akin, process- Jowe$er, at the
sa)e ti)e it is i)portant to consi!er task speci%ic traits as only one selection criteria- &i$en
the lar,e bo!y o% e)pirical %in!in,s su,,estin, that %actors other than traits o% business
owners a%%ect entrepreneurial beha$ior, $ali! selection criteria )ust inclu!e other in!i$i!ual
!i%%erences $ariables as well as non-personality $ariables, such as strate,ies, co,niti$e ability,
an! en$iron)ent, which are a!!itional pre!ictors o% success 'a)pbell, Mcloy, Oppler, K
"a,er, 4990*-
Li)itations
Our )eta-analysis is base! on cross-sectional correlations an!, there%ore, we cannot rule out
alternati$e e8planations- 7irst, thir! $ariables )ay pro!uce spurious correlations, %or instance,
co,niti$e ability )ay contribute to a hi,her !e,ree o% nee! %or achie$e)ent an! thus the
correlation o% nee! %or achie$e)ent an! business creation )ay be !ue to )ore hi,hly
intelli,ent people startin, )ore %ir)s- "econ!, )ost stu!ies !o not allow to !raw stron,
conclusions re,ar!in, the causal path o% e%%ects- There is e$i!ence %or a ,enetic co)ponent in
)any personality $ariables '?an,, Li$esley, K +ernon, 4991* an! a hi,h test-retest stability
across a!ult li%e 'Roberts K ;e+eccio, 2///*, which su,,ests that personality traits probably
a%%ect subseHuent entrepreneurial beha$ior- Jowe$er, not all o% personality is ,enetically
!eter)ine! an! there is so)e part o% the $ariance o% personality traits that can chan,e because
2.
o% success as well- Thus, we cannot rule out re$erse causality: "tartin, a business success%ully
)ay lea! to the chan,es in personality traits 'e-,-, business success )ay increase
entrepreneurs’ ,enerali=e! sel%-e%%icacy*- Entrepreneurship scholars nee! to e)ploy )ore
lon,itu!inal stu!ies to !eter)ine the !irection o% causation e)pirically- 7uture stu!ies shoul!
also look into the issue o% the intercorrelations between the $arious personality %actors an!
e8a)ine an e8plicit pre!icti$e re,ression )o!el that inclu!es se$eral task-)atche!
personality pre!ictors-
A %urther li)itation is the %act that )any stu!ies inclu!e! in the )eta-analysis are
biase! towar!s success%ul enterprises: "tu!ies that co)pare! entrepreneurs with other
populations usually consiste! o% sa)ples o% entrepreneurs that sur$i$e! until the ti)e o% !ata
collection an!, thus, co)pare! Esuccess%ulF entrepreneurs with other populations- Moreo$er,
stu!ies analy=in, relationships between personality traits an! success usually !o not pro$i!e
!ata about businesses that %aile!- Jowe$er, this bias works a,ainst the propose! hypotheses
because there is re!uce! $ariance in the in!epen!ent $ariable- 7or e8a)ple, i% nee! %or
autono)y )akes an in!i$i!ual )ore likely to start up a business, the $ariance in nee! %or
autono)y woul! be re!uce! when pre!ictin, business success- +ariance restriction woul!
result in s)aller e%%ect si=es 'Junter K "ch)i!t, 2//5*- There%ore, this li)itation contributes
to a conser$ati$e esti)ate o% the relationship between personality traits an! entrepreneurial
beha$ior-
Our )eta-analysis atte)pte! to link personality traits to the criterion entrepreneurial
beha$ior- 7or this purpose, we aske! e8pert @u!,es to rate personality traits as to the )atch to
entrepreneurship- This approach has stren,ths but also weaknesses- The e8perts use! to
establish our %ra)ework )ay ha$e been biase!- 7or e8a)ple, the e8perts )ay ha$e known the
e)pirical literature an! )ay ha$e @u!,e! traits as i)portant %or entrepreneurship accor!in,ly-
<e su,,est that %uture research shoul! use a sophisticate! task analysis to )atch traits to
entrepreneurial beha$ior 'c%- Mark)an, 2//D*- 7or e8a)ple, e8tra$ersion has been shown to
21
be i)portant %or success in salespeople but not in other occupation '+inchur et al-, 4996*- Gn a
si)ilar way, the tasks o% the entrepreneurs coul! be )atche! to pre!ictors-
Another concern relates to the issue o% a,,re,ation- <e a,,re,ate! !ata on success
an! presente! o$erall e%%ect si=es base! on these a,,re,ations- <hile we share such an
approach with narrati$e re$iews, )eta-analysis pro$i!es so)e use%ul tools to test the issue o%
a,,re,ation- 7or instance, we were able to show that our o$erall results are $ali! %or !i%%erent
co)parison ,roups ')ana,ers $s- EothersF*- Jowe$er, our post-hoc analyses re$eale! that key
in%or)ant ratin,s pro!uce! hi,her e%%ect si=es than )easures o% or,ani=ational per%or)ance-
7uture stu!ies on personality nee! to inclu!e !i%%erent )easures o% success-
7inally, we use! a broa! !e%inition o% entrepreneurship as ownership an! acti$e
)ana,e)ent o% business $entures '"tewart K Roth, 2//4*- This !e%inition is %reHuently use!
althou,h so)e scholars !e%ine! entrepreneurship )ore narrowly '&artner, 496.M arlan!,
Joy, Boulton, K arlan!, 4965*- <hile there were not enou,h stu!ies in our )eta-analysis to
tackle this Huestion, !e%initional issues can, in principle, be %ruit%ully analy=e! within the
)eta-analytic %ra)ework-
onclusion
The i)portance o% consi!erin, the personality traits o% business owners %or beco)in,
success%ul business owners has been shown in this stu!y- The relationships are o% s)all an!
)o!erate si=e, an! there is e$i!ence that %uture stu!ies shoul! search %or )o!erators- <e
su,,est to !e$elop a %uller contin,ency theory o% owners’ personality traits 'alon, the lines o%
situation 8 traits interactions, c%- Ma,nussen K En!ler, 49DD*- Jowe$er, so)e relationships
are Huite lar,e 'e-,-, between ,enerali=e! sel%-e%%icacy an! success*- There%ore, )o!els o%
entrepreneurial success shoul! inclu!e owners’ personality traits as supple)ental $ariables-
Otherwise, these )o!els will be )isspeci%ie!- Gn other wor!s, entrepreneurship research
2D
cannot !e$elop a consistent theory about entrepreneurship i% it !oes not take personality
$ariables into account as well-
26
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W4 ;earlo, ?- 7- K Lyons, P-R- '49D9*- A co)parison o% selecte! personal characteristics o%
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;ess, &- ;- K Bear!, ;- <- '4965*- ;i)ensions o% or,ani=ational task en$iron)ents-
#dministrative Science :uarterly, 29, .2-D0-
;rucker, P- 7- '4990*- Innovation and entrepreneurship- (ew Iork: Jarper Business-
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in an e)er,in, in!ustry- "ournal of 'usiness (enturing, ., 29D-042-
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E!en, ;- '4966*- Py,)alion, ,oal settin,, an! e8pectancy: o)patible ways to raise
pro!ucti$ity- #cademy of ,anagement 1evie6, 40'5*, 109-1.2-
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W4 En,le, ;- E-, Mah, ?- ?-, K "a!ri, &- '499D*- An e)pirical co)parison o% entrepreneurs an!
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W4 &atewoo!, E- ?-, "ha$er, B- &, K &artner, <- B- '499.*- A lon,itu!inal stu!y o% co,niti$e
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W2 &rabarkiewic=, R- '4999*- Psychological success-factors of 5usiness o6ners in South
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W4 &ra,l, E- '499D*- ;er )Qnnliche &rYn!er-#nterneh)er un! Ei,entY)er eines
Bleinbetriebes: eine e)pirische #ntersuchun, =u PersZnlichkeits)erk)alen, !ie )it
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W2 Jeers, - '2//4*- Psychological success factors of small-scale entrepreneurs in Nami5ia$
# longitudinal study! ;iplo)a thesis, #ni$ersity o% &iessen-
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W4 Jines &- J- '49D0*- Achie$e)ent )oti$ation, occupations, an! labor turn o$er in (ew
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W2 Jirschlein, "- T- '2///*- %he relationships of personality and strategy varia5les 6ith
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corporate )ana,ers- "ournal of 'usiness (enturing, 45'2*, 469-245-
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W4 #tsch, A-, Rauch, A-, Roth%u[, R-, K 7rese, M- '4999*- <ho beco)es a s)all scale
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5.
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W4 <a!!el, 7- T- '4960*- 7actors a%%ectin, choice, satis%action, an! success in the %e)ale sel%-
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of (ocational 'ehavior, E-, 62-4/4-
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of 'usiness 1esearch, 0.'4*, 19-DD-
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Er%ol,s%aktoren un! 7ol,en - Er,ebnisse einer LQn,sschnittuntersuchun,- B- Moser,
51
B- Batinic, K ?- Le)pel 'E!s-* >nternehmerisches .andeln- &Zttin,en: Jo,re%e-
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(ote- W4 inclu!e! in analysis o% business creation- W2 inclu!e! in analysis o% business success-
5D
Table 4- Traits stu!ie! in articles i!enti%ie!
(ee! %or achie$e)ent 7le8ibility
Gnternal locus o% control Protestant work ethic belie%s
Risk-takin, propensity Opti)is)
Gnno$ati$eness Ri,i!ity
(ee! %or autono)y "el%-con%i!ence
"tress tolerance pro-acti$e personality
"el%-e%%icacy "el%-estee)
(ee! %or !o)inance &oal orientation
Tolerance %or a)bi,uity Tenacity
"obriety Ji,her or!er nee! stren,th
Type-A beha$ior reati$ity
Practicality Enthusias)
Openness to e8perience (ee! %or a%%iliation
E8tra$ersion "kepticis)
E)otional stability "el%-reliance
onscientiousness ;o,)atis)
;elay o% ,rati%ication G)pulsi$eness
;iscipline En!urance
onser$atis) on%or)ity
(euroticis) 7uture orientation
E8pe!ience A,,ressi$eness
7orthri,htness Ji,her or!er nee! stren,th
"hyness Passion %or work
Tou,h-)in!e!ness (or) orientation
Trustworthy Ori,inality
Ju)ility Bene$olence
56
Table 2- Results o% the e8pert co!in,: Traits )atche! to entrepreneurship an! traits not
)atche! to entrepreneurship
Matche! Mean Gnter-rater
reliability
'rw,*
(ot )atche! Mean Gnter-rater
reliability
'rw,*
"el%-e%%icacy 5,1 -D1 Opti)is) 0,6 -19
Pro-acti$e
personality
5,D -66 E8tra$ersion 0,4 -D0
Tenacity 5,5 -6D onscientiousness 0,D -66
(ee! %or
achie$e)ent
5,. -D. Ri,i!ity 4,9 -D0
"tress-
tolerance
5,2 -6/ reati$ity 0,. -D.
&oal
orientation
5,2 -6/ "el%-reliance 0,D -DD
(ee! %or
Autono)y
5,0 -66 ;o,)atis) 4,. -D.
