IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/sbusec/v57y2021i4d10.1007_s11187-020-00397-x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

ADHD symptoms, entrepreneurial passion, and entrepreneurial performance

Author

Listed:
  • Isabella Hatak

    (University of St. Gallen)

  • Manling Chang

    (National Chung Hsing University)

  • Rainer Harms

    (University of Twente
    Research Laboratory for Science and Technology Studies)

  • Johan Wiklund

    (Syracuse University)

Abstract

Recent studies have substantially enhanced our understanding of attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in entrepreneurship—articulating the theoretical relevance of ADHD-type traits in entrepreneurship and confirming the positive linkages between ADHD symptoms/diagnosis and entrepreneurial intentions and behavior. However, how and why some people with ADHD symptoms run successful ventures, while other entrepreneurs fail to perform well, is still not well established. Our study builds on a Gestalt perspective that integrates person–environment fit and broaden-and-build theorizing, and proposes that strong positive emotions enable entrepreneurs with ADHD symptoms (at the subclinical level) to mitigate/reinforce the effect of ADHD’s trait-specific weaknesses/strengths to achieve entrepreneurial performance. Relying on fuzzy-set methodology, our findings indicate that for entrepreneurs with ADHD symptoms, entrepreneurial performance occurs when they simultaneously experience passion for founding and developing. This passion configuration is unique to successful ADHD-type entrepreneurs. As such, this study offers novel theoretical and empirical insights as well as implications for practitioners. Plain English Summary Do people with ADHD perform well in entrepreneurship? Our research shows how ADHD symptoms relate to entrepreneurial performance finding that passion is important. Entrepreneurs who are highly and thereby ambidextrously passionate for growing their businesses and for founding activities while lacking intense positive feelings for coming up with new ideas can benefit from ADHD. These results are important for people with ADHD and their loved ones.

