CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 412Entrepreneurship Studies and InfluencesFamily Business Performance and SuccessionMigration, Ethnicity, and Economy

Parental role models and the decision to become self-employed: The moderating effect of personality

Open access
Chlosta, Simone, Patzelt, Holger, Klein, Sabine B., Dormann, Christian·2012·Small Business Economics
DOI 10.1007/s11187-010-9270-y
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

This paper uses social learning theory to examine the influence of parental role models in entrepreneurial families. We distinguish between paternal and maternal role models and investigate how their influence on offsprings’ decision to become self-employed is moderated by personality, specifically the offsprings’ openness. We use data on 461 alumni from eight German universities. Our results show not only that the presence of a parental role model increases the likelihood that individuals become self-employed, but that the influence of role models also depends on the individual’s openness. We discuss the implications of our findings for research on entrepreneurial families, role models, and the psychology of the entrepreneur.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1007/s11187-010-9270-y

Cites

3 of 3 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 89

  1. Aidis, R., Welter, F., Smallbone, D., & Isakova, N. (2007). Female entrepreneurship in transition economies: The case Lithuania and Ukraine. Feminist Economics, 13(2), 157-183.
  2. Ajzen, I. (1987). Attitudes, traits, and actions: Dispositional prediction of behavior in personality and social psychol- ogy. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 20, pp. 1-63). New York: Academic.
  3. Bagozzi, R., Baumgartner, H., & Yi, Y. (1992). State vs. action orientation and the theory of reasoned action. Journal of Consumer Research, 18(4), 505-518.
  4. Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Con- ceptual, strategic and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51(6), 1173-1182.
  5. Baron, R. A., & Markman, G. D. (2005). Toward a process view of entrepreneurship: The changing relevance of individual-level variables across phases of new firm development. In M. A. Rahim, R. T. Golembiewski, & K. D. Mackenzie (Eds.), Current topics in management (Vol. 9, pp. 45-64). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.
  6. Baum, J. R., & Locke, E. A. (2004). The relation of entre- preneurial traits, skill, and motivation to subsequent venture growth. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89(4), 587-598.
  7. Beehr, T. A., Drexler, J. A., Jr., & Faulkner, S. (1997). Working in small family businesses: Empirical compari- sons to non-family businesses. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 18(3), 297-312.
  8. Bem, S. L. (1974). The measurement of psychological androgyny. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychol- ogy, 42(2), 155-162.
  9. Bird, B. J. (1993). Demographic approaches to entrepreneur- ship: The role of experience and background. In J. A. Katz & R. H. Brockhaus Sr. (Eds.), Advances in entrepre- neurship, firm emergence and growth (pp. 11-48). Greenwich: JAI.
  10. Birley, S. (1989). Female entrepreneurs: Are the really any different? Journal of Small Business Management, 27(1), 32-37.
  11. Brenner, O. C., Pringle, C. D., & Greenhaus, J. H. (1991). Perceived fulfillment of organizational employment ver- sus entrepreneurship: Work values and career intentions of business college graduates. Journal of Small Business Management, 29(3), 62-74.
  12. Brim, O. G. (1968). Adult socialization. In J. Clausen (Ed.), Socialization and society (pp. 183-226). Boston: Little Brown.
  13. Bru ¨derl, J., Preisendo ¨rfer, P., & Ziegler, R. (1992). Survival chances of newly founded business organizations. Amer- ican Sociological Review, 57(2), 227-242.
  14. Brush, C. G., Carter, N. M., Gatewood, E. J., Greene, P. G., & Hart, M. (Eds.). (2006). Growth-oriented women entre- preneurs and their businesses: A global perspective. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.
  15. Caprana, G. V., & Cervone, C. (2000). Personality: Determi- nants, dynamics, and potentials. New York: Cambridge University Press.
  16. Carr, J. C., & Sequeira, J. M. (2007). Prior family business exposure as intergenerational influence and entrepre- neurial intent: A theory of planned behavior approach. Journal of Business Research, 60(10), 1090-1098.
  17. Chell, E. (1985). The entrepreneurial personality: A few ghosts laid to rest? International Small Business Journal, 3(3), 43-54.
  18. Chen, C. C., Greene, P. G., & Crick, A. (1998). Does entrepre- neurial self-efficacy distinguish entrepreneurs from man- agers? Journal of Business Venturing, 13(4), 295-316.