Gnno$ati$eness 5,0 -DD onser$atis) 4,0 -66
En!urance 5,4 -D0 7orthri,htness 0,2 -6/
7le8ibility 5,2 -94 "hyness 4,/ 4
Passion %or
work
5,1 -6D (or) orientation 4,9 -D0
on%or)ity 4,. -D.
59
Table 0- Results %or relationships between traits an! entrepreneurial beha$ior
(ote- B C nu)ber o% stu!ies- ( C o$erall (- rw C sa)ple wei,hte! )ean correlation- "o C obser$e! $ariance, "e C $ariance !ue to sa)plin, error, "p C resi!ual $ariance-
orrecte! r C correcte! %or low reliabilities- W p R -/.- WW p R -/4-
4
Traits inclu!e! here are !isplaye! in Table 2, olu)n 4-
2
Traits inclu!e! here are !isplaye! in Table 2,
olu)n 5 -
B ( rw "o "e "p U +ariance !ue to
sa)plin, error
orrecte! r 9.U on%i!ence
inter$al
si,ni%icance test o%
)o!erators
All personality traits
with business creation
12 4660. -414 -/202 -//04 -/499 40,.4 -49/ -420 to -499 /,5.
All personality traits
with success
.5 D61. -459 -/2D/ -//11 -/2/2 25,5. -49. -4/. to -490
Mo!erator analyses
Traits )atche! to task
with business creation
4
5D 4026/ -240 -/241 -//02 -/46/ 4.,/2 -25D -4D4 to -2.. 2,60WW
Traits not )atche! to
task with business
creation
2
2/ 09D. -4/5 -/2/5 -//./ -/4.5 25,0/ -425 -/54 to -411
Traits )atche! to task
with business success
4
52 .1/D -206 -/0/1 -//1D -/209 24-90 -2./ -46. to -294 .,0DWW
Traits not )atche! to
task with success
2
40 2DDD -/2D -/4/1 -//5D -//.9 55,5. -/26 --/29 to -/60
./
Table 5- Relationships between particular personality traits an! !i%%erent types o%
entrepreneurial beha$ior
(ote- B C nu)ber o% stu!ies- ( C o$erall (- rw C sa)ple si=e wei,hte! )ean correlation- "o C obser$e!
$ariance, "e C sa)plin, error $ariance, "p C resi!ual $ariance- orrecte! r C correcte! %or reliabilities- W p R -/.
'two-taile!*- WW p R -/4 'two-taile!*-
4
!i%%erence in rw between business creation an! success-
Personality characteristic B ( Rw "o "e "p orrecte! r U +ariance
!ue to
sa)plin,
error
9.U
on%i!ence
inter$al
"i,- test
Need for achievement
with
Business creation 29 619
6
-466 -/4/6 -//04 -//.D -249 26,95 -4./ to -221 =
4
C4,41
"uccess 04 544
.
-202 -/544 -//16 -/006 -0/5 41,.2 -414 to -0/0
Innovativeness with
Business creation 4. 512
/
-491 -/49D -//0/ -/415 -20. 41,5. -42. to -21D =
4
C/,4.
"uccess D 6// -2/0 -//.2 -//64 -//// -2D0 4.D,20 -4./ to -2.1
Proactive personality
with
"uccess . 1D9 -2/4 -//12 -//16 -//// -2D/ 44/,/9 -425 to -2D6
Generalized self-
efficacy with
Business creation 6 22.
/
-00. -/0DD -//26 -/05D -0D6 D,55 -2/4 to -5D/ =
4
C4,D9
"uccess 44 400
4
-2/. -/4/4 -//DD -//25 -25D D.,51 -451 to -21.
Stress tolerance with
Business creation 1 402
.
-/9/ -///5 -//5. -//// -4/5 4/05,52 -/D0 to -4/1 =
4
C4,D4
"uccess 44 426
2
-4.D -/414 -//62 -//D6 -496 .4,46 -/64 to -204
Need for Autonomy
with
Business creation 44 52.
1
-2.2 -/251 -//20 -/220 -042 9,25 -4.9 to -055 =
4
C4,D/
"uccess 6 650 -421 -/212 -//90 -/416 -415 0.,52 -/40 to -206
Locus of control with
Business creation 25 .15
6
-4.D -/499 -//54 -/4.6 -466 2/,0D -4// to -240 =
4
C4,16
"uccess 20 09.
9
-/96 -//90 -//.D -//01 -405 14,50 -/.9 to -406
Risk taking with
Business creation 46 661
0
-/61 -/444 -//2/ -//94 -4/2 46,/1 -/0D to -40. =
4
C /,41
"uccess 40 4D5
5
-/D9 -/4D2 -//D5 -//9D -4/0 50,4D -//6 to -4.
.4
doc_942276245.pdf
The role of personality traits in the decision to start a business and to maintain it successfully is discussed controversially in entrepreneurship research. Our meta-analyses builds upon and extends earlier meta-analyses by doing a full analysis of personality traits that includes a comparison of different traits from a theoretical perspective and by analyzing a full set of personality predictors for both start-up activities as well as success.
Let’s Put the Person Back into Entrepreneurship Research: A Meta-Analysis on the
Relationship between Business Owners’ Personality Traits, Business reation, an! "uccess
"hort Title: Meta-analysis on entrepreneurs’ personality
An!reas Rauch
#ni$ersity o% &iessen '(ow at Eras)us #ni$ersity Rotter!a)*
R"M Eras)us #ni$ersity
Entrepreneurship an! (ew Business +enturin,
Bur,- Ou!erlaan ./
0/12 PA Rotter!a)
The (etherlan!s
Tel-: 304 4/ 5/6 40.2
7a8- : 304 4/ 5/6 9106
E)ail-: arauch:rs)-nl
Michael 7rese
#ni$ersity o% &iessen, ;epart)ent o% Psycholo,y
<ork an! Or,ani=ational Psycholo,y
Otto-Beha,el- "tr- 4/7
0.095 &iessen
&er)any
Tel-: /154> 99 21224
7a8- : /154> 99 21/59
E)ail-: )ichael-%rese
sychol-uni-,iessen-!ePost-re$iew $ersion
Publishe! in: European ?ournal o% <ork an! Or,ani=ational Psycholo,y
Link: http:>>www-tan!%-co-uk>@ournals>pp>40.9502A-ht)l
Beywor!s: Personality, Entrepreneurship, Meta-analysis
4
Let’s Put the Person Back into Entrepreneurship Research: A Meta-Analysis on the
Relationship between Business Owners’ Personality Traits, Business reation, an! "uccess
AB"TRAT
The role o% personality traits in the !ecision to start a business an! to )aintain it success%ully
is !iscusse! contro$ersially in entrepreneurship research- Our )eta-analyses buil!s upon an!
e8ten!s earlier )eta-analyses by !oin, a %ull analysis o% personality traits that inclu!es a
co)parison o% !i%%erent traits %ro) a theoretical perspecti$e an! by analy=in, a %ull set o%
personality pre!ictors %or both start-up acti$ities as well as success- Theoretically, our article
a!!s to the literature by )atchin, traits to the tasks o% entrepreneurs- The results in!icate that
traits )atche! to the task o% runnin, a business pro!uce! hi,her e%%ect si=es with business
creation than traits that were not )atche! to the task o% runnin, an enterprise 'correcte!
rC-25D 'BC5D, (C40,26/* an! correcte! rC-425 'BC2/, (C 09D.*, respecti$ely*- Moreo$er,
traits )atche! to the task pro!uce! hi,her correlations with success 'correcte! rC-2./, BC52,
(C.1/D* than traits not )atche! to the task o% runnin, a business 'correcte! rC-/26, BC40,
(C2DDD*- The traits )atche! to entrepreneurship si,ni%icantly correlate! with entrepreneurial
beha$ior 'business creation, business success* were nee! %or achie$e)ent, ,enerali=e! sel%-
e%%icacy, inno$ati$eness, stress tolerance, nee! %or autono)y, an! pro-acti$e personality-
These relationships were o% )o!erate si=e in ,eneral an!, )oreo$er, hetero,eneity su,,este!
that %uture research shoul! analy=e )o!erator $ariables-
2
EResearch on personal traits see)s to ha$e reache! an e)pirical !ea! en!F 'Al!rich, 4999, p-
D1*
G(TRO;#TGO(
Relationships between personality traits an! entrepreneurial beha$ior are %reHuently
a!!resse! in entrepreneurship theori=in, an! research- Iet, a !eep-roote! skepticis) pre$ails
in the entrepreneurship literature about the presence an! the stren,th o% this relationship-
<hile so)e narrati$e re$iews conclu!e! that there is in!ee! a positi$e relationship between
personality traits an! both business creation an! business success '* other narrati$e re$iews
conclu!e! that there is no such relationship '- Recent )eta-analyses pro$i!e! e$i!ence %or the
pre!icti$e $ali!ity o% personality traits in entrepreneurial research 'ollins, Jan,es, K Locke,
2//5, "tewart K Roth, 2//4, "tewart K Roth 2//5b, Lhao K "eibert, 2//5* an! su,,est to
%urther analy=e contin,encies that i)pact the si=e o% the relationship- <e buil! upon these
)eta-analyses an! e8ten! the reach o% our )eta-analysis in the %ollowin, way: 7irst, we
propose to stu!y speci%ic traits, such as achie$e)ent )oti$e rather than broa! cate,ories o%
traits, such as the Bi, 7i$e to pre!ict entrepreneurial beha$ior- "econ!, a relate! point is to
ask the Huestion whether the trait is )atche! to the task or not- <e propose that a ,oo! )atch
between traits an! the tasks o% runnin, a business allows %or hi,her $ali!ities in the conte8t o%
entrepreneurship research than personality traits not )atche! to entrepreneurship- Thir!, we
stu!y both business creation as well as business success an! e8a)ine the relationships
between personality an! entrepreneurship in !i%%erent conte8ts - business creation an!
success- 7inally, we inten!e! to be as inclusi$e in the nu)ber o% traits stu!ie! as the literature
allows us to be- The present stu!y atte)pts to test a %ull set o% traits to pro$i!e a co)plete
picture o% the relationship between personality an! entrepreneurship, which in turn per)its us
to present an e)pirical answer to the Huestion o% which traits are $ali! pre!ictors o%
entrepreneurial success-
0
"uch a )eta-analysis has i)portant conseHuences %or theory an! )o!el buil!in,- G% a
)eta-analysis %in!s relationships o% personality with business success to be i)portant,
theories o% entrepreneurship )ust take the !yna)ics o% personality into account an! )o!el
buil!in, nee!s to consi!er personality %actors when pre!ictin, business success, si)ilar to
en$iron)ental an! in!ustry con!itions- There%ore, this paper %irst un%ol!s the theoretical
assu)ptions that @usti%y a positi$e relationship between owners’ personality traits an!
entrepreneurial beha$ior- 7ollowin, this, we !iscuss pre$ious )eta-analyses on traits o%
entrepreneurs be%ore we !e$elop the %ra)ework an! hypotheses use! in the present stu!y-
TJE 7#(TGO( O7 PER"O(ALGTI TRAGT" G( E(TREPRE(E#RGAL PROE""E"
Entrepreneurship has been !e%ine! usin, a beha$ioral !e%initionM %or e8a)ple the
creation o% new or,ani=ations '&artner, 4969*- A %reHuently use! beha$ioral !e%inition o%
entrepreneurs re%ers to in!epen!ent ownership, acti$e )ana,e)ent, an!>or e8presse!
