Browsing by Author "Lönnrot, Susanna"

Objectives. Entrepreneurship is the future of work and the need for entrepreneurial skills is increasing with any type of work. But who can become an entrepreneur and does it require a certain kind of personality? The objective of this study was to increase the understanding about the role that personality has in entrepreneurial intention during adolescence. The study was conducted by analysing the differences in personality traits between 7th grade and high school 3rd grade students, examining how personality traits explain entrepreneurial intention and comparing different personality profiles based on entrepreneurial intention. There has been little research about entrepreneurial intentions among adolescence. Furthermore, the results from previous research have shown mixed results on the association between personality and entrepreneurial intentions, making the topic interesting. Methods. The data for this study were acquired as a longitudinal data from Mind the Gap -project that was funded by the Academy of Finland. The data were collected in 2014 (7th grade n=1310) and 2019 (high school 3rd grade n=751). Personality was measured using Big Five personality traits: neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, openness and conscientiousness. The paired t-test was used to analyze the differences in personality traits between 7th grade and high school 3rd grade students. The associations between personality traits and entrepreneurial intention were examined using regression analysis. Cluster analysis was used to form personality profiles and the differences between profiles based on entrepreneurial intention were analysed using one-way analysis of variance. Results and conclusions. There were no statistically significant differences in the personality traits between 7th grade and high school 3rd grade students. Openness was the only personality trait that explained entrepreneurial intention of 7th grade students. Neuroticism (inverted) and openness explained entrepreneurial intention of high school 3rd grade students. The effect size was low on both measurement points. The participants were classified into four profiles based on their personality traits: 1) Entrepreneurial, 2) Amicable, 3) Creative introvert, and 4) Reserved. Participants with Entrepreneurial profile reported more entrepreneurial intentions than participants with Amicable and Reserved. The findings suggest that even though personality was significantly associated with entrepreneurial intention, the role of personality was not major. This means that most of the variance of entrepreneurial intention can be explained with other variables. The results can be applied especially to entrepreneurial education in schools where adolescents can be encouraged to consider entrepreneurship regardless of their personality traits.