  19. Chitsike, C. (2000). Culture as a barrier to rural women's entrepreneurship: Experience from Zimbabwe. Gender and Development, 8(1), 71-77.
  20. Cooper, A. C., & Gimeno-Gascon, F. J. (1992). Entrepreneurs, processes of founding, and new firm performance. In D. Sexton & J. Kasarda (Eds.), The state of art in entre- preneurship (pp. 301-340). Boston, MA: PWS Kent.
  21. Costa, P. T., Jr., & McCrae, R. R. (1997). Longitudinal sta- bility of adult personality. In R. Hogan, J. Johnson, & S. Briggs (Eds.), Handbook of personality psychology (pp. 269-290). San Diego: Academic.
  22. Crant, J. M. (1996). The proactive personality scale as a pre- dictor of entrepreneurial intentions. Journal of Small Business Management, 34(3), 42-49.
  23. Das, T. K., & Teng, S.-B. (2001). A risk perception model of alliance structuring. Journal of International Manage- ment, 7(1), 1-29.
  24. Davidsson, P., & Honig, B. (2003). The role of social and human capital among nascent entrepreneurs. Journal of Business Venturing, 18(3), 301-331.
  25. Davis, P. S., & Harveston, P. D. (1998). The influence of family on the family business succession process: A multi-generational perspective. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 22(3), 31-53.
  26. de Bruin, A., Brush, C. G., & Welter, F. (2007). Advancing a framework for coherent research on women's entrepreneur- ship. Entrepreneurship Theory Practice, 31(3), 323-339.
  27. De Witt, G., & Van Winden, F. A. A. M. (1989). An empirical analysis of self-employment in the Netherlands. Small Business Economics, 1(4), 263-272.
  28. Deaux, K., & Kite, M. (1993). Gender stereotypes. In F. L. Denmark & M. A. Paludi (Eds.), Psychology of women (pp. 107-139). Westport, CT: Greenwood.
  29. Douglas, E., & Shepherd, D. A. (2000). Entrepreneurship as a utility-maximizing response. Journal of Business Ventur- ing, 15(3), 231-251.
  30. Douglas, E., & Shepherd, D. A. (2002). Self-employment as a career choice: Attitudes, entrepreneurial intentions, and utility maximization. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 26(3), 81-90.
  31. Dumas, C. (1989). Understanding of father-daughter and father-son dyads in family-owned businesses. Family Business Review, 2(1), 31-46.
  32. Dumas, C. A. (1990). Preparing the new CEO: Managing the father-daughter succession process in family businesses. Family Business Review, 3(2), 169-181.
  33. Dunn, T., & Holtz-Eakin, D. (2000). Financial capital, human capital and the transition to self-employment: Evidence from intergenerational links. Journal of Labor Economics, 18(2), 282-305.
  34. Dyer, Jr., Gibb, W., & Handler, W. (1994). Entrepreneurship and family business: Exploring the connections. Entre- preneurship Theory and Practice, 19(1), 71-83.
  35. Eddleston, K. A., Veiga, J. F., & Powell, G. N. (2006). Explaining sex differences in managerial career prefer- ences: The role of gender self-schema. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(2), 437-445.
  36. Engle, D. E., Mah, J. J., & Sadri, G. (1997). An empirical comparison of entrepreneurs and employees: Implications of innovation. Creativity Research Journal, 10(1), 45-49.
  37. Gartner, W. B. (1988). ''Who is an entrepreneur?'' is the wrong question. American Journal of Small Businesses, 12(4), 11-32.
  38. Ghazali, A., Gosh, B. C., & Tay, R. S. T. (1995). The deter- minants of self-employment choice among university graduates in Singapore. International Journal of Man- agement, 12(1), 26-35.
  39. Holland, J. L. (1985). Making vocational choices. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
  40. Hoy, F., & Verser, T. G. (1994). Emerging business, emerging field: Entrepreneurship and the family firm. Entrepre- neurship Theory and Practice, 19(1), 9-23.
  41. Hunt, R. E., & Adams, D. C. (1998). Entrepreneurial behav- ioral profiles and company performance: A cross-cultural comparison. International Journal of Commerce and Management, 8(2), 33-49.
  42. Ibrahim, A. B., Soufani, K., & Lam, J. (2001). A study of succession in a family firm. Family Business Review, 14(3), 245-258.
  43. Kellermanns, F. W., & Eddleston, K. A. (2004). Feuding families: When conflict does a family firm good. Entre- preneurship Theory and Practice, 28(3), 209-228.
  44. Kepner, E. (1983). The family and the firm: A co-evolutionary perspective. Organizational Dynamics, 12(1), 57-70.
  45. Kets de Vries, M. F. R. (1977). The entrepreneurial personal- ity: A person at the crossroads. The Journal of Manage- ment Studies, 14(1), 34-57.
  46. Kets de Vries, M. F. R. (1993). The dynamics of family con- trolled firms: The good and bad news. Organizational dynamics, 21(3), 59-71.
