Becoming an entrepreneur - A question of personality structure?

Random samples (a) of 255 owners of small and medium sized businesses and (b) of 104 people interested in setting up a private business anonymously answered the 16-Personality-Adjective Scales (16PA). Owners also indicated how they perceived their past and expected future success as entrepreneurs. As predicted, owners who had personally set up their business (founders) were emotionally more stable and more independent (self-assertive) than owners who had taken over their business from parents, relatives, or by marriage. The personality characteristics of people interested in setting up their own business were similar to those of the founders. In addition, independent and emotionally stable business owners were more satisfied with their roles as entrepreneurs and with the success of their business, preferred internal attributions of the business outcome and were more inclined to expand their business. The percentage of women was higher among the heirs then among the founders of a private business. Differences between men and women were found in the attributions of success and failure. The main results of the study were confirmed by additional data from a convenience sample of 30 business owners and 51 employed managers. The observed personality differences are supposed to be rather the causes than the effects of entrepreneurship.