ADHD-like behavior and entrepreneurial intentions

Little is known about the relation between entrepreneurship and the extent of psychiatric symptoms. Validated psychiatric symptom scores are seldom used for non-clinical reasons. One prevalent symptom that deserves our interest is Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). ADHD is a develo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IDEAS Working Paper Series from RePEc 2015-06, Vol.45 (1), p.85-101
Main Authors: Verheul, Ingrid, Block, Joern, Burmeister-Lamp, Katrin, Thurik, Roy, Tiemeier, Henning, Turturea, Roxana
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antisocial personality disorder
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
Behavior
Behavioural disorders
Behavioural economics
Business administration
Business and Management
Careers
Decision making
Determinants
Economists
Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurship
Higher education
Human health and pathology
Humanities and Social Sciences
Hyperactivity
Industrial Organization
Life Sciences
Management
Management science
Microeconomics
Narcissism
Psychiatrics and mental health
Strategic management
Studies
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Summary:Little is known about the relation between entrepreneurship and the extent of psychiatric symptoms. Validated psychiatric symptom scores are seldom used for non-clinical reasons. One prevalent symptom that deserves our interest is Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). ADHD is a developmental disorder characterized by inattentiveness and hyperactivity that has been linked to occupational choice and performance. Building on the person-environment fit literature, we hypothesize that individuals who exhibit behavior associated with ADHD are more likely to have entrepreneurial intentions. Using a sample of 10,104 students enrolled in higher education, we can confirm our prediction that students with a higher level of ADHD-like behavior are more likely to have entrepreneurial intentions. Additionally, we show that risk taking propensity is a mediator that partly explains this positive effect. Our study points to the importance of behavioral tendencies associated with developmental disorders, when making entrepreneurship decisions. Our study contributes to the literature on the determinants of entrepreneurship, which so far has largely neglected the effects of psychiatric symptoms on entrepreneurship.
ISSN:0921-898X
1573-0913
DOI:10.1007/s11187-015-9642-4