Purpose: We examine gender differences in personality traits of people with and without entrepreneurial intent to assess whether women who intend to become entrepreneurs exhibit particular tendencies that can be fostered. Design/Methodology/Approach: Participants completed an online battery of well-established questionnaires to cover a range of personality traits relevant to entrepreneurship and gender. Participants also answered items concerning intent to become an entrepreneur. A factor analysis of personality traits produced four factors (Esteem and Power, Ambition, Risk Propensity, and Communal Tendency, the latter reflecting Openness and Cooperation, without Hubris). We constructed four parallel regression models to examine how gender, entrepreneurial intent, and the interaction of gender with intent related to these four personality factor scores. Findings: Participants who endorsed a desire to become an entrepreneur reported higher Ambition. Women with entrepreneurial intentions endorsed higher levels of Communal Tendency than men with entrepreneurial intent. Those without entrepreneurial intent did not show gender differences in Communal Tendency. Implications: Current findings suggest that men and women who intend to become entrepreneurs share many traits, but women with entrepreneurial intent show unique elevations in communal tendencies. Thus, a worthwhile locus for intervention into the gender disparity in self-employment may be providing space for and acknowledgement of prosocial motivation and goals as one successful route to entrepreneurship. Originality/value: Given the underutilized economic potential of women entrepreneurs, there is a fundamental need for a rich array of research on factors that limit and promote women’s entry into entrepreneurship. Current findings indicate that personality may be one piece of this puzzle.

Psychiatric conditions and sub-threshold psychiatric temperaments may influence entrepreneurs' affect, cognition, energy, motivation, circadian rhythms, activity levels, self-concept, creativity, and interpersonal behaviors in ways that influence business outcomes. We used a self-report survey to examine the prevalence and co-occurrence of five psychiatric conditions among 242 entrepreneurs and 93 comparison participants. Mental health differences directly or indirectly affected 72% of the entrepreneurs in this sample, including those with a personal mental health history (49%) and family mental health history among the asymptomatic entrepreneurs (23%). Entrepreneurs reported experiencing more depression (30%), ADHD (29%), substance use (12%), and bipolar disorder (11%) than comparison participants. Furthermore, 32% of the entrepreneurs reported having two or more mental health conditions, while 18% reported having three or more mental health conditions. Asymptomatic entrepreneurs (having no mental health issues) with asymptomatic families constituted only 24% of the entrepreneur participants. Entrepreneurs' psychiatric issues can affect their functioning and that of their ventures. Therefore, integrating knowledge about psychiatric conditions with research on personality traits can broaden the understanding of how mental healthrelated traits, states, and family history can influence entrepreneurial outcomes. We discuss methodological limitations as well as implications of our findings for entrepreneurship research and practice.

Ambition could be one important component of creative success across the bipolar spectrum.

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