Suggested Citation

  • Isabella Hatak & Manling Chang & Rainer Harms & Johan Wiklund, 2021. "ADHD symptoms, entrepreneurial passion, and entrepreneurial performance," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 57(4), pages 1693-1713, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:sbusec:v:57:y:2021:i:4:d:10.1007_s11187-020-00397-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s11187-020-00397-x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11187-020-00397-x
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11187-020-00397-x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Minet Schindehutte & Michael Morris & Jeffrey Allen, 2006. "Beyond Achievement: Entrepreneurship as Extreme Experience," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 27(4), pages 349-368, December.
    2. Irwin, Kristin C. & Landay, Karen M. & Aaron, Joshua R. & McDowell, William C. & Marino, Louis D. & Geho, Patrick R., 2018. "Entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and human resources outsourcing (HRO): A “HERO” combination for SME performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 134-140.
    3. Verheul, Ingrid & Thurik, Roy, 2001. "Start-Up Capital: "Does Gender Matter?"," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 329-345, June.
    4. Muñoz, Pablo & Kimmitt, Jonathan, 2019. "Social mission as competitive advantage: A configurational analysis of the strategic conditions of social entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 854-861.
    5. Ingrid Verheul & Joern Block & Katrin Burmeister-Lamp & Roy Thurik & Henning Tiemeier & Roxana Turturea, 2015. "ADHD-like behavior and entrepreneurial intentions," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 85-101, June.
    6. Pappas, Ilias O. & Kourouthanassis, Panos E. & Giannakos, Michail N. & Chrissikopoulos, Vassilios, 2016. "Explaining online shopping behavior with fsQCA: The role of cognitive and affective perceptions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(2), pages 794-803.
    7. Philipp Sieger & Marc Gruber & Emmanuelle Fauchart & Thomas Zellweger, 2016. "Measuring the social identity of entrepreneurs: Scale development and international validation," Post-Print hal-01725410, HAL.
    8. Michael A. Freeman & Paige J. Staudenmaier & Mackenzie R. Zisser & Lisa Abdilova Andresen, 2019. "The prevalence and co-occurrence of psychiatric conditions among entrepreneurs and their families," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 53(2), pages 323-342, August.
    9. Chang, Man-Ling & Cheng, Cheng-Feng, 2014. "How balance theory explains high-tech professionals' solutions of enhancing job satisfaction," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(9), pages 2008-2018.
    10. Harms, Rainer & Hatak, Isabella & Chang, Manling, 2019. "Sensory processing sensitivity and entrepreneurial intention: The strength of a weak trait," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 12(C).
    11. Muñoz, Pablo & Kibler, Ewald, 2016. "Institutional complexity and social entrepreneurship: A fuzzy-set approach," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(4), pages 1314-1318.
    12. Khedhaouria, Anis & Cucchi, Alain, 2019. "Technostress creators, personality traits, and job burnout: A fuzzy-set configurational analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 349-361.
    13. Ragin, Charles C., 2006. "Set Relations in Social Research: Evaluating Their Consistency and Coverage," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(3), pages 291-310, July.
    14. Woodside, Arch G., 2014. "Embrace•perform•model: Complexity theory, contrarian case analysis, and multiple realities," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(12), pages 2495-2503.
    15. Violet T. Ho & Jeffrey M. Pollack, 2014. "Passion Isn't Always a Good Thing: Examining Entrepreneurs' Network Centrality and Financial Performance with a Dualistic Model of Passion," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(3), pages 433-459, May.
    16. Cardon, Melissa S. & Gregoire, Denis A. & Stevens, Christopher E. & Patel, Pankaj C., 2013. "Measuring entrepreneurial passion: Conceptual foundations and scale validation," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 373-396.
    17. Sieger, Philipp & Gruber, Marc & Fauchart, Emmanuelle & Zellweger, Thomas, 2016. "Measuring the social identity of entrepreneurs: Scale development and international validation," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 31(5), pages 542-572.
    18. Linlin Jin & Kristen Madison & Nils D. Kraiczy & Franz W. Kellermanns & T. Russell Crook & Jing Xi, 2017. "Entrepreneurial Team Composition Characteristics and New Venture Performance: A Meta–Analysis," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 41(5), pages 743-771, September.
    19. Daniel A. Lerner & Ingrid Verheul & Roy Thurik, 2019. "Entrepreneurship and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a large-scale study involving the clinical condition of ADHD," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 53(2), pages 381-392, August.
    20. Wiklund, Johan & Patzelt, Holger & Dimov, Dimo, 2016. "Entrepreneurship and psychological disorders: How ADHD can be productively harnessed," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 6(C), pages 14-20.
    21. Wiklund, Johan & Yu, Wei & Tucker, Reginald & Marino, Louis D., 2017. "ADHD, impulsivity and entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 627-656.
    22. Johan Wiklund & DEAN Shepherd, 2003. "Knowledge‐based resources, entrepreneurial orientation, and the performance of small and medium‐sized businesses," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(13), pages 1307-1314, December.
    23. John B Miner, 1997. "A psychological typology and its relationship to entrepreneurial success," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(4), pages 319-334, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Purushottam Dhakal & Retha Wiesner & Tek Maraseni, 2022. "When Entrepreneurial Leadership Identity and Passion Meet Venture Growth Intention," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-20, October.
    2. Annelot Wismans & Katsuyuki Kamei & Roy Thurik & Olivier Torrès, 2021. "The link between attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms and entrepreneurial orientation in Japanese business owners," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 71(4), pages 857-872, October.
