The use of personality and the five-factor model to predict new business ventures: From outplacement to start-up

The increasing number of layoffs among middle- and upper-level executives h as made self-employment a more common outcome of outplacement counseling. A t this point, however, research that identifies the personal characteristic s of new business starters is rare or plagued with methodological problems. This research represents a unique opportunity to study a specific behavior (i.e., starting one's own business) under longitudinal conditions less sus ceptible to some of those criticisms. We examined personality characteristi cs of a sample of outplaced executives as predictors of subsequent new-busi ness start-ups. The results are discussed in terms of contributions from a prospective design and in terms of the application of the five-factor model to secondary data sets. (C) 1999 Academic Press.