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Start-up entrepreneurs’ personality traits. An exploratory analysis of the Italian tourism industry

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  • Angelo Presenza
  • Tindara Abbate
  • Marta Meleddu
  • Lorn Sheehan

Abstract

This study examines the personality traits of start-up entrepreneurs within the Italian tourism industry. The purpose is to investigate how the specific personality traits of narcissism, locus of control, and the Big Five (i.e. extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, openness to experience) influence the tourism start-up entrepreneur’s behaviour. After a review and assessment of the literature regarding entrepreneurs’ personality traits, the paper describes a quantitative analysis of eighty-nine Italian start-up entrepreneurs operating in the tourism sector. Two main results arose from the empirical analysis. Firstly, tourism entrepreneurs seem to be particularly narcissistic, extroverted and friendly (extraversion), disciplined (agreeableness), self-assured, efficient and organized (conscientiousness), unconventional (openness to experience), and proactive and vigorous (internal locus of control). Secondly, some personality traits are found to influence the efficiency and innovative capacity of entrepreneurs which ultimately lead to the success of start-ups. The paper further advances our understanding of tourism entrepreneurship by clarifying the relevance of specific personality traits that characterize start-up entrepreneurs in the tourism industry.

Suggested Citation

  • Angelo Presenza & Tindara Abbate & Marta Meleddu & Lorn Sheehan, 2020. "Start-up entrepreneurs’ personality traits. An exploratory analysis of the Italian tourism industry," Current Issues in Tourism, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(17), pages 2146-2164, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:rcitxx:v:23:y:2020:i:17:p:2146-2164
    DOI: 10.1080/13683500.2019.1677572
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    Cited by:

    1. Aabo, Tom & Hansen, Malene & Krog, Sara Husted & Kynde, Katrine, 2024. "Explaining differences in CEO gender diversity across industries: Do personality traits matter?," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).

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