Apple
co-founder and longtime leader Steve Jobs led the introduction of
many innovations in the computer, smartphone and digital music
industry
Stanford
University economist Edward Lazear found in a 2005 study that
variety in education and work experience was the most important trait that
distinguished entrepreneurs from non-entrepreneurs A 2013 study by Uschi
Backes-Gellner of the University of Zurich and Petra Moog of
the University of Siegen in Germany found that a diverse social
network was also important in distinguishing students that would go on to
become entrepreneurs.
Studies show that the psychological propensities for male and female entrepreneurs are more similar than different. Empirical studies suggest that female entrepreneurs possess strong negotiating skills and consensus-forming abilities. Asa Hansson, who looked at empirical evidence from Sweden, found that the probability of becoming self-employed decreases with age for women, but increases with age for men. She also found that marriage increased the probability of a person becoming an entrepreneur
Jesper
Sørensen wrote that significant influences on the decision to become an
entrepreneur are workplace peers and social composition. Sørensen discovered a
correlation between working with former entrepreneurs and how often these
individuals become entrepreneurs themselves, compared to those who did not work
with entrepreneurs. Social composition can influence entrepreneurialism in
peers by demonstrating the possibility for success, stimulating a "He can
do it, why can't I?" attitude. As Sørensen stated: "When you meet
others who have gone out on their own, it doesn't seem that crazy".
Entrepreneurs
may also be driven to entrepreneurship by past experiences. If they have faced
multiple work stoppages or have been unemployed in the past, the probability of
them becoming an entrepreneur increases Per Cattell's personality
framework, both personality traits and attitudes are thoroughly investigated by
psychologists. However, in case of entrepreneurship research these notions are
employed by academics too, but vaguely. According to Cattell, personality is a
system that is related to the environment and further adds that the system
seeks explanation to the complex transactions conducted by both—traits and
attitudes. This is because both of them bring about change and growth in a
person. Personality is that which informs what an individual will do when faced
with a given situation. A person's response is triggered by his/her personality
and the situation that is faced.
Innovative
entrepreneurs may be more likely to experience what psychologist Mihaly
Csikszentmihalyi calls "flow". "Flow" occurs when an
individual forgets about the outside world due to being thoroughly engaged in a
process or activity. Csikszentmihalyi suggested that breakthrough innovations
tend to occur at the hands of individuals in that state. Other research
has concluded that a strong internal motivation is a vital ingredient for
breakthrough innovation. Flow can be compared to Maria Montessori's
concept of normalization, a state that includes a child's capacity for joyful
and lengthy periods of intense concentration. Csikszentmihalyi
acknowledged that Montessori's prepared environment offers children
opportunities to achieve flow. Thus quality and type of early education
may influence entrepreneurial capability.
Research
on high-risk settings such as oil platforms, investment banking, medical
surgery, aircraft piloting and nuclear power plants has related distrust to
failure avoidance. When non-routine strategies are needed, distrusting
persons perform better while when routine strategies are needed trusting
persons perform better. This research was extended to entrepreneurial firms by
Gudmundsson and Lechner.] They argued that in
entrepreneurial firms the threat of failure is ever present resembling
non-routine situations in high-risk settings. They found that the firms of
distrusting entrepreneurs were more likely to survive than the firms of
optimistic or overconfident entrepreneurs. The reasons were that distrusting
entrepreneurs would emphasize failure avoidance through sensible task selection
and more analysis. Kets de Vries has pointed out that distrusting entrepreneurs
are more alert about their external environment. He concluded that
distrusting entrepreneurs are less likely to discount negative events and are more
likely to engage control mechanisms. Similarly, Gudmundsson and Lechner found
that distrust leads to higher precaution and therefore increases chances of
entrepreneurial firm survival.
Researchers
Schoon and Duckworth completed a study in 2012 that could potentially help
identify who may become an entrepreneur at an early age. They determined that
the best measures to identify a young entrepreneur are family and social
status, parental role modeling, entrepreneurial competencies at age 10,
academic attainment at age 10, generalized self-efficacy, social skills,
entrepreneurial intention and experience of unemployment
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