intention to !o so '"tewart K Roth, 2//4*- Other !e%initions o% entrepreneurship !escribe
tasks, such as the reco,nition an! e8ploitation o% opportunities as central to entrepreneurship
'"hane K +enkatara)an, 2///*- <e inclu!e! articles into our )eta-analysis usin, a broa!
beha$ioral !e%inition o% entrepreneurship- On the other han!, we use )ore speci%ic task
!escriptions o% entrepreneurship, such as the one by "hane an! +enkatara)an '2///*, when
!iscussin, the i)portance o% )atchin, personality traits to entrepreneurship-
Personality traits are !e%ine! as !ispositions to e8hibit a certain kin! o% response
across $arious situations 'aprana K er$one, 2///*M personality traits are also en!urin, an!
show a hi,h !e,ree o% stability across ti)e 'Roccas, "a,i$, "chwart=, K Bna%o, 2//2*- <e
%ollow Mcrae an! osta '499/* an! conceptuali=e personality traits as propensities to act-
;i%%erent propensities )ay %acilitate or i)pe!e business owners’ actions an! beha$iours-
There%ore, we assu)e that personality traits are pre!ictors o% entrepreneurial beha$ior 'Rauch
K 7rese, 2///*- Ban%er '4992* re%erre! to personality traits as !istal $ariables- ;istal
5
!ispositions inclu!e non-co,niti$e an! non-ability !ispositions that a%%ect beha$ior an!
per%or)ance in!irectly- "uch traits inclu!e biolo,ical !eter)inants 'such as te)pera)ent*,
broa! personality %actors 'such as the Bi, 7i$e*, )oti$es 'such as achie$e)ent )oti$e*, an!
,enerali=e! attitu!es an! belie%s 'such as ,enerali=e! sel%-e%%icacy*- Thus, this stu!y uses the
ter) personality traits ,enerally to !escribe the !istal !ispositions o% entrepreneurs-
lassic econo)ic theori=in, has e)phasi=e! personality traits to !escribe
entrepreneursM e8a)ples are creati$ity '"chu)peter, 490.* an! risk takin, 'Bni,ht, 4924M
Mill, 49.5*- E)pirical stu!ies on nee! %or achie$e)ent pro$i!e! support %or this assu)ption
as business owners ha$e hi,her $alues in nee! %or achie$e)ent than )ana,ers, an! nee! %or
achie$e)ent is positi$ely relate! to business success 'Mclellan!, 4914*- Jowe$er,
subseHuent research raise! serious !oubts as to whether personality plays any role in the start-
up phase an! %or business success- &artner '496.* ar,ue! that entrepreneurs constitute a
hi,hly hetero,eneous ,roup o% people that !e%ies a co))on !e%inition an!, there%ore,
co))on pre!ictorsM in other wor!s, an Na$era,e entrepreneur’ !oes not e8ist an!, there%ore,
an a$era,e personality pro%ile o% entrepreneurs cannot be !eter)ine!- Low an! McMillan
'4966* ar,ue! that personality-base! !escripti$e stu!ies !o not help to !e$elop a theory o%
entrepreneurship 'p- 456*- Re$iewers o% the literature ha$e, there%ore, su,,este! to
!iscontinue the search %or personality traits in entrepreneurship research 'e-,-, Al!rich, 4999*-
The proposal to !iscontinue the stu!y o% personality within entrepreneurship research
was base! on narrati$e re$iews o% the literature- Meta-analysis approaches ha$e ar,ue! that it
is o%ten har! to !etect s)all but i)portant relationships with a narrati$e re$iew 'Junter K
"ch)i!t, 2//5*: ")all relationships are o%ten !i%%icult to !etect, because they are )aske! by
%reHuent non-si,ni%icant %in!in,s 'o%ten a result o% lack o% power* an! the %act that
unreliability o% )easures )ay lea! to s)all attenuate! e)pirical correlations 'in contrast, a
)eta-analysis typically corrects %or reliability issues*- This o%ten lea!s to a )ore ne,ati$e
.
$iew o% the e$i!ence than is calle! %or- All o% these 'an! other* issues )i,ht result in a hi,her
inci!ence o% Type GG errors 'Junter K "ch)i!t, 4991M Tett, ?ackson, K Rothstein, 4994*-
Gn!ee!, recent )eta-analytical e$i!ence pro$i!es support %or the pre!icti$e $ali!ities
o% personality traits- Lhao an! "eibert '2//1* a!!resse! in their )eta-analysis )ultiple traits
by co!in, $arious personality traits into the %i$e %actors o% the Bi, 7i$e )o!el- Results
in!icate! !i%%erences between entrepreneurs an! )ana,ers in conscientiousness, openness to
e8perience, neuroticis), an! a,reeableness- Other )eta-analyses stu!ie! the two speci%ic
personality traits O risk takin, an! achie$e)ent )oti$e - that are theoretically relate! to the
!o)ain o% entrepreneurship- 7or e8a)ple, entrepreneurs risk loosin, their in$est)ents in
contrast to )ana,ersM there%ore, they shoul! be hi,h in risk takin, 'Bni,ht, 4924*- "tewart an!
Roth '2//4>2//5a* %oun! s)all an! si,ni%icant !i%%erences in risk propensity between
entrepreneurs an! )ana,ers- +ariations in e%%ect si=es were %ully e8plaine! by !i%%erent
instru)ents use! to )easure risk propensity: ob@ecti$e )easures pro!uce! hi,her e%%ect si=es
than pro@ecti$e )easures- (ee! %or achie$e)ent is an a!!itional trait that has been relate! to
econo)ic outco)es an! business per%or)ance 'Mclellan!, 4914*- Two )eta-analyses
a!!resse! nee! %or achie$e)ent o% entrepreneurs: The !i%%erence between entrepreneurs an!
non-entrepreneurs was o% )o!erate si=e '!C-55 an! !C-09, ollins et al-, 2//5, "tewart K
Roth, 2//5b, respecti$ely*- Moreo$er, nee! %or achie$e)ent was positi$ely relate! to success
'rC-21, ollins et al- 2//5*- Thus, these )eta-analyses show the $ali!ities o% selecte!
personality $ariables-
<e buil! our )eta-analysis on this prior work an! e8ten! the co$era,e- The pre$ious
)eta-analyses stu!ie! only !i%%erences between entrepreneurs an! )ana,ers 'with the
e8ception o% ollins et al-, 2//5*- Entrepreneurship theory nee!s to know not only how
entrepreneurs’ personality is !i%%erent %ro) non-entrepreneurs but also whether or not
personality traits are relate! to business success- At present we know this only %or one trait O
achie$e)ent )oti$e that was stu!ie! by ollins et al '2//5*- Lhao an! "eibert '2//1*
1
presente! the )ost enco)passin, )eta-analysis up to this point- They concentrate! on the
relationship between personality $ariables an! start-up acti$ities- <e co)ple)ent this stu!y
by e8a)inin, the relationships between traits an! success- Lhao an! "eibert '2//1* !i! not
!irectly analy=e the Bi, 7i$e traits but co!e! stu!ies accor!in, to the %i$e %actor ta8ono)y-
As a conseHuence, they inclu!e! both broa! an! speci%ic traits un!er the sa)e rubric- More
i)portantly, they !i! not !i%%erentiate accor!in, to whether or not the traits )atche! the tasks
o% entrepreneurs ')ore on this later*- This lea!s to the proble) that the relationships )ay
ha$e been un!eresti)ate!- Gn one instance, the authors !i! !i%%erentiate between two %acets o%
conscientiousness O the traits o% achie$e)ent )oti$e an! !epen!abilityM the results showe!
that only achie$e)ent )oti$e was relate! to entrepreneurship O with ! 'correcte!* C -.9 while
!epen!ability !i! not show a si,ni%icant relationship 'with ! 'correcte!* C -/4*- These
!i%%erentiations are washe! out when reportin, the Bi, 7i$e cate,ory o% conscientiousness
'which pro!uce! a ! 'correcte!*C -5.*- 7or this an! %urther theoretical reasons 'see below*, we
think that it is necessary to e8a)ine speci%ic traits an! their relationships with business
creation an! with business success- Moreo$er, we think it is necessary to !i%%erentiate traits
into those that can be theoretically )atche! to the tasks o% entrepreneurs an! those that are not
)atche! to these tasks- <e propose that a ,oo! )atch between traits an! the tasks o% runnin,
a business allows %or hi,her $ali!ities in the conte8t o% entrepreneurship research than
personality traits not )atche! to entrepreneurship-
Matchin, personality traits to the task o% entrepreneurship
There is a !ebate within work an! or,ani=ational psycholo,y whether researchers
shoul! use broa! traits or whether they shoul! rely on speci%ic traits to pre!ict per%or)ance-
7or e8a)ple, Ones an! +iswes$aran '4991* ar,ue! that broa! bi, %i$e traits are better
pre!ictors o% @ob per%or)ance than )ore speci%ic traits, because speci%ic traits ha$e low
reliabilities an! criterion relate! $ali!ity- Gn contrast, another set o% authors su,,este! to
D
!i%%erentiate between broa! an! narrow traits 'Barrick K Mount, 2//., ;u!ley, Or$is,
Lebiecki, K ortina, 2//1M Tett, "teele, K Beaure,ar!, 2//0*- As Barrick an! Mount '2//.*
pointe! out, Enarrow traits rely on e8plicit !escription that )ay be situate! in ti)e, place, or
roleF ' p- 01D*- The use%ulness o% speci%ic traits in pre!ictin, @ob per%or)ance was supporte!
'Barrick K Mount, 2//.M Tett et al, 2//0*-
<e ar,ue in the %ollowin, %or an e8plicit !i%%erentiation o% speci%ic traits into those
that are EroleF-relate! an! those that are not 'in the sense o% Barrick K Mount, 4994*, that is
we ask the Huestion which traits )ay be relate! to the tasks o% entrepreneurship- This also
%ollows %ro) a ,eneral approach to un!erstan! work tasks %irst an! then look at the rele$ant
pre!ictors o% per%or)ance '7leish)an K Puaintance, 4965* as well as %ro) entrepreneurship
research 'Bau) K Locke, 2//5M ollins et al- 2//5*-
Broa! trait ta8ono)ies use personality base! $ariation to or,ani=e speci%ic personality
traits into )eanin,%ul clusters- As a result, these ,lobal traits loose speci%ic criterion relate!
