Title: Perceptions of entrepreneurial personality traits: evidence from Greece

Authors: Evangelos Tsoukatos

Addresses: Department of Finance and Insurance, Technological Educational Institute of Crete, P.O. Box 128, 72100, Agios Nikolaos, Greece

Abstract: The twin objective of this study was to expose perceived entrepreneurial personality traits and examine their interrelationships with the reported own personality traits of respondents. The study drew evidence from a population of business students in Greece and was undertaken under the lights of respondents' gender and culture. A quantitative survey methodology was adopted for the empirical part while the findings' implications were derived through theoretic triangulation. Support is offered to the notion of similarities across cultures in entrepreneurial personality characteristics on the grounds of common entrepreneurial challenges. Personality elements such as risk-taking propensity and ambiguity tolerance are not present in perceptions of entrepreneurial personality. Findings confirm that entrepreneurial personality perceptions of males and females do not differ but the idea of business in general and entrepreneurship in particular being a 'man's world' is strongly challenged. Students of both sexes appeared to have low entrepreneurial propensity and not identify themselves with perceived entrepreneurial personality. Entrepreneurial propensity was found to be culturally influenced.

Keywords: entrepreneurship; entrepreneurial personality; gender differences; Greece; perceived personality traits; culture; cultural differences; business students; risk-taking propensity; ambiguity tolerance.

DOI: 10.1504/WREMSD.2014.060390

World Review of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development, 2014 Vol.10 No.2/3, pp.179 - 196

Published online: 30 May 2014 *

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