The Entrepreneurial Blueprint – Unravelling the Relationship of Personality Traits, Cognitive Strategies, and Entrepreneurial Behavior

Abstract

Despite its omnipresence in everyday life and economic importance, entrepreneurship remains largely disregarded in academic inquiries of cognitive and behavioral processes. This project seeks to provide a comprehensive yet concise inquiry into the different psychological facets that shape entrepreneurship. It offers valuable insights for educators, policymakers, investors, and entrepreneurs themselves, aiming to foster a more supportive and effective environment for entrepreneurial endeavors. It begins by outlining the implications of personality for entrepreneurship unravelling the convoluted literature on the predictive qualities of personality in entrepreneurship. It then shifts its focus towards the implications of Judgmental Decision Theory (JDM) for the field. After evaluating Daniel Kahneman’s System 1 and 2 theory and its practical implications for entrepreneurship, the project concludes by collecting empirical evidence for the distinct ways in which entrepreneurs think and make choices. Specifically, it tests the ability of entrepreneurs to successfully overcome intuitive choices in a Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT) and measuring their overconfidence (i.e., overestimation) compared to MBA candidates.