  47. Kim, P., Aldrich, H. E., & Keister, L. A. (2006). Access (not) denied: The impact of financial, human, and cultural capital on entrepreneurial entry in the United States. Small Business Economics, 27(1), 5-22.
  48. Kimhi, A. (1997). Intergenerational succession in small family businesses: Borrowing contraints and optimal timing of succession. Small Business Economics, 9(4), 309-318.
  49. Konrad, A. M., Ritchie, J. E., Lieb, P., & Corrigall, E. (2000). Sex differences and similarities in job attitude preferences: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 126(4), 593-641.
  50. Korunka, C., Frank, H., Lueger, M., & Mugler, J. (2003). The entrepreneurial personality in the context of resources, environment, and the startup process-a configurational approach. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 28(1), 23-42.
  51. Krueger, N. F. Jr. (2000). The cognitive infrastructure of opportunity emergence. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 24(3), 9-27.
  52. Kuratko, D. F., & Hodgetts, R. M. (2001). Entrepreneurship, a contemporary approach (5th ed.). Florida: Hartcourt College Publishers.
  53. Landsberg, I. (1981). The succession conspiracy. Family Business Review, 1(2), 119-144.
  54. Le Breton-Miller, I., Miller, D., & Steier, L. P. (2004). Toward an integrative model of effective FOB succession. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 28(4), 305-328.
  55. Liebowitz, B. (1986). Resolving conflict in the family-owned business. Consultation, 5(3), 191-205.
  56. Lumpkin, T. G., & Dess, G. G. (1996). Clarifying the entre- preneurial orientation construct and linking it to perfor- mance. Academy of Management Review, 21(1), 135-172.
  57. Mancuso, J. R. (1974). What it takes to be an entrepreneur: A questionnaire approach. Journal of Small Business Man- agement, 12(4), 16-22.
  58. March, J. G., & Shapira, Z. (1987). Managerial perspectives on risk and risk-taking. Management Science, 33(11), 1404- 1418.
  59. Marshall, J. P., Sorenson, R., Brigham, K., Wieling, E., Reif- man, A., & Wampler, R. S. (2006). The paradox for the family firm CEO: Owner age relationship to succession- related processes and plans. Journal of Business Ventur- ing, 21(3), 348-368.
  60. Matthews, C. H., & Moser, S. B. (1996). A longitudinal investigation of the impact of family background and gender on interest in small firm ownership. Journal of Small Business Management, 34(2), 29-43.
  61. Menaghan, E. G., & Parcel, T. L. (1995). Social source of change in children's home environment: The effects of parental occupational experience and family conditions. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 57(1), 69-84.
  62. Morris, M. H., William, R. O., Allen, J. A., & Avila, R. A. (1997). Correlates of success in family business transi- tions. Journal of Business Venturing, 12(5), 381-401.
  63. Mueller, S. L. (2004). Gender gaps in potential for entrepre- neurship across countries and cultures. Journal of Devel- opmental Entrepreneurship, 9(3), 199-220.
  64. Mueller, P. (2006). Entrepreneurship in the region: Breeding ground for nascent entrepreneurs? Small Business Eco- nomics, 27(1), 41-58.
  65. Rauch, A., & Frese, A. (2000). Psychological approaches to entrepreneurial success: A general model and an overview of findings. In C. L. Cooper & I. T. Robertson (Eds.), International review of industrial and organizational psychology (pp. 100-135). Chichester Sussex: Wiley.
  66. Rauch, A., & Frese, M. (2007). Let's put the person back into entrepreneurship research: A meta-analysis on the rela- tionship between business owners' personality and busi- ness creation and success. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 16(4), 353-385.
  67. Rensink, R. A. (2000). Visual search for change: A probe into the nature of attentional processing. Visual Cognition, 7(1-3), 345-376.
  68. Roccas, S., Sagiv, L., Schwartz, S. H., & Knafo, A. (2002). The big five personality factors and personal values. Person- ality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28(6), 789-801.
  69. Rodriguez, S. N., Hildreth, G. J., & Mancuso, J. (1999). The dynamics of families in business: How therapists can help in ways consultants don't. Contemporary Family Therapy, 21(4), 453-468.
  70. Rosenthal, T. L., & Bandura, A. (1978). Psychological mod- elling: Theory and practice. In S. L. Garfield & A. E. Bergin (Eds.), Handbook of psychotherapy and behaviour change: An empirical analysis (pp. 621-658). New York: Wiley.
  71. Ruble, D. N., & Martin, C. L. (1998). Gender development. In W. Damon (Ed.), Handbook of child psychology (Vol. 3): Social, emotional, and personality development (pp. 933- 1016). New York: Wiley.
  72. Schenk, R. (1998). Beurteilung des Unternehmenserfolges. In M. Frese (Hrsg.) (Ed.), Erfolgreiche Unternehmensgru¨n- der. Psychologische Analysen und praktische Anleitung fu¨r Unternehmer in Ost-und Westdeutschland (pp. 59- 82). Go ¨ttingen: Verlag fu ¨r Angewandte Psychologie.
