Entrepreneurial Personality and Small Business Management

The upside of narcissism as an influential personality trait: exploring the entrepreneurial behaviour of established entrepreneurs

“…Our findings confirm that it is not the only firm performance that is influenced by experience but also that the UET can be extended to include entrepreneurial behaviour, which is influenced by experience and specifically narcissistic traits. This finding, therefore, confirms the likelihood of the prevalence of dark triad characteristics, which include narcissism (Leonelli and Masciarelli, 2020), among established entrepreneurs due to the difficult and challenging experience of entrepreneurship (Hmieleski and Lerner, 2016;Kautonen et al, 2015).…”

“…The study provided further insights into the prevalence of narcissism being linked to specifically identified traits, and there is also scope for further research based on confirming narcissism being based on those traits identified in this study. There is also an important discussion related to the opportunity for further research, as there is likely a prevalence of other dark triad traits such as Machiavellianism and psychopathy (Leonelli and Masciarelli, 2020) among more experienced entrepreneurs, where there is an indication of a high probability that these traits have developed due to the harsh, uncertain and challenging experience of entrepreneurship (Hmieleski and Lerner, 2016;Kautonen et al, 2015). These authors suggest that the traits will likely increase in individuals as they progress to becoming established entrepreneurs.…”

“…Within the Big five traits, extraversion and agreeableness have been highlighted as the most significant predictors of entrepreneurial behaviour (Barrick and Mount, 1991;Brockhaus, 1982;Antoncic et al, 2015;Leutner et al, 2014). In a recent study, Leonelli and Masciarelli (2020) emphasize that when studying entrepreneurial personality traits, it is imperative to include both "bright" (e.g. extraversion and agreeableness) and "dark" (e.g.…”

Keep dreaming: how personality traits affects the recognition and exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities in the agritourism industry

“…Sustainability orientation is a moral cognition rooted in sustainable entrepreneurs that underlines their role as wealth generators by integrating sustainability into their firms' daily routines (Leonelli and Masciarelli, 2020; Soo Sung and Park, 2018; Wahga et al. , 2018).…”

“…In this paper, we consider personality traits as the way people behave and explain why people behave differently when in the same situation (Leonelli et al. , 2016; Leonelli and Masciarelli, 2020). We focus on three main personality traits that promote someone to choose sustainability: narcissism, locus of control and sustainability orientation.…”