$ariance- More speci%ic traits can a!! to the pre!iction o% a criterion because the best
pre!ictors )i,ht $ery well be speci%ic traits that represent !i%%erent bi, %i$e %actors rather than
)any traits %ro) one sin,le %actor 'Paunonen K Ashton, 2//4*- An e8a)ple is the %actor
conscientiousness which inclu!es sub-%actors o% achie$e)ent stri$in, an! !uti%ulness- A
rou,h analysis o% the tasks o% entrepreneurs shows that achie$e)ent stri$in,s shoul! show
positi$e correlations with entrepreneurial success an! start-up acti$ities while !uti%ulness
shoul! show =ero or e$en ne,ati$e relationships- G% o$erall conscientiousness is use! to
pre!ict entrepreneurial success, the two un!erlyin, contra!ictory correlations )ay lea! to an
o$erall s)all positi$e correlation- Many stu!ies on s)all business owners’ personality were
not theoretically !ri$en, but were !escripti$e in nature- Because both task relate! as well as
non-task relate! personality $ariables were )i8e! to,ether, the o$erall conclusion o%ten was
that there is only a $ery weak o$erall relationship between personality an! entrepreneurial
per%or)ance- Thus, links between the personality traits, business start-up, an! success nee! to
6
be e8plicitly conceptuali=e! 'Low K MacMillan, 4966*M true e%%ects will be un!eresti)ate! i%
one !oes not select the appropriate personality traits that are )ore likely to be pre!icti$e o%
entrepreneurship - Traits that are )ore likely to pre!ict entrepreneurial beha$ior are those
traits that )atch personality with work characteristics 'Jollan!, 496.M +inchur, "chipp)ann,
"wit=er, K Roth, 4996*-
Recently, the literature on entrepreneurship has )a!e ,reat stri!es to !e%ine essential
para)eters or roles o% entrepreneurs- 7or e8a)ple, entrepreneurs ha$e to !etect an! e8ploit
opportunities, ha$e to )ake rapi! !ecisions un!er uncertainty an! in a resource constraint
en$iron)ent, they ha$e to work har!er than )ost e)ployees, an! they ha$e to possess a wi!e
$ariety o% skills, knowle!,e, an! abilities 'inclu!in,, e-,-, lea!ership, )ana,e)ent,
)arketin,, an! inno$atin,* '"hane, 2//0M "aras$athy, 2//4*- E8a)ples o% traits that are
)atche! to such tasks are nee! %or achie$e)ent, inno$ati$eness, proacti$e personality,
,enerali=e! sel%-e%%icacy, stress tolerance, nee! %or autono)y, internal locus o% control, an!
risk takin,- Need for achievement i)plies that one chooses tasks o% )o!erate !i%%iculty,
accepts responsibility %or results an! seeks %ee!back on action outco)es- Gt is i)portant %or
entrepreneurship because entrepreneurs nee! to be intereste! in the tasks that they are !oin,
to per%or) well- Gn so)e o% the ol!est work on the !i%%erentiation between entrepreneurs an!
)ana,ers, Mclellan! '4914* showe! that achie$e)ent )oti$e was hi,her in entrepreneurs-
Only i% they !i! well at tasks o% )o!erate !i%%iculty, accepte! responsibility %or results, an!
sou,ht %ee!back on business outco)es were entrepreneurs able to !o well 'Mclellan!,
4914*- Innovativeness assu)es a person’s willin,ness an! interest to look %or no$el ways o%
action 'Patchen, 491.*- The trait o% inno$ati$eness helps entrepreneurs to %oster inno$ations in
their %ir)s 'Jeunks, 4996*- Gnno$ation has been one o% the core concepts o% "chu)peter’s
approach to entrepreneurship 'e-,-, "chu)peter, 490.M see also ;rucker, 4990*, an!
inno$ation is relate! to business success 'Bausch K Rosenbusch, 2//.*- People hi,h on pro-
acti$e personality want to in%luence their en$iron)ent 'rant 4991* an! proacti$e personality
9
is a personal !isposition %or personal initiati$e beha$ior '7rese K 7ay, 2//4*- Pro-acti$e
personality is i)portant %or entrepreneurs because by !e%inition, entrepreneurs ha$e to be sel%-
startin, an! in%luence their en$iron)ent by %oun!in, new or,ani=ations an! by i!enti%yin,
an! actin, upon opportunities- Generalized Self-efficacy is i)portant %or entrepreneurs
because they )ust be con%i!ent in their capabilities to per%or) $arious 'an! o%ten
unanticipate!* tasks in uncertain situations 'Bau) K Locke, 2//5*- <e %ollow the literature to
!i%%erentiate ,enerali=e! sel%-e%%icacy 'a personality concept* %ro) speci%ic sel%-e%%icacy 'the
latter is not a personality trait* 'E!en, 4966* an! only e8clu!e! stu!ies with speci%ic sel%-
e%%icacy 'such as Bau) an! Locke, 2//5*- People with hi,h ,enerali=e! sel%-e%%icacy are
likely to perse$ere when proble)s arise an! search %or challen,es an!, there%ore, challen,in,
opportunities 'Ban!ura, 4962, 499D*M they also show a hi,her !e,ree o% personal initiati$e
'"peier K 7rese, 499D*M they ha$e hi,her hopes %or success an!, there%ore, take a lon,-ter)
perspecti$e 'Jeckhausen K "chul=, 499.*M they also acti$ely search %or in%or)ation 'Ash%or!
K Tsui, 4994*, which lea!s to a better knowle!,e- There%ore, ,enerali=e! sel%-e%%icacy is
relate! to business creation an! success '#tsch, Rauch, Roth%uss, K 7rese, 4999M Poon,
Ainu!!in, K ?unit, 2//1*- Stress tolerance is i)portant because entrepreneurs typically ha$e a
hi,h workloa! an! take %inancial an! personal risks- "tress tolerance is essential because
entrepreneurs shoul! not ,et straine! in situations that are typically characteri=e! by hi,h
insecurity an! pressure- (eed for autonomy is associate! with entrepreneurs’ a$oi!ance o%
restricti$e en$iron)entsM they pre%er to )ake !ecisions in!epen!ent o% super$isors, to set their
own ,oals an! !e$elop their own plans o% actions, an! to control ,oal achie$e)ent
the)sel$es- People hi,h in nee! %or autono)y want to be in control, they a$oi! the
restrictions an! rules o% establishe! or,ani=ations, an! thus, choose the entrepreneurial role
'Bran!stQtter, 499DM ro)ie, 2///*- Internal locus of control is relate! to entrepreneurship
because owners )ust belie$e that their own actions !eter)ine the rewar!s 'business
outco)es* they obtain 'Rotter, 4911*- "ince people with a hi,h internal locus o% control %eel
4/
that they are able to control outco)es, they shoul! e8ert )ore e%%ort an! persistence towar!
inten!e! outco)es which, in turn, shoul! help to start an enterprise an! to )aintain it
success%ully- Gn contrast, e8ternally controlle! people )ay be )ore passi$e- G% one belie$es
that one is not able to control outco)es, one has no reasons to acti$ely chan,e one’s
en$iron)ent an! to start a %ir)- 7inally, the tasks o% entrepreneurship inclu!e takin, risks, %or
e8a)ple, because !ecisions are )a!e in uncertain situations 'Bni,ht, 4924*- There%ore,
entrepreneurs show risk-taking propensity 'c%-, "tewart K Roth, 2//5a*-
A theoretical issue in the personality literature relates to the i)pact o% the situation- A
truis) o% psycholo,y has been the !ictu) by Lewin '49.4* that beha$ior is a %unction o% the
person an! the situation- Personality traits can a%%ect beha$ior only i% the situational
constraints allow their e8pression 'Mischel, 4916*- Typically, weak situations that are
characteri=e! by low structure, little an! a)bi,uous in%or)ation, an! hi,h autono)y allow
the e8pression o% in!i$i!ual !i%%erences 'Jattrupp K ?ackson, 4991*- Gn contrast to the work
o% e)ployees whose or,ani=ational settin,s are usually relati$ely stron,ly in%luence! by
institutionali=e! )eans, rules, ,ui!elines an! rewar! structures ';a$is-Blake K P%e%%er,
4969*, there is )ore roo) %or )aneu$er %or business owners- Business owners usually
!eter)ine !ecisions, rules, rewar! structures, an! business strate,y- This su,,ests that
entrepreneurs act within weak situations because they )aneu$er in situations o% hi,h
autono)y, low structure, an! they ha$e to )ake !ecisions base! on uncertain an! a)bi,uous
in%or)ation- There%ore, personality traits shoul! be relate! to business creation an! success-
Gn su))ary, we hypothesi=e that:
J4: There is a positi$e relationship between business owners’ personality traits an!
entrepreneurial beha$ior 'business creation an! business success*-
44
J2: Personality traits that are )atche! to the task o% entrepreneurship 'nee! %or achie$e)ent,
inno$ati$eness, pro-acti$e personality, sel%-e%%icacy, stress tolerance, nee! %or autono)y,
internal locus o% control, an! risk takin,* pre!ict entrepreneurial beha$ior 'business creation,
business success* )ore stron,ly than traits that are not )atche! to entrepreneurship-
METJO;
;e$elopin, the !ata base
<e inclu!e! stu!ies that !e%ine! business owners as in!epen!ent ownership, acti$e
)ana,e)ent, an!>or e8presse! intention to !o so '"tewart K Roth, 2//4*- Personality traits
were )easure! at the in!i$i!ual le$el 'there%ore, we !i! not inclu!e stu!ies on entrepreneurial
orientation*- <e inclu!e! all those stu!ies that ha! so)e )easure o% a personality trait an!
