Mania Risk and Entrepreneurship: Overlapping Personality Traits

The goal of this paper is to briefly review extant findings on bipolar disorder and entrepreneurship, and then to develop a model of personality traits that might link mania risk with entrepreneurial intent and entry. Findings from a large set of cross-sectional and longitudinal studies indicate that people diagnosed with bipolar disorder, as well as those with subsyndromal forms, show personality traits such as high ambition, confidence, and positive affectivity, even during well periods. Intriguingly, a parallel, distinct literature documents that these same personality traits are related to greater likelihood of becoming an entrepreneur and of succeeding as an entrepreneur. We will describe research on whether mania risk is linked to entrepreneurial intent, entry, and income, drawing on findings from two small surveys and one epidemiological study. As those findings regarding the link between mania risk and entrepreneurship are mixed, we present a model in which some specific personality traits tied to...