What is the Paper About?
This paper explores whether there is a difference between the personality traits of social entrepreneurs, who set up an enterprise to address issues of public concern, compared to traditional entrepreneurs, who set up a business to make a profit. The well established General Enterprising Tendency (GET) test, which measures the ‘ideal entrepreneurial personality’, by considering the entrepreneurs need for achievement, need for autonomy/independence, creative/innovative tendencies, calculated/moderate risk taking, and drive and determination, was used to measure and compare the traits of traditional and social entrepreneurs.
Why is it Important?
The research found that social entrepreneurs exhibited statistically significantly higher levels of creativity, risk taking, and need for autonomy than traditional entrepreneurs. This finding provides evidence that traditional and social entrepreneurs differ and it suggests that different entrepreneurial traits and skill sets might be required by social entrepreneurs.
Robin Bell 