  73. Scherer, R. F., Adams, J. S., Carley, S. S., & Wiebe, F. A. (1989). Role model performance effects on development of entrepreneurial career preference. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 13(3), 53-71.
  74. Schmitt-Rodermund, E. (2004). Pathways to successful entre- preneurship: Parenting, personality, early entrepreneurial competence, and interests. Journal of Vocational Behav- ior, 65(3), 498-518.
  75. Schmitt-Rodermund, E., & Vondracek, F. W. (2002). Occu- pational dreams, choices and aspirations: Adoles- cents'entrepreneurial prospects and orientations. Journal of Adolescence, 25(1), 65-78.
  76. Schro ¨der, E., & Schmitt-Rodermund, E. (2006). Crystallizing enterprising interests among adolescents through a career development program: The role of personality and family background. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 69(3), 494- 509.
  77. Schulenberg, J. E., Vondracek, F. W., & Crouter, A. C. (1984). The influence of the family on vocational development. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 46(1), 129-143.
  78. Scott, M. G., & Twomey, D. F. (1988). The long-term supply of entrepreneurs: Students' career aspirations in relation to entrepreneurship. Journal of Small Business Management, 26(4), 5-13.
  79. Shane, S., Locke, E. A., & Collins, C. J. (2003). Entrepre- neurial motivation. Human Resource Management Review, 13(2), 257-279.
  80. Sharma, P., & Irving, P. G. (2005). Four bases of family business successor commitment: Antecedents and conse- quences. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 29(1), 13-33.
  81. Simon, M., Houghton, S. M., & Aquino, K. (1999). Cognitive biases, risk perception, and venture formation: How individuals decide to start companies. Journal of Business Venturing, 15(2), 113-134.
  82. Singh, G., & DeNoble, A. (2003). Views on self-employment and personality: An exploratory study. Journal of Devel- opmental Entrepreneurship, 8(3), 265-281.
  83. Stavrou, E. T. (1999). Succession in family businesses: Exploring the effects of demographic factors on offspring intentions to join and take over the business. Journal of Small Business Management, 37(3), 43-61.
  84. Stavrou, E. T., & Swiercz, P. M. (1998). Securing the future of the family enterprise: A model of offspring intentions to join the business. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 23(2), 19-39.
  85. Tett, R. P., & Burnett, D. D. (2003). A personality trait-based interactionist model of job performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(3), 500-517.
  86. Thurik, A. R., Carree, M. A., van Stel, A., & Audretsch, D. B. (2008). Does self-employment reduce unemployment? Journal of Business Venturing, 23(6), 673-686.
  87. Wang, C. K., & Wong, P. (2004). Entrepreneurial interest of university students in Singapore. Technovation, 24(2), 163-172.
  88. White, R. E., Thornhill, S., & Hampson, E. (2007). A biosocial model of entrepreneurship: The combined effect of nur- ture and nature. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 28(4), 451-466.
  89. Zhao, H., & Seibert, S. E. (2006). The big five personality dimensions and entrepreneurial status: A meta-analytical review. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(2), 259-271.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Chlosta, S., Patzelt, H., Klein, S. B., & Dormann, C.
Affiliations
  • Max Planck Society (DE)
  • WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management (DE)
  • Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (DE)
Corresponding author
Chlosta, Simone
ORCID
Venue
Small Business Economics
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2010-03-06
Volume
38
Issue
1
Pages
121-138
ISSN
  • 0921-898X (ISSN-L)
  • 1573-0913
DOI
10.1007/s11187-010-9270-y
OpenAlex
W2016763959
Cited by
412
References
3
Citations by year
2026: 9 · 2025: 36 · 2024: 31 · 2023: 37 · 2022: 31 · 2021: 40 · 2020: 35 · 2019: 30 · 2018: 34 · 2017: 33 · 2016: 24 · 2015: 21 · 2014: 28 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 5
FWCI
14.70
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by-nc
Locations
  • Small Business Economics (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Management of Technology and Innovation › Entrepreneurship Studies and Influences
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Family Business Performance and Succession
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy
Keywords
parental role models, self-employment, entrepreneurial families, social learning theory, personality, openness to experience, university alumni

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review