    3. Taggar, Simon & Domurath, Anne & Coviello, Nicole, 2024. "Peer effects on passion levels, passion trajectories, and outcomes for individuals and teams," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 39(4).
    4. Karolis Matikonis & Matthew Gobey, 2024. "Small Business Property Tax Reductions and Firm Productivity," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 62(1), pages 307-324, January.
    5. Clark, Daniel R. & Crawford, G. Christopher & Pidduck, Robert J., 2023. "Exceptionality in entrepreneurship: Systematically investigating outlier outcomes," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 20(C).
    6. Qifan Wang & Sajjad Nawaz Khan & Muhammad Sajjad & Irshad Hussain Sarki & Muhammad Noman Yaseen, 2023. "Mediating Role of Entrepreneurial Work-Related Strains and Work Engagement among Job Demand–Resource Model and Success," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-19, March.
    7. Artamoshina, Polina & Shirokova, Galina & Osiyevskyy, Oleksiy & Bodolica, Virginia, 2023. "ADHD symptoms of CEOs and business model innovation in the SME context," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rajah, Nasir & Bamiatzi, Vassiliki & Williams, Nick, 2021. "How childhood ADHD-like symptoms predict selection into entrepreneurship and implications on entrepreneurial performance," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 36(3).
    2. Wei Yu & Johan Wiklund & Ana Pérez-Luño, 2021. "ADHD Symptoms, Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO), and Firm Performance," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 45(1), pages 92-117, January.
    3. Tucker, Reginald & Zuo, Lu & Marino, Louis D. & Lowman, Graham H. & Sleptsov, Alexander, 2021. "ADHD and entrepreneurship: Beyond person-entrepreneurship fit," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 15(C).
    4. Boone, Sarah & Andries, Petra & Clarysse, Bart, 2020. "Does team entrepreneurial passion matter for relationship conflict and team performance? On the importance of fit between passion focus and venture development stage," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 35(5).
    5. Burnell, Devin & Neubert, Emily & Fisher, Greg & Marvel, Matthew R. & Stevenson, Regan & Kuratko, Donald F., 2024. "Entrepreneurial hustle: Scale development and validation," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 39(4).
    6. Vörös, Zsófia & Lukovszki, Lívia, 2021. "The effects of subclinical ADHD symptomatology on the subjective financial, physical, and mental well-being of entrepreneurs and employees," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 15(C).
    7. Freeman, Michael & Lerner, Daniel & Rauch, Andreas, 2024. "Dopamine and entrepreneurship: Unifying entrepreneur personality traits, psychiatric symptoms, entrepreneurial action and outcomes," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 21(C).
    8. Yu, Wei & Zhu, Fei & Foo, Maw Der & Wiklund, Johan, 2022. "What does not kill you makes you stronger: Entrepreneurs’ childhood adversity, resilience, and career success," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 40-55.
    9. Jarno Stappers & Petra Andries, 2022. "The role of distinct ADHD symptoms for pre-entry entrepreneurial behavior: when intentions do not translate into action," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(3), pages 1441-1457, March.
    10. Sascha Kraus & Domingo Ribeiro-Soriano & Miriam Schüssler, 2018. "Fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) in entrepreneurship and innovation research – the rise of a method," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 15-33, March.
    11. Shirokova, Galina & Shakina, Elena & Bacon-Gerasymenko, Violetta & Wales, William, 2022. "Entrepreneurial orientation as a mediator of ADHD – Performance relationship: A staged quasi-replication study," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 17(C).
    12. Pankaj C. Patel & Cornelius A. Rietveld & Ingrid Verheul, 2021. "Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Earnings in Later-Life Self-Employment," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 45(1), pages 43-63, January.
    13. Artamoshina, Polina & Shirokova, Galina & Osiyevskyy, Oleksiy & Bodolica, Virginia, 2023. "ADHD symptoms of CEOs and business model innovation in the SME context," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    14. Strese, Steffen & Gebhard, Philipp & Feierabend, David & Brettel, Malte, 2018. "Entrepreneurs' perceived exit performance: Conceptualization and scale development," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 351-370.
    15. Dedeoglu, Bekir Bora & Boğan, Erhan & Kucukergin, Kemal Gurkan & Birinci, Muhammet Cenk, 2023. "Are tourists afraid of the unknown? Examining the role of travel constraints and tourist xenophobia with symmetric and asymmetric perspectives," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    16. Leung, Y.K. & Franken, I.H.A. & Thurik, A.R., 2020. "Psychiatric symptoms and entrepreneurial intention: The role of the behavioral activation system," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 13(C).
    17. Souiden, Nizar & Amara, Nabil & Chaouali, Walid, 2020. "Optimal image mix cues and their impacts on consumers’ purchase intention," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    18. Marcus T. Wolfe & Pankaj C. Patel & Will Drover, 2020. "The Influence of Hypomania Symptoms on Income in Self-Employment," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 44(3), pages 422-450, May.
    19. Sinha, Rai Siddhant, 2022. "Baby, I'm addicted! The pleasure-pain pathway that shifts entrepreneurial passion to entrepreneurial addiction: Pivotal role of dopamine," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 18(C).
    20. Haddoud, Mohamed Yacine & Onjewu, Adah-Kole Emmanuel & Al-Azab, Mahmoud Ramadan & Elbaz, Ahmed Mohamed, 2022. "The psychological drivers of entrepreneurial resilience in the tourism sector," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 702-712.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder; ADHD; Entrepreneurial performance; Entrepreneurial passion; Entrepreneurship; fsQCA;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:sbusec:v:57:y:2021:i:4:d:10.1007_s11187-020-00397-x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.