Associating entrepreneurship with increased attractiveness : the differing actions and beliefs of male and female entrepreneurs

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SSOCIATING

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NTREPRENEURSHIP WITH

INCREASED

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IFFERING

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CTIONS AND

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ELIEFS OF

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ALE AND

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NTREPRENEURS

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2018

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PRING

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ASTER

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NTREPRENEURSHIP

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RIJE

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NIVERSITEIT

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MSTERDAM

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NIVERSITEIT VAN

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MSTERDAM NAME:ANNIEK (ANNA MARIA)UIJTTEWAAL

STUDENT NUMBERS:2600463(VU)&11619708(UVA) PHONE:+31650748778

E-MAIL: A.M.UIJTTEWAAL@GMAIL.COM

1 Hierbij verklaar ik, Anniek Uijttewaal, dat ik deze scriptie zelf geschreven heb en dat ik de volledige verantwoordelijkheid op me neem voor de inhoud ervan. De data bestaande uit

ingevulde enquêtes door ondernemers welke is gebruikt in deze scriptie is door mijzelf verzameld. Er is geen data gewijzigd noch toegevoegd.

Ik bevestig dat de tekst en het werk dat in deze scriptie gepresenteerd wordt origineel is en dat ik geen gebruik heb gemaakt van andere bronnen dan die welke in de tekst en in de

2

A

BSTRACT

This study researches whether male and female entrepreneurs make use their status of entrepreneur in order to increase their interpersonal attractiveness, and the extent to which this is a motivator for them to engage in entrepreneurship. It is has been established that male entrepreneurs attain an increase in ascribed attractiveness due to their entrepreneurship more so than female entrepreneurs. Would they therefore express themselves differently with regard to attractiveness behavior than female entrepreneurs? And then, could it be the case on the women’s side that they attach more value to and gain more satisfaction out of other types of social rewards (other than increased sexual attractiveness)? A total of 103 entrepreneurial men and women filled in a survey which measured their actions, beliefs, behaviors and experiences regarding these topics of interest. The results show that on average, overall, male entrepreneurs to a higher extent express non-physical behavioral expression of attractiveness than female entrepreneurs. It was specifically found that male entrepreneurs to a higher extent express the non-physical behavioral expressions of dominance, emotional stability, and risk-taking than female entrepreneurs. Also, male entrepreneurs to a higher extent disclose their economic resources, their dominance, their access to powerful networks, their non-conformance, and their bragging and exaggeration in order to impress women than female entrepreneurs do the other way around. Female entrepreneurs were found on average to, overall, gain more satisfaction out of other types of social rewards than male entrepreneurs do. Female entrepreneurs were specifically found to experience more and gain more satisfaction out of the social reward of recognition. The findings imply that the attractiveness association which entrepreneurs have, has differing effects on the actions and beliefs of male and female entrepreneurs. These differing effects could imply that males are (more) motivated to engage in entrepreneurship due to increased attractiveness to the opposite sex, whereas females are (more) motivated by other types of social rewards.

KEY WORDS: Entrepreneurship, attractiveness, non-physical behavioral expressions of attractiveness, social rewards

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ONTENTS

Abstract – page: 2

CHAPTER 1:INTRODUCTION – page: 5

1.1: Background – page: 5

1.2: Problem Statement – page: 7

1.3: Research Questions and Sub-questions – page: 8

1.4: Contributions – page: 8

1.4.1: Theoretical – page: 8

1.4.2: Practical – page: 9

1.5: Overview – page: 9

CHAPTER 2:THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK – page: 10

2.1: Entrepreneurial Motivation – page: 12

2.1.1. Social Motives – page: 12

2.1.2: Increased Attractiveness as a Motive for Entrepreneurs – page: 14

2.2: Attractiveness and Entrepreneurship – page: 15

2.2.1: Parental Investment & Sexual Strategies Theory – page: 15 2.2.2: Characteristics tied to Attractiveness – page: 16

2.2.3: Characteristics tied to Attractiveness as well as to Entrepreneurship – page: 18

2.3: Hypotheses Development – page: 22

2.4: Exploring the effects of Stage and Age – page: 24

2.4.1: Stage – page: 24

2.4.2: Age – page: 25

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY – page: 27

3.1: Research design – page: 27

3.2: Sample – page: 27

3.3. Measures – page: 30

3.4: Data Analysis – page: 37

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS – page: 38

4.1: Expressions of Attractiveness – page: 39

4.2: The Association between Attractiveness & Entrepreneurship – page: 48

4.3: Other Types of Social Rewards – page: 49

4.4: Exploratory insights from Multiple Comparisons – page: 54

4.4.1: Stage – page: 55

4.4.2: Age – page: 60

CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION & CONCLUSION – page: 63

5.1: Discussion – page: 63

5.2: Limitations – page: 70

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5.4: Conclusion – page: 72

REFERENCES – page: 74

APPENDICES – page: 79

Appendix I: Sample Group Frequencies – page: 78

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HAPTER

1:

I

NTRODUCTION

1.1:

B

ACKGROUND

Looking for a way to increase your chances of getting matches on dating apps? Try adding the title ‘entrepreneur’ in your bio.

Entrepreneurship is hot. People are fascinated by entrepreneurs who make it really big, such as Mark Zuckerberg, Oprah Winfrey and Steve Jobs. There are multiple TV shows revolving around entrepreneurs, such as Dragon’s Den and Shark Tank. This popularity shines through in the amount of new businesses that are being registered each year. The World Bank’s Entrepreneurship Survey and Databases tracks all entrepreneurial activities within all countries, and like many more countries worldwide, between 2010 and 2016 the amount of new businesses registered within the Netherlands doubled (Worldbank, 2018).

There are lots of reasons to think of why engaging into entrepreneurship is preