Entrepreneurs create businesses and employment. However, their behaviors might generate negative outcomes. Since external funding for startups is vital and challenging to get, this ecosystem becomes a breeding ground for unethical behaviors. This paper will explore the association between the tolerance to unethical behaviors and the Dark Triad Traits (DT) of personality, as well as the moderator role of being an entrepreneur in this relationship. For that purpose, 84 entrepreneurs and 112 non-entrepreneurs completed a survey comprising the Dirty Dozen Scale to assess the DT and the new Tolerance to Unethical Behaviors in Entrepreneurship (TUBE) scale which was able to distinguish entrepreneurs from non-entrepreneurs. Findings suggest that entrepreneurs show higher levels of Machiavellianism and tolerance to unethical behaviors than non-entrepreneurs.
AbdelmoulaM.ChakrounW.AkroutF. (2015). The effect of sample size and the number of items on reliability coefficients: Alpha and rhô: A meta-analysis. International Journal of Numerical Methods and Applications, 13(1), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.17654/IJNMAMar2015_001_020
2.
AckermanR. A.WittE. A.DonnellanM. B.TrzesniewskiK. H.RobinsR. W.KashyD. A. (2011). What does the narcissistic personality inventory really measure?Assessment, 18(1), 67–87. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191110382845
3.
AkhtarR.AhmetogluG.Chamorro-PremuzicT. (2013). Greed is good? Assessing the relationship between entrepreneurship and subclinical psychopathy. Personality and Individual Differences, 54(3), 420–425. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2012.10.013
BabiakP.HareR. D. (2006). Snakes in suits: When psychopaths go to work. Harper Collins.
6.
BabiakP.NeumannC. S.HareR. D. (2010). Corporate psychopathy: Talking the walk. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 28(2), 174–193. https://doi.org/10.1002/bsl.925
7.
BaronR. A.ZhaoH.MiaoQ. (2015). Personal motives, moral disengagement, and unethical decisions by entrepreneurs: Cognitive mechanisms on the “slippery slope.”Journal of Business Ethics, 128(1), 107–118. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2078-y
8.
BazanaP. G.StelmackR. M. (2004). Stability of personality across the life span: A meta-analysis. In StelmackR. M. (Ed.), On the psychobiology of personality: Essays in honor of Marvin Zuckerman (pp. 113–144). Elsevier Science. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-008044209-9/50009-9
BucarB.HisrichR. D. (2001). Ethics of business managers vs. entrepreneurs. Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship, 6(1), 59. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-005-4674
13.
CollewaertV. (2016). Angel-entrepreneur relationships: Demystifying their conflicts. In LandströmH.MasonC. M. (Eds.), Handbook of research on business angels (pp. 176–198). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781783471720
DamásioB. (2012). Uso da análise fatorial exploratória em psicologia [Uses of exploratory factorial analysis in psychology]. Avaliação Psicológica, 11(2), 213–228. http://pepsic.bvsalud.org/pdf/avp/v11n2/v11n2a07.pdf
16.
DoB.DadvariA. (2017). The influence of the dark triad on the relationship between entrepreneurial attitude orientation and entrepreneurial intention: A study among students in Taiwan University. Asia Pacific Management Review, 22(4), 185–191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmrv.2017.07.011
17.
FassinY. (2005). The reasons behind non-ethical behavior in business and entrepreneurship. Journal of Business Ethics, 60 (3), 265–279. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-005-0134-3
18.
FieldA. (2009). Discovering statistics using SPSS (3rd ed.). Sage Publications.
19.
FriedrichsD. (2010). Trusted criminals: White collar crime in contemporary society (4th ed.). Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
20.
GeisingerK. (1994). Cross-cultural normative assessment: Translation and adaptation issues influencing the normative interpretation of assessment instruments. Psychological Assessment, 6(4), 304. https://doi.org/10.1037/1040-3590.6.4.304
21.
GeorgeN. M.ParidaV.LahtiT.WincentJ. (2016). A systematic literature review of entrepreneurial opportunity recognition: Insights on influencing factors. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 12(2), 309–350. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11365-014-0347-y
22.
GinoF.AyalS.ArielyD. (2009). Contagion and differentiation in unethical tends: The effect of one bad apple on the barrel. Psychological Science, 20(3), 393–398. https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1467-9280.2009.02306.x
23.
GoethnerM.LuettigS.RegnerT. (2020). Crowd investing in entrepreneurial projects: Disentangling patterns of investor behavior. Small Business Economics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-020-00332-0
24.
GottschalkP. (2017). White-collar crime: Detection and neutralization in religious organizations. International Journal of Police Science & Management, 19(2), 120–126. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461355717711453
HannahD.EisenhardtK. (2018). How firms navigate cooperation and competition in nascent ecosystems. Strategic Management Journal, 39 (12), 3163–3192. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.2750
28.
HillM.HillA. (2012). Investigação por questionário [Research using questionnaires]. Lisboa.
29.
HisrichR.Langan-FoxJ.GrantS. (2007). Entrepreneurship research and practice: A call to action for psychology. American Psychologist, 62(6), 575–589. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.62.6.575
30.
HmieleskiK.LernerD. (2016). The dark triad and nascent entrepreneurship: An examination of unproductive versus productive entrepreneurial motives. Journal of Small Business Management, 54, 7–32. https://doi.org/10.1111/jsbm.12296
JonasonP.LuévanoV. (2013). Walking the thin line between efficiency and accuracy: Validity and structural properties of the dirty dozen. Personality and Individual Differences, 55(1), 76–81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2013.02.010
33.
JonasonP.WebsterG. D. (2010). The dirty dozen: A concise measure of the dark triad. Psychological Assessment, 22 (2), 420. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019265
34.
JonesD. N. (2014). Risk in the face of retribution: Psychopathic individuals persist in financial misbehavior among the dark triad. Personality and Individual Differences, 67, 109–113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.01.030
35.
KatongoleC.AhebwaW. M.KawereR. (2013). Enterprise success and entrepreneur’s personality traits: An analysis of micro and small-scale women-owned enterprises in Uganda’s tourism industry. Tourism and Hospitality Research, 13 (3), 166–177. https://doi.org/10.1177/1467358414524979
36.
Kish-GephartJ. J.HarrisonD. A.TreviñoL. K. (2010). Bad apples, bad cases, and bad barrels: Meta-analytic evidence about sources of unethical decisions at work. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95(1), 1. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0017103
37.
KramerM.CesingerB.SchwarzingerD.GellériP. (2011). Investigating entrepreneurs’ dark personality: How narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy relate to entrepreneurial intention. In Proceedings of the 25th ANZAM conference. Australia and New Zealand Academy of Management. http://www.anzam.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/ANZAM-2011-403.pdf
38.
LangeJ.AliA.BrushC.CorbettA.KelleyD.KimP.MahdiM. (2017). 2017 United States report—National entrepreneurial assessment for the United States of America. Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM Consortium). Babson College.
39.
LeshaJ.LeshaD. (2012). Psychopathy and white collar crime: A review of literature. South East European University Review, 8(2). https://doi.org/10.2478/v10306-012-0017-2
40.
LingnauV.FuchsF.Dehne-NiemannT. E. (2017). The influence of psychopathic traits on the acceptance of white-collar crime: Do corporate psychopaths cook the books and misuse the news?Journal of Business Economics, 87(9), 1193–1227.
41.
LiuY.HaoX.LiX. (2020). Narcissistic personality and change in crucial entrepreneurial behavior in the context of serial entrepreneurship. Advances in Psychological Science, 28(7), 1083–1092. https://doi.org/10.3724/SP.J.1042.2020.01083
MaiY.ZhangW.WangL. (2019). The effects of entrepreneurs’ moral awareness and ethical behavior on product innovation of new ventures: Evidence from China. Chinese Management Studies, 13(2), 421–446. https://doi.org/10.1108/CMS-10-2017-0302
44.
MaplesJ.LamkinJ.MillerJ. (2014). A test of two brief measures of the dark triad: The dirty dozen and short dark triad. Psychological Assessment, 26 (1), 326. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035084
45.
MathieuC.St-JeanÉ. (2013). Entrepreneurial personality: The role of narcissism. Personality and Individual Differences, 55 (5), 527–531. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2013.04.026
46.
MillerD. (2015). A downside to the entrepreneurial personality?Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 39(1), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1111/etap.12130
47.
MorrisM.SchindehutteM.WaltonJ.AllenJ. (2002). The ethical context of entrepreneurship: Proposing and testing a developmental framework. Journal of Business Ethics, 40(4), 331–361. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020822329030
48.
MurisP.MerckelbachH.OtgaarH.MeijerE. (2017). The malevolent side of human nature: A meta-analysis and critical review of the literature on the dark triad (narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy). Perspectives on Psychological Science, 12 (2), 183–204. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1745691616666070
49.
NeeC.ButtonM.ShepherdD. W. J.BlackbournD.LealS. (2019). The psychology of the corrupt: Some preliminary findings. Journal of Financial Crime, 26(2), 488–495. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFC-03-2018-0032
50.
O’BoyleE. H.JrForsythD. R.BanksG. C.McDanielM. A. (2012). A meta-analysis of the dark triad and work behavior: A social exchange perspective. Journal of Applied Psychology, 97(3), 557–579. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025679
51.
O’BoyleE.ForsythD.BanksG.StoryP.WhiteC. (2014). A meta-analytic test of redundancy and relative importance of the dark triad and five-factor model of personality. Journal of Personality, 83 (6), 644–664. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12126
52.
ObschonkaM.SilbereisenR.Schmitt-RodermundE. (2010). Entrepreneurial intention as developmental outcome. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 77 (1), 63–72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2010.02.008
53.
OrmstonR.SpencerB.BarnardM.SnapeD. (2014). The foundations of qualitative research. In RitchieJ.LewisJ.NichollsC.OrmstonR. (Eds.), Qualitative research practice: A guide for social science students and researchers. Sage.
54.
PaulhusD.WilliamsK. (2002). The Dark Triad of personality: Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. Journal of research in personality, 36 (6), 556–563. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0092-6566(02)00505-6
PuschN.HoltfreterK. (2021). Individual and organizational predictors of white-collar crime: A meta-analysis. Journal of White Collar and Corporate Crime, 2(1), 5–23.
59.
RauthmannJ.KolarG. P. (2012). How “dark” are the dark triad traits? Examining the perceived darkness of narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. Personality and Individual Differences, 53 (7), 884–889. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2012.06.020
SchneiderF. S.WilliamsC. C. (2013). Tackling the shadow economy—An overview. In The Institute of Economic Affairs. (Ed.), The shadow economy (pp. 105–109). Hobbs the Printers.
62.
SutherlandE. H. (1949). White-collar crime. Dryden Press.
WalesW.PatelP.LumpkinG. (2013). In pursuit of greatness: CEO narcissism, entrepreneurial orientation, and firm performance variance. Journal of Management Studies, 50 (6), 1041–1069. https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12034
65.
WebsterG.JonasonP. (2013). Putting the “IRT” in “dirty”: Item response theory analyses of the dark triad dirty dozen—An efficient measure of narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism. Personality and Individual Differences, 54 (2), 302–306. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2012.08.027
66.
WrightJ.MorganM.AlmeidaP.AlmosaedN.MoghrabiS.BashatahF. (2017). Malevolent forces: Self-control, the dark triad, and crime. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 15(2), 191–215. https://doi.org/10.1177/1541204016667995
67.
WuW.WangH.ZhengC.WuY. (2019). Effect of narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism on entrepreneurial intention—The mediating of entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 360. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00360
68.
YuM.WangG.ZhengX.ShiW. (2020). Entrepreneur narcissism and unethical pro-organizational behaviour: An examination of mediated-moderation model. Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja, 33(1), 501–520. https://doi.org/10.1080/1331677X.2020.1718525
69.
ZhouW.YangX.LiY.ZhangY. (2019). Pattern versus level: A new look at the personality-entrepreneurship relationship. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, 25(1), 150–168. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEBR-03-2018-0176
