Psychological and Environmental Factors Which Distinguish the Successful from the Unsuccessful Entrepreneur: A Longitudinal Study.

The influence of perceptions on potential entrepreneurs

“…These researchers expected entrepreneurs to exhibit a higher willingness to take risky actions compared to others. However, results have shown that risk propensity was very similar between entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs (Brockhaus 1980). It may be argued that this "traits perspective" failed to explain the role of risk in entrepreneurship because it did not consider the cognitive process.…”

“…The most important personality traits found by this literature were achievement motivation, need of independence, internal locus of control and moderate risk-taking propensity (McClelland 1961;Collins and Moore 1964;Brockhaus 1980;Jennings and Zeithaml 1983;Borland 1975). Some scholars even proposed a dark side of entrepreneurs, emphasizing their need for control, dissatisfaction, distrustful behavior or scapegoat feelings (Kets de Vries 1985).…”

Supportive government policies, locus of control and student’s entrepreneurial intensity: a study of India

“…Neider (1987) measured Locus of Control in women entrepreneurs and found them to be more internally oriented. Entrepreneurs with a successful venture show a significantly greater internal orientation of Locus of Control initially, than entrepreneurs in companies that had closed down; Brockhaus (1980). Individuals with a high level of perceived control (internals) have been associated with entrepreneurial behavior and a preference for innovative strategies (Boone et al, 1996;Brockhaus, 1975;Hansemark, 2003;Kets de Vries, 1977;Miller, 1983;Miller & Toulouse, 1986a, 1986bMiller et al, 1982;Mueller & Thomas, 2001).…”

Dimensions of Entrepreneurial Competencies of Agribusiness Managers in Niger Delta Region of Nigeria

“…However, the above definitions cannot discount the importance of the traits and characteristics of the entrepreneur from the perspective of their propensity to act and the influence of the social, cultural, psychological, political and economic contextual factors. For instance, such factors as the need for achievement (McClelland, 1965); risk taking propensity (Brockhaus, 1980); locus of control (Brockhaus, 1982); desire for personal control of business (Sexton and Bowman, 1983); opportunity seeking, risk taking and innovation, demand for efficiency and product quality, persistence in searching for suitable technology, commitment, information seeking to enhance production efficiency, goal setting, systematic planning and monitoring, persuasion and networking with trade groups and associations, support institutions and large-scale industries (McClelland, 1969) and United Nations Centre for Transnational Corporation (UNCTC,1988) have been identified and examined as possible traits or characteristics associated with entrepreneurial behaviour.…”