so)e )easure o% business success or business creation-
<e use! %i$e !i%%erent strate,ies to i!enti%y stu!ies %or the )eta-analysis- 7irst, we
inspecte! !atabases 'PsycLit>PsycGn%o '46/1-2//1*, ERG '4911-2//1*, EconLit
'4919-2//1*, ABG>Gn%or) '49D4-2//1*, ;issertation Abstracts Online '496D-2//0*, ;i,ital
;issertations Online '2//5-2//1*, an! ""G '49D2-2//1*- "econ!, we re$iewe! the past 20
$olu)es o% the ?ournal o% Applie! Psycholo,y, Aca!e)y o% Mana,e)ent ?ournal,
A!)inistrati$e "cience Puarterly, ?ournal o% ")all Business Mana,e)ent, ?ournal o%
Business +enturin, '496.-2//1*, an! Entrepreneurship Theory an! Practice- Thir!, we
analy=e! the con%erence procee!in,s o% the Aca!e)y o% Mana,e)ent '496/-2//1*,
Gnternational ouncil o% ")all Businesses '4990-2//.*, an! Babson- Bau%%)an on%erence
'4964-2//.*- 7ourth, we e8a)ine! article re%erence lists %or other articles that were not
i!enti%ie! with the other approaches- 7inally, we contacte! se$eral research ,roups that we
knew were acti$e in the area an! aske! %or rele$ant !ata an! unpublishe! papers- The latter
two strate,ies were particularly use%ul in i!enti%yin, unpublishe! stu!ies, allowin, to analy=e
42
both publishe! an! unpublishe! !ata 'an i)portant !esi!eratu) o% )eta-analyses, c%- Junter
K "ch)i!t, 2//5*-
riteria %or inclusion an! e8clusion o% stu!ies- Results o% )eta-analyses !epen! on
which stu!ies are inclu!e! or e8clu!e! 'co)pare, e-,-, the contro$ersy by Miner K Ra@u,
2//5 an! "tewart K Roth, 2//5a*- There%ore, we atte)pte! to be $ery care%ul in !e$elopin,
our criteria %or the inclusion o% stu!ies- 7irst, since we atte)pte! to stu!y in!epen!ent
sa)ples, we care%ully checke! that each sa)ple was inclu!e! only one ti)e in our analysis
'only the )ost recent publication was analy=e! when we %oun! )ore than one publication on
a sa)ple*- 7or e8a)ple, we e8clu!e! Miner, ")ith, an! Braker '4969*, because the sa)ple
o$erlappe! with the lon,itu!inal analysis publishe! in 4995 'Miner, ")ith, K Braker, 4995*-
"econ!, we inclu!e! only stu!ies that reporte! statistics that coul! be trans%or)e! into the r
statistic- 7orty-ei,ht stu!ies were e8clu!e! because they !i! not contain su%%icient statistical
in%or)ation to co)pute e%%ect si=es 'e-,-, only si,ni%icant relationships or only )ulti$ariate
statistics were reporte!*- Thir!, we !i! not inclu!e stu!ies reportin, only si,ni%icant results
'e-,-, Lerner, Brush, K Jisrich, 499DM "in,h, 4969*- 7ourth, we chose not to esti)ate e%%ect
si=es %ro) appro8i)ate p $alues 'p R -/., etc-M e-,-, Jull, Bosley, K #!ell, 496/*M while it is
possible to esti)ate e%%ect si=es %ro) e8act p $alues, trans%or)in, appro8i)ate e%%ect si=es
can lea! to wron, e%%ect si=e esti)ates- 7i%th, we inclu!e! stu!ies that reporte! results on
so)e personality )easure e$en i% the stu!y itsel% !i! not e8plicitly %ocus on a personality
approachM %or e8a)ple, we inclu!e! Jeunks '4996*, because he inclu!e! a creati$ity )easure,
&atewoo!, "ha$er, an! &artner '499.* because they use! an internal locus o% control scale,
an! Robinson, "ti)pson, an! Jue%ner '4994* because their )easure is conceptually relate! to
personality research an! was speci%ically !e$elope! %or the conte8t o% entrepreneurship- "i8th,
sin,le ite) )easures o% owners’ traits were e8clu!e! because o% unreliability proble)s-
7inally, laboratory stu!ies were not inclu!e!-
40
7inal sa)ple- Our %inal )eta-analytic !atabase consiste! o% 441 in!epen!ent sa)ples
%ro) 4/5 !i%%erent articles that )et the criteria %or inclusion an! pro$i!e! the necessary
in%or)ation %or co)putin, the statistics 'with an o$erall ( o% 21,D//*- O% these, 12 stu!ies
!ealt with business creation an! .5 stu!ies teste! relationships between owners’ traits an!
business success- Twenty se$en stu!ies ca)e %ro) sources other than peer-re$iewe! @ournals-
o!in, proce!ure- <e use! ratin,s %ro) a ,roup o% e8perts %or )atchin, traits to the
tasks o% entrepreneurs- <e aske! 4/ sub@ect )atter e8perts %ro) business stu!ies an!
entrepreneurship to co!e how %ar traits were relate! to the task o% entrepreneurs- E8perts were
%i$e pro%essors an! %i$e Ph-;- stu!ents %ro) the #", Europe, an! Australia who ha! !one
research in the area o% entrepreneurship- <e chose these e8perts because they were Huali%ie!
to rate the rele$ance o% a particular trait %or entrepreneurship- The e8perts recei$e! a short
intro!uctory letter e8plainin, the ratin,M they were aske! to co!e the .2 !i%%erent traits stu!ie!
in the articles i!enti%ie! %or our )eta-analysis 'Table 4*- "peci%ically, they in!icate! on a .-
point ratin, scale the i)portance o% each trait with re,ar! to entrepreneurship- <e only
analy=e! traits that showe! hi,h interrater a,ree)ent '?a)es, ;e)aree, K <ol%, 4990*- The
cut-o%% point %or interrater a,ree)ent was rw, S-D/ 'Lance, Butts, K Michels, 2//1*- The rw,
o% opti)is) was a little lower 'rw,C-19*M howe$er, it was near enou,h to the cut-o%% point
o% -D/ to inclu!e it in the analysis- <e !e%ine! traits bein, )atche! to entrepreneurship when
e8perts in!icate! the) to be as i)portant or $ery i)portant %or entrepreneurship 'a )ean
ratin, o% 5-/ an! abo$e*- Table 2 !isplays the results o% the e8pert co!in,: 44 traits were
consistently co!e! as bein, task relate! an! 42 traits were co!e! as bein, not task relate!- Gt is
interestin, to note that so)e traits 'e-,-, tenacity, passion %or work* ha$e not been stu!ie!
%reHuently enou,h to be able to inclu!e the) into separate )eta-analyses %or personality traits
)atche! to the task o% entrepreneurship- Moreo$er, so)e traits %reHuently !iscusse! in
entrepreneurship research, such as internal locus o% control an! risk takin,, were not inclu!e!
in Table 2 because e8perts !isa,ree! consi!erably on their rele$ance %or entrepreneurship-
45
Althou,h the $ariability o% e8pert @u!,)ents with re,ar! to internal locus o% control an! risk-
takin, was hi,h, we inclu!e! these traits in the analysis reporte! in Table 5 because these two
traits ha$e been %reHuently su,,este! in the literature
4
-
The co!in, o% the type o% entrepreneurial beha$ior consiste! o% two cate,ories:
Business creation an! success- Business creation consiste! o% stu!ies co)parin, business
owners to other populations- The latter cate,ory consiste! )ainly o% )ana,ers, but also o%
e)ployees, stu!ents, non-%oun!ers 'e-,-, heirs*, or o% a representati$e sa)ple o% the
population- "ince the co)parison ,roup Eother populationsF consists o% Huite hetero,eneous
occupations, we teste! whether there are !i%%erences in the o$erall e%%ect o% personality traits
%or the co)parison between owners $ersus )ana,ers an! owners $ersus non-)ana,ers an!
%oun! that the e%%ect si=es were o% si)ilar si=e '= C /,9D., ns-*- A typical e8a)ple %or business
creation is the stu!y o% ro)ie an! ?ohns '4960* that co)pare! a ran!o) sa)ple o% 52
%oun!ers o% in!epen!ent businesses with 54 )i!!le an! senior )ana,ers an! %oun! that
entrepreneurs ha! hi,her $alues in internal locus o% control- 7inally, stu!ies a!!ressin,
business success usually conceptuali=e! personality traits as pre!ictors o% business outco)es-
7or e8a)ple, Bo8 an! <hite '4990* stu!ie! 90 %oun!ers o% in!epen!ently owne! enterprises
an! reporte! a positi$e correlation between internal locus o% control an! business success
'a$era,e annual e)ploy)ent ,rowth*-
Meta-analytic proce!ure
<e e)ploye! the )eta-analytic proce!ures su,,este! by Junter an! "ch)i!t '2//5*,
utili=in, "chwar=erTs '4969* an! Borenstein an! RothsteinTs '4999* co)puter so%tware- To
allow co)parisons between !i%%erent analyses, all e%%ect si=es were trans%or)e! into ErF
statistics- <e %irst calculate! the (-wei,hte! a$era,e correlations an! their 9. U con%i!ence
inter$als- Each wei,hte! correlation was then correcte! %or attenuation 'correcte! r, base! on
4
Gnternal locus o% control was inclu!e! ./ ti)es in the literature re$iewe! here an! risk-takin, 0. ti)es-
4.
reliabilities*- This correction was applie! to traits an! success $ariables- "ince )any stu!ies
!i! not pro$i!e in%or)ation about reliabilities, we a,,re,ate! !ata on reliabilities %or each
subset o% analyses an! applie! this a,,re,ate to the analysis-
To assess the $ariability o% the wei,hte! correlations, we calculate! the obser$e!
$ariance, the sa)plin, error $ariance, an! the resi!ual $ariance- <e co)pute! the obser$e!
$ariance o% the wei,hte! correlation to pro$i!e an esti)ate o% the $ariations in the
correlations- To assess hetero,eneity o% wei,hte! correlations, we also calculate! sa)plin,
error $ariance- <e assu)e! ho)o,eneity o% e%%ects, i% D. percent or )ore o% the obser$e!
$ariance coul! be e8plaine! by sa)plin, error $ariance 'Junter K "ch)i!t, 499/*- "o)e o%
our analyses were base! on a s)all nu)ber o% stu!ies, causin, a secon! or!er sa)plin, error-
G% the obser$e! e%%ect si=es o% these stu!ies happene! to co)e $ery close to the e8pecte!
$alue, the obser$e! $ariance en!e! up bein, s)aller than the sa)plin, error $ariance- "till,
the correct conclusion in such cases is that all obser$e! $ariance coul! be accounte! %or by
sa)plin, error $ariance 'Junter K "ch)i!t, 499/*- G% results in!icate! hetero,eneity, we
co!e! the stu!ies %urther into subsets an! teste! %or the cate,orical )o!erator- A $ariable is
co))only classi%ie! as a )o!erator when the population e%%ect si=e $aries %ro) subset to
subset an! the resi!ual $ariance a$era,e is lower in the subsets than %or the e%%ect as a whole
'Junter K "ch)i!t, 499/*- 7or testin, the si,ni%icance o% a )o!erator e%%ect we analy=e!
!i%%erences in the wei,hte! correlations by usin, a =-test as a critical ratio 'Junter K "ch)i!t,
499/, p- 056*-
RE"#LT"
Jypotheses Tests
Jypothesis 4 propose! that personality traits woul! relate to entrepreneurial beha$ior,
such as business creation an! success- Results !isplaye! in Table 0 supporte! this hypothesis
O personality )easures were si,ni%icantly positi$ely correlate! with both business creation
41
'correcte! r C -49/* an! business success 'correcte! r C -49.*- "ince the lower boun!aries o%
the 9.U con%i!ence inter$als were ,reater than =ero, these e%%ects were si,ni%icant- The
)a,nitu!e o% the e%%ects was )o!erate 'ohen, 49DD*- A!!itionally, the analyses re$eale!
hetero,eneity, su,,estin, the presence o% )o!erators-
Jypothesis 2 su,,este! that personality traits that are )atche! to the task o%
entrepreneurship are better pre!ictors o% entrepreneurial beha$ior than traits not )atche! to
entrepreneurship- Gn line with Jypothesis 2, e%%ect si=es %or business creation were hi,her %or
traits )atche! to the task o% entrepreneurship than %or traits not )atche! to the task o% runnin,
a business 'correcte! r C -25D an! r C -425, respecti$ely*- The !i%%erence in the wei,hte!
correlations was si,ni%icant '= C 2,60, p R -/4*- Jypothesis 2 was also supporte! re,ar!in, the
relationship between personality traits an! business success 'Table 0*- The correcte!
relationships with success were r C -2./ %or traits )atche! to entrepreneurship an! r C -/26 %or
traits not )atche! to the task an! the !i%%erence in the wei,hte! correlations was si,ni%icant '=
C .,0D , p R -/4*- The e%%ect si=e o% traits not )atche! to the task o% entrepreneurship was not
si,ni%icant, as the lower boun!ary o% the con%i!ence inter$al was below =ero- Jetero,eneity
o% e%%ect si=es, howe$er, in!icate! the presence o% other )o!erator $ariables- There%ore, we
teste! %or the relationship between personality traits )atche! to the task o% entrepreneurship
an! !i%%erent types o% entrepreneurial beha$ior 'Table 5*- Traits that were !irectly an!
si,ni%icantly correlate! with success were inno$ati$eness 'correcte! r C -2D0*, pro-acti$e
personality 'correcte! r C -2D/*, an! ,enerali=e! sel%-e%%icacy 'correcte! rC-25D*, while stress
tolerance was consistently relate! to business creation 'correcte! r C -4/5*- Thus, %or so)e
traits, we %oun! !irect relationships with speci%ic entrepreneurial beha$iors that were not
)o!erate! by other $ariables-
4D
Post-Joc Tests
Althou,h we !i! not ha$e any speci%ic hypotheses, we per%or)e! post-hoc analyses on
business creation an! success- <e !i! this because %uture research )i,ht be intereste! in the
!i%%erential pre!iction o% these criteria in the entrepreneurship literature- Table 0 !isplays that
the o$erall correlations between personality traits an! business creation an! between
personality traits an! success were o% si)ilar si=e '= C /,5., ns-*- A!!itionally e%%ect si=es o%
type o% entrepreneurial beha$ior 'business creation an! success* !i! not !i%%er %or nee! %or
achie$e)ent, inno$ati$eness, ,enerali=e! sel%-e%%icacy, stress tolerance, nee! %or autono)y,
internal locus o% control, an! risk takin, 'Table 5*- These traits pre!icte! !i%%erent
entrepreneurial beha$iors in a si)ilar way-
<e also co)pare! the two cate,ories o% business success: Bey in%or)ant ratin,s an!
or,ani=ational per%or)ance )easures- Bey in%or)ant ratin,s inclu!e! )ainly ,lobal sel%-
ratin,s o% success, satis%action, an! e8ternal ratin,s 'e-,-, by the inter$iewer*- These )easures
share! sub@ecti$e assess)ent o% non-%inancial success )easures- Measures o% or,ani=ational
per%or)ance inclu!e! in%or)ation about %inancial outco)es, such as accountant base!
)easures, an! ,rowth- These sub-!i)ensions partially o$erlap, both theoretically an!
statistically 'c%-, o)bs, rook K "hook, 2//.*- Our post hoc analyses re$eale! that key
in%or)ant ratin,s o% success pro!uce! hi,her e%%ect si=es than )easures o% or,ani=ational
success- The !i%%erence in the si=e o% correlations was si,ni%icant %or ,enerali=e! sel%-e%%icacy
'=C0,62, pR-/4* an! stress tolerance '= C 0,62, p R -/4*-
"ince our stu!y inclu!e! both publishe! an! unpublishe! !ata, we per%or)e! post-hoc
analyses to test whether publication bias ha! an i)pact on the propose! relationships- Results
in!icate! that publication bias ha! an i)pact on the hypothesi=e! relationships with business
creation- Peer-re$iewe! publications 'rw C -452, ( C 41,/02, B C ..* reporte! s)aller e%%ect
si=es than stu!ies not publishe! in peer-re$iewe! @ournals 'rw C -25., ( C 2,6/0, B C D* %or
46
personality !i%%erences between owners an! other populations '= C 2,64, pR-/4*- The e%%ect
si=es o% the relationship between personality traits an! success were not !i%%erent %or peer-
re$iewe! stu!ies 'rw C -450, ( C .,952, B C 0D* as co)pare! to other publications 'rw C -41D,
( C 4,904, B C 4DM = C /,1/, ns*-
;G"#""GO(
Al!rich '4999, p-1D* ar,ue! that research on personality traits see)e! to ha$e reache!
an e)pirical !ea! en! because the correlations between personality traits an! entrepreneurial
beha$ior were too s)all to )atter- Others concurre! with hi) on this $er!ict 'Brockhaus K
Jorwit= 496.M &artner, 4969M Low K MacMillan, 4966* O all o% these conclusions were base!
on narrati$e re$iews- Our )eta-analysis paints a !i%%erent picture o% the relationships between
personality traits an! entrepreneurial beha$ior: 7irst, we %oun! that business owners’
personality traits were positi$ely relate! to business creation an! business success
'Jypothesis 4* with correcte! rTs o% -49/ an! -49. , respecti$ely- <hile the si=e o% these
relationships is only )o!erate 'ohen, 49DD*, it is about the sa)e si=e as the correlation
between personality an! per%or)ance in ,eneral 'Barrick K Mount, 4994* an! the correlation
between personality traits an! both lea!ership e)er,ence an! lea!ership e%%ecti$eness '?u!,e,
Bono, Glies, K &erhar!t, 2//2*- Thus, entrepreneurship research nee!s to take personality as
seriously as research on e)ployees’ personality has !one-
Once we !i%%erentiate! between traits that are )atche! to the task o% entrepreneurship
an! traits not )atche! to the task o% entrepreneurship, we %oun! hi,her correlations %or
personality traits )atche! to entrepreneurship than %or traits not )atche! to the task o%
entrepreneurship 'Jypothesis 2*- Gn a!!ition, the correlation between a particular personality
trait an! entrepreneurial beha$ior can be as hi,h as e-,-, r C -0D6 ',enerali=e! sel%-e%%icacy
with business creation* an! rC-0/5 'nee! %or achie$e)ent with success* - this see)s to us to
49
be a clear $er!ict a,ainst the ,eneral conclusion that personality traits are not i)portant in
entrepreneurship research-
Gt )ay be use%ul to co)pare our results with the stu!y by Lhao an! "eibert '2//1* as
our stu!y replicates their %in!in,s on business creation an! e8ten!s the brea!th o% co$era,e by
inclu!in, speci%ic traits an! other outco)e $ariables, such as business success 'please note
that Lhao an! "eibert '2//1* use ! instea! o% r O ! nee!s to be rou,hly !i$i!e! by two to ,et
at the eHui$alent si=e o% the correlations r, c%- Junter an! "ch)i!t, 2//5*- "i)ilar to Lhao an!
"eibert '2//1*, our )eta-analysis also %in!s that personality is relate! to business creation
'an! our results are si)ilar in si=e with a correlation o% -49/ which is rou,hly eHui$alent to
the ! o% -5.*- More i)portantly, we %in! that those traits that are )atche! to the tasks o%
entrepreneurs showe! si,ni%icantly hi,her relationships than those that are not- 7or e8a)ple,
nee! %or achie$e)ent show relati$ely hi,h correlations, as shown by other )eta-analyses as
well 'ollins et al, 2//5M Lhao K "eibert, 2//1*- "ince speci%ic personality traits ha$e hi,h
$ali!ity, speci%ic personality traits can a!! to the pre!iction o% entrepreneurial beha$ior
'Paunonen K Ashton, 2//4*-
(ee! %or achie$e)ent an! risk takin, showe! si)ilar e%%ect si=es as those %oun! in the
pre$ious )eta-analyses on these two traits o% entrepreneurs 'ollins et al-, 2//5M "tewart K
Roth, 2//4M "tewart K Roth 2//5aM "tewart K Roth, 2//5b*- "ince our approach enable! us
to stu!y se$eral traits, we %oun! a!!itional traits that are i)portant pre!ictors o%
entrepreneurial beha$ior: Gnno$ati$eness, proacti$e personality, ,enerali=e! sel%-e%%icacy,
stress tolerance, nee! %or autono)y, an! internal locus o% control were relate! to
entrepreneurial beha$ior-
Gnterestin,ly, two traits that ha$e been stu!ie! relati$ely %reHuently in
entrepreneurship research O internal locus o% control an! risk takin, O were not co!e! to be
well )atche! to the tasks o% entrepreneurs by the e8perts in our e8pert sur$ey- Gnternal locus
o% control )i,ht not only be i)portant %or entrepreneurs but also %or other occupations such
2/
as )ana,ers or politicians- "i)ilarly, runnin, a business with a risky strate,y )ay be ,oo!
%or Huick success but also %or early %ailure- Our )eta-analysis showe!, in!ee!, that the e%%ect
si=es o% entrepreneurial risk takin, an! internal locus o% control were relati$ely s)all
'correcte! %ro) r C -/04 to -4/0 %or risk takin,, an! %ro) r C -/42 to -466 %or internal locus o%
control*-
<hile, pre$ious )eta-analyses %ocuse! only on !i%%erences between entrepreneurs an!
non-entrepreneurs 'with the e8ception o% ollins et al-, 2//5*, our stu!y !esi,n enable! us to
test whether or not traits are !i%%erentially relate! to !i%%erent types o% entrepreneurial
beha$iors: Business creation an! business success*- "o)e authors ar,ue! that personality
traits a%%ect the !ecision to start an enterprise )ore stron,ly than subseHuent business success,
because the i)pact o% the in!i$i!ual business owner !ecreases with increasin, si=e o% the
enterprise 'Be,ley K Boy!, 496DM 7rese, +an &el!eren, K O)bach, 2///*- Jowe$er, our
results as well as the )eta-analysis by ollins et al '2//5* challen,e! this proposition- Traits,
such as nee! %or achie$e)ent an! ,enerali=e! sel%-e%%icacy were $ali! pre!ictors o% both
business creation an! business success in the sa)e way-
Theoretical i)plications
Our results in!icate that a %ew care%ully selecte! personality traits can pre!ict well
entrepreneurial beha$ior- <hile there is e$i!ence that the co))on $ariance o% traits
contribute to entrepreneurial beha$ior 'Lhao K "eibert, 2//1*, our results su,,est that traits
)atche! to the task o% entrepreneurs pro!uce speci%ic $ariance that contribute to the
pre!iction o% entrepreneurial beha$ior- Gn!ee!, the traits that )atche! to entrepreneurial tasks,
such as ,enerali=e! sel%-e%%icacy, proacti$e personality, inno$ati$eness, an! achie$e)ent
)oti$es are the %actors )ost stron,ly relate! to entrepreneurial beha$ior- "ince these )atche!
traits belon, to !i%%erent bi,-%i$e %actors, they share little co))on $ariance an!, there%ore,
nee! to be e8ploite! separately- #n%ortunately, there are a nu)ber o% i)portant
24
entrepreneurship-relate! personality %actors that scholars o% entrepreneurship ha$e only
starte! to be intereste! in, but that ha$e not been a!!resse! in enou,h stu!ies to be inclu!e!
into a )eta-analysis- Our e8pert sur$ey re$eale! that so)e traits, such as passion %or work
an! tenacity 'Bau) K Locke, 2//5*, )i,ht be i)portant %or runnin, a businessM they were not
stu!ie! %reHuently enou,h to be inclu!e! into a )eta-analysis- Other e8a)ples are co,niti$e
an! perceptual processes 'Baron, 2//5*, such as co,niti$e alertness 'Busenit=, 4991M Bir=ner,
499D*, an! practical intelli,ence '"ternber,, 2//5*- There%ore, e8plorin, a!!itional task
)atche! traits )ay be a %ruit%ul a$enue %or %uture research-
Beyon! the incre)ents in the beha$ioral pre!iction, the use o% such )atche! traits can
lea! to i)portant a!$ances in the e8planation o% entrepreneurial beha$ior, because it is
possible that a sin,le trait can ha$e !i%%erential relationships with !i%%erent types o%
entrepreneurial beha$iors- 7or e8a)ple, while opportunity reco,nition !epen!s on co,niti$e
properties, the !ecision to e8ploit an opportunity in$ol$es traits, such as risk takin, an!
opti)is)- At the sa)e ti)e, such traits !o not necessarily increase the probability o% success
because they li)it realistic %orecasts o% the %uture '"hane K +enkata)aran, 2///*- Other
scholars ha$e calle! %or a process $iew o% entrepreneurship an! ar,ue! that the i)pact o%
speci%ic traits $ary throu,h the process 'Baron, 2//DM Baron K Mark)an, 2//5*- <hile the
e)pirical e$i!ence is preli)inary an! inconsistent at present, e8plorin, the role o% task
)atche! traits on !i%%erent entrepreneurial beha$iors shoul! be teste! in %uture research-
Moreo$er, %uture research nee!s to a!!ress processes an! con!itions that a%%ect the
relationship between personality traits an! entrepreneurial beha$ior- Our approach o%
)atchin, traits to the tasks o% entrepreneurs )ay lea! away %ro) a pure static orientation in
personality- <e a,ree with Mischel an! "ho!a '499.* that a ,oo! personality !escription
takes into account not @ust trait co)ponents but also )e!iational processes- 7or e8a)ple,
Jerron an! Robinson '4990* ar,ue! that )oti$ation is a )e!iator throu,h which personality
traits !eter)ine entrepreneurial beha$ior- Other processes )e!iatin, the e%%ects o% personality
22
traits inclu!e intentions, ,oals, an! sel%-re,ulatory processes 'Barrick, Mitchell, K "tewart,
2//0M Bau), 7rese, K Baron, 2//D, 7rese, et al-, 2///*- Gn entrepreneurship research, such
)e!iatin, processes are rarely stu!ie! an!, there%ore, there is too little literature a$ailable to
su))ari=e )e!iatin, processes in a )eta-analysis- E8ceptions are Bau) an! Locke '2//5*
who i!enti%ie! situation-speci%ic )oti$ation ',oal settin,, speci%ic sel%-e%%icacy* as a )e!iator
in the relationship between personality traits an! business success or 7rese, Brauss, Beith,
Escher, &rabarkiewic=, Lunen,, Jeers, #n,er an! 7rie!rich '2//D*, who use! acti$e plannin,
as )e!iator %or personality-success relationships in s)all-scale enterprises- "i)ilarly, tests on
co,niti$e processes an! heuristics are in our $iew a use%ul approach to stu!yin, the
relationship between personality traits an! success 'e-,-, Baron, 2//5M Busenit=, 4991M Palich,
K Bab,y, 499.*- 7or e8a)ple, risk-takin, propensity )i,ht lea! to o$eropti)istic heuristics
an!, as a conseHuence, to the !ecision to start a business $enture-
7uture research shoul! a!!ress the i)pact o% situational con!itions in the sense o%
personality 8 situation interactions 'Ma,nusson K En!ler, 49DD*- Personality traits can a%%ect
beha$ior only i% situations are rele$ant an! not constraine! to allow the e8pression o%
in!i$i!ual !i%%erences 'Mischel, 4916*- Thus, potential )o!erators are en$iron)ental
constraints ';ess K Bear!, 4965M Jerron K Robinson, 4990*, such as the econo)ic situation
at the ti)e o% stu!y, the !e)an!s o% the speci%ic in!ustry, or the sta,e in the business li%e
cycle 'Baron, 2//D*- #n%a$orable en$iron)ents 'e-,-, !ecreasin, !e)an!s, hi,h co)petition*
)ay constrain the e8pression o% in!i$i!ual !i%%erences- 7a$orable en$iron)ents 'e-,-, ,rowin,
)arkets an! !e)an!s* )ay allow the e8pression o% in!i$i!ual traits, %or e8a)ple, owners
with a hi,h nee! %or achie$e)ent )ay be able to pursue )ore opportunities than owners with
a low nee! %or achie$e)ent- "i=e o% business is another %actor that )i,ht also )o!erate the
e%%ects o% personality traits: Gn $ery s)all co)panies the owner can !eter)ine !ecisions,
,oals, an! co)pany culture '$an &el!eren, 7rese K Thurik, 2//4* an! in lar,er businesses,
the in%luence o% the business owner !ecreases an!, there%ore, or,ani=ation-le$el
20
entrepreneurship beco)es )ore i)portant than the in!i$i!ual traits o% the business owner-
#n%ortunately, there is lack o% research an! theory on the rele$ant conte8t con!itions as
)o!erators both in work an! or,ani=ational psycholo,y 'Barrick, et al-, 2//0* an! in
entrepreneurship research- Jowe$er, i!enti%yin, )o!erators is all the )ore i)portant as we
calle! %or the use o% task )atche! traits an!, as a conseHuence, we linke! personality to the
situation o% entrepreneurship-
Practice i)plications
Our %in!in,s su,,est that practitioners )ay consi!er task-speci%ic personality traits as
criteria %or !ecision )akin,- The e%%ect si=es are hi,h enou,h to pro$i!e practical utility that
)ay accu)ulate o$er ti)e 'ollins et al- 2//5*- To illustrate this point consi!er the %act that
the e%%ect si=es %or the task-relate! traits are as hi,h as the e%%ect si=es %or the %ollowin,
)e!ical !ia,nostics: on$entional 8-rays an! tooth ca$ities 'r C -01* or car!iac tests an!
pre!iction o% !eath or )yocar!ial in%arct within one week o% $ascular sur,ery 'r C -2/* 'Meyer
et al-, 2//4*- These correlations are si=eable enou,h to !raw practical conclusions in )e!icine
an! they shoul! be consi!ere! si=eable enou,h to in%luence practice in entrepreneurship- 7or
e8a)ple, people intereste! in startin, a business )ay e$aluate their traits an! use this
in%or)ation to support their career choice an! to )atch the)sel$es to the task o% runnin, a
business or to !eci!e on partners who co)pensate %or their weaknesses- "i)ilarly,
,o$ern)ent a,encies )ay use task-speci%ic traits to select potential entrepreneurs )ore
success%ully- 7or e8a)ple, in 4995 the &er)an &o$ern)ent ai)e! to support
entrepreneurship by intro!ucin, the so calle! Gch-A&- One o% the )ost i)portant criteria %or
atten!in, the pro,ra) was a %or)al re,istration o% une)ploy)ent- Our results woul! su,,est
to use, at least a!!itionally, e-,-, achie$e)ent )oti$ation an! inno$ati$eness as criteria %or
atten!in, the pro,ra)- Moreo$er, it woul! be interestin, to research what a)ount o% $ariance
o% the task )atche! traits can be chan,e! throu,h trainin,- &enerali=e! sel%-e%%icacy can be
25
increase! by trainin, 'E!en K A$ira), 4990*- Jow )uch !oes chan,in, personal initiati$e
lea! to chan,es in proacti$e personality '7rese, &laub, &ra)ber,, Jass, 7rie!rich, K
"olo)on 2//D*V 7inally, banks or $enture capitalists )ay consi!er task-)atche! traits %or
,ui!in, in$est)ent !ecisions-
Meta-analytical e$i!ence )ay not only help to i!enti%y pre!ictors that can ,ui!e the
!ecisions o% practitioners but also pro$i!e in%or)ation about the i)portance o% a particular
pre!ictor- 7or e8a)ple, nee! %or achie$e)ent pro!uces hi,her e%%ect si=es than risk takin,
an!, there%ore, shoul! recei$e a hi,her wei,ht in the !ecision )akin, process- Jowe$er, at the
sa)e ti)e it is i)portant to consi!er task speci%ic traits as only one selection criteria- &i$en
the lar,e bo!y o% e)pirical %in!in,s su,,estin, that %actors other than traits o% business
owners a%%ect entrepreneurial beha$ior, $ali! selection criteria )ust inclu!e other in!i$i!ual
!i%%erences $ariables as well as non-personality $ariables, such as strate,ies, co,niti$e ability,
an! en$iron)ent, which are a!!itional pre!ictors o% success 'a)pbell, Mcloy, Oppler, K
"a,er, 4990*-
Li)itations
Our )eta-analysis is base! on cross-sectional correlations an!, there%ore, we cannot rule out
alternati$e e8planations- 7irst, thir! $ariables )ay pro!uce spurious correlations, %or instance,
co,niti$e ability )ay contribute to a hi,her !e,ree o% nee! %or achie$e)ent an! thus the
correlation o% nee! %or achie$e)ent an! business creation )ay be !ue to )ore hi,hly
intelli,ent people startin, )ore %ir)s- "econ!, )ost stu!ies !o not allow to !raw stron,
conclusions re,ar!in, the causal path o% e%%ects- There is e$i!ence %or a ,enetic co)ponent in
)any personality $ariables '?an,, Li$esley, K +ernon, 4991* an! a hi,h test-retest stability
across a!ult li%e 'Roberts K ;e+eccio, 2///*, which su,,ests that personality traits probably
a%%ect subseHuent entrepreneurial beha$ior- Jowe$er, not all o% personality is ,enetically
!eter)ine! an! there is so)e part o% the $ariance o% personality traits that can chan,e because
2.
o% success as well- Thus, we cannot rule out re$erse causality: "tartin, a business success%ully
)ay lea! to the chan,es in personality traits 'e-,-, business success )ay increase
entrepreneurs’ ,enerali=e! sel%-e%%icacy*- Entrepreneurship scholars nee! to e)ploy )ore
lon,itu!inal stu!ies to !eter)ine the !irection o% causation e)pirically- 7uture stu!ies shoul!
also look into the issue o% the intercorrelations between the $arious personality %actors an!
e8a)ine an e8plicit pre!icti$e re,ression )o!el that inclu!es se$eral task-)atche!
personality pre!ictors-
A %urther li)itation is the %act that )any stu!ies inclu!e! in the )eta-analysis are
biase! towar!s success%ul enterprises: "tu!ies that co)pare! entrepreneurs with other
populations usually consiste! o% sa)ples o% entrepreneurs that sur$i$e! until the ti)e o% !ata
collection an!, thus, co)pare! Esuccess%ulF entrepreneurs with other populations- Moreo$er,
stu!ies analy=in, relationships between personality traits an! success usually !o not pro$i!e
!ata about businesses that %aile!- Jowe$er, this bias works a,ainst the propose! hypotheses
because there is re!uce! $ariance in the in!epen!ent $ariable- 7or e8a)ple, i% nee! %or
autono)y )akes an in!i$i!ual )ore likely to start up a business, the $ariance in nee! %or
autono)y woul! be re!uce! when pre!ictin, business success- +ariance restriction woul!
result in s)aller e%%ect si=es 'Junter K "ch)i!t, 2//5*- There%ore, this li)itation contributes
to a conser$ati$e esti)ate o% the relationship between personality traits an! entrepreneurial
beha$ior-
Our )eta-analysis atte)pte! to link personality traits to the criterion entrepreneurial
beha$ior- 7or this purpose, we aske! e8pert @u!,es to rate personality traits as to the )atch to
entrepreneurship- This approach has stren,ths but also weaknesses- The e8perts use! to
establish our %ra)ework )ay ha$e been biase!- 7or e8a)ple, the e8perts )ay ha$e known the
e)pirical literature an! )ay ha$e @u!,e! traits as i)portant %or entrepreneurship accor!in,ly-
<e su,,est that %uture research shoul! use a sophisticate! task analysis to )atch traits to
entrepreneurial beha$ior 'c%- Mark)an, 2//D*- 7or e8a)ple, e8tra$ersion has been shown to
21
be i)portant %or success in salespeople but not in other occupation '+inchur et al-, 4996*- Gn a
si)ilar way, the tasks o% the entrepreneurs coul! be )atche! to pre!ictors-
Another concern relates to the issue o% a,,re,ation- <e a,,re,ate! !ata on success
an! presente! o$erall e%%ect si=es base! on these a,,re,ations- <hile we share such an
approach with narrati$e re$iews, )eta-analysis pro$i!es so)e use%ul tools to test the issue o%
a,,re,ation- 7or instance, we were able to show that our o$erall results are $ali! %or !i%%erent
co)parison ,roups ')ana,ers $s- EothersF*- Jowe$er, our post-hoc analyses re$eale! that key
in%or)ant ratin,s pro!uce! hi,her e%%ect si=es than )easures o% or,ani=ational per%or)ance-
7uture stu!ies on personality nee! to inclu!e !i%%erent )easures o% success-
7inally, we use! a broa! !e%inition o% entrepreneurship as ownership an! acti$e
)ana,e)ent o% business $entures '"tewart K Roth, 2//4*- This !e%inition is %reHuently use!
althou,h so)e scholars !e%ine! entrepreneurship )ore narrowly '&artner, 496.M arlan!,
Joy, Boulton, K arlan!, 4965*- <hile there were not enou,h stu!ies in our )eta-analysis to
tackle this Huestion, !e%initional issues can, in principle, be %ruit%ully analy=e! within the
)eta-analytic %ra)ework-
onclusion
The i)portance o% consi!erin, the personality traits o% business owners %or beco)in,
success%ul business owners has been shown in this stu!y- The relationships are o% s)all an!
)o!erate si=e, an! there is e$i!ence that %uture stu!ies shoul! search %or )o!erators- <e
su,,est to !e$elop a %uller contin,ency theory o% owners’ personality traits 'alon, the lines o%
situation 8 traits interactions, c%- Ma,nussen K En!ler, 49DD*- Jowe$er, so)e relationships
are Huite lar,e 'e-,-, between ,enerali=e! sel%-e%%icacy an! success*- There%ore, )o!els o%
entrepreneurial success shoul! inclu!e owners’ personality traits as supple)ental $ariables-
Otherwise, these )o!els will be )isspeci%ie!- Gn other wor!s, entrepreneurship research
2D
cannot !e$elop a consistent theory about entrepreneurship i% it !oes not take personality
$ariables into account as well-
26
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W4 Mark)an, &- ;-, Baron, R- A-, K Balkin, ;- B- '2//0*- The role o% re,ret%ul thinkin,,
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09
"ournal of Personality and Social Psychology, 4'5*, 069-092-
W2 Mclellan!, ;- -, K <inter, ;- &- '49D4*- ,otivating economic achievement- (ew Iork:
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W2 Miner, ?- B-, ")ith, (- R-, Braker, ?- "- '4995*- Role o% entrepreneurial task orientation in
the ,rowth o% technolo,ically inno$ati$e %ir)s: Gnterpretations %ro) %ollow-up !ata-
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#ni$ersity o% A)ster!a): BLG-
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W2 Rie%, "- '2//2*- 2ormalization of small 5usinesses in #frica$ # psychological approach-
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50
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entrepreneurship: A co)parison o% entrepreneurs, s)all business owners, an!
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"tewart, <- J-, K Roth, P- L- '2//4*- Risk propensity !i%%erences between entrepreneurs an!
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55
"tewart, <- J-, K Roth, P- L- '2//5a*- ;ata-Huality a%%ects )eta-analytic conclusions: A
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"ournal of #pplied Psychology, /*'4*, 45-24-
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W4 Tkache$, A-, K Bol$erei!, L- '4999*- "el%-e)ploy)ent intentions a)on, Russian stu!ents-
3ntrepreneurship and 1egional Development-, 44'0*, 219-26/-
W4 Tucker GGG, G- B- '4966*- Entrepreneurs an! public-sector e)ployees: The role o%
achie$e)ent )oti$ation an! risk in occupational choice- "ournal of 3conomic
3ducation, 9'0*, 2.9-216-
W2 Tupina)ba, A- - R- '4999*- Der Cusammenhang von PersDnlichkeitseigenschaften,
Strategien und 3rfolg- Ja)bur,: ;r- Bo$ac-
W4 #tsch, A-, Rauch, A-, Roth%u[, R-, K 7rese, M- '4999*- <ho beco)es a s)all scale
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5D
Table 4- Traits stu!ie! in articles i!enti%ie!
(ee! %or achie$e)ent 7le8ibility
Gnternal locus o% control Protestant work ethic belie%s
Risk-takin, propensity Opti)is)
Gnno$ati$eness Ri,i!ity
(ee! %or autono)y "el%-con%i!ence
"tress tolerance pro-acti$e personality
"el%-e%%icacy "el%-estee)
(ee! %or !o)inance &oal orientation
Tolerance %or a)bi,uity Tenacity
"obriety Ji,her or!er nee! stren,th
Type-A beha$ior reati$ity
Practicality Enthusias)
Openness to e8perience (ee! %or a%%iliation
E8tra$ersion "kepticis)
E)otional stability "el%-reliance
onscientiousness ;o,)atis)
;elay o% ,rati%ication G)pulsi$eness
;iscipline En!urance
onser$atis) on%or)ity
(euroticis) 7uture orientation
E8pe!ience A,,ressi$eness
7orthri,htness Ji,her or!er nee! stren,th
"hyness Passion %or work
Tou,h-)in!e!ness (or) orientation
Trustworthy Ori,inality
Ju)ility Bene$olence
56
Table 2- Results o% the e8pert co!in,: Traits )atche! to entrepreneurship an! traits not
)atche! to entrepreneurship
Matche! Mean Gnter-rater
reliability
'rw,*
(ot )atche! Mean Gnter-rater
reliability
'rw,*
"el%-e%%icacy 5,1 -D1 Opti)is) 0,6 -19
Pro-acti$e
personality
5,D -66 E8tra$ersion 0,4 -D0
Tenacity 5,5 -6D onscientiousness 0,D -66
(ee! %or
achie$e)ent
5,. -D. Ri,i!ity 4,9 -D0
"tress-
tolerance
5,2 -6/ reati$ity 0,. -D.
&oal
orientation
5,2 -6/ "el%-reliance 0,D -DD
(ee! %or
Autono)y
5,0 -66 ;o,)atis) 4,. -D.
Gnno$ati$eness 5,0 -DD onser$atis) 4,0 -66
En!urance 5,4 -D0 7orthri,htness 0,2 -6/
7le8ibility 5,2 -94 "hyness 4,/ 4
Passion %or
work
5,1 -6D (or) orientation 4,9 -D0
on%or)ity 4,. -D.
59
Table 0- Results %or relationships between traits an! entrepreneurial beha$ior
(ote- B C nu)ber o% stu!ies- ( C o$erall (- rw C sa)ple wei,hte! )ean correlation- "o C obser$e! $ariance, "e C $ariance !ue to sa)plin, error, "p C resi!ual $ariance-
orrecte! r C correcte! %or low reliabilities- W p R -/.- WW p R -/4-
4
Traits inclu!e! here are !isplaye! in Table 2, olu)n 4-
2
Traits inclu!e! here are !isplaye! in Table 2,
olu)n 5 -
B ( rw "o "e "p U +ariance !ue to
sa)plin, error
orrecte! r 9.U on%i!ence
inter$al
si,ni%icance test o%
)o!erators
All personality traits
with business creation
12 4660. -414 -/202 -//04 -/499 40,.4 -49/ -420 to -499 /,5.
All personality traits
with success
.5 D61. -459 -/2D/ -//11 -/2/2 25,5. -49. -4/. to -490
Mo!erator analyses
Traits )atche! to task
with business creation
4
5D 4026/ -240 -/241 -//02 -/46/ 4.,/2 -25D -4D4 to -2.. 2,60WW
Traits not )atche! to
task with business
creation
2
2/ 09D. -4/5 -/2/5 -//./ -/4.5 25,0/ -425 -/54 to -411
Traits )atche! to task
with business success
4
52 .1/D -206 -/0/1 -//1D -/209 24-90 -2./ -46. to -294 .,0DWW
Traits not )atche! to
task with success
2
40 2DDD -/2D -/4/1 -//5D -//.9 55,5. -/26 --/29 to -/60
./
Table 5- Relationships between particular personality traits an! !i%%erent types o%
entrepreneurial beha$ior
(ote- B C nu)ber o% stu!ies- ( C o$erall (- rw C sa)ple si=e wei,hte! )ean correlation- "o C obser$e!
$ariance, "e C sa)plin, error $ariance, "p C resi!ual $ariance- orrecte! r C correcte! %or reliabilities- W p R -/.
'two-taile!*- WW p R -/4 'two-taile!*-
4
!i%%erence in rw between business creation an! success-
Personality characteristic B ( Rw "o "e "p orrecte! r U +ariance
!ue to
sa)plin,
error
9.U
on%i!ence
inter$al
"i,- test
Need for achievement
with
Business creation 29 619
6
-466 -/4/6 -//04 -//.D -249 26,95 -4./ to -221 =
4
C4,41
"uccess 04 544
.
-202 -/544 -//16 -/006 -0/5 41,.2 -414 to -0/0
Innovativeness with
Business creation 4. 512
/
-491 -/49D -//0/ -/415 -20. 41,5. -42. to -21D =
4
C/,4.
"uccess D 6// -2/0 -//.2 -//64 -//// -2D0 4.D,20 -4./ to -2.1
Proactive personality
with
"uccess . 1D9 -2/4 -//12 -//16 -//// -2D/ 44/,/9 -425 to -2D6
Generalized self-
efficacy with
Business creation 6 22.
/
-00. -/0DD -//26 -/05D -0D6 D,55 -2/4 to -5D/ =
4
C4,D9
"uccess 44 400
4
-2/. -/4/4 -//DD -//25 -25D D.,51 -451 to -21.
Stress tolerance with
Business creation 1 402
.
-/9/ -///5 -//5. -//// -4/5 4/05,52 -/D0 to -4/1 =
4
C4,D4
"uccess 44 426
2
-4.D -/414 -//62 -//D6 -496 .4,46 -/64 to -204
Need for Autonomy
with
Business creation 44 52.
1
-2.2 -/251 -//20 -/220 -042 9,25 -4.9 to -055 =
4
C4,D/
"uccess 6 650 -421 -/212 -//90 -/416 -415 0.,52 -/40 to -206
Locus of control with
Business creation 25 .15
6
-4.D -/499 -//54 -/4.6 -466 2/,0D -4// to -240 =
4
C4,16
"uccess 20 09.
9
-/96 -//90 -//.D -//01 -405 14,50 -/.9 to -406
Risk taking with
Business creation 46 661
0
-/61 -/444 -//2/ -//94 -4/2 46,/1 -/0D to -40. =
4
C /,41
"uccess 40 4D5
5
-/D9 -/4D2 -//D5 -//9D -4/0 50,4D -//6 to -4.
.4
doc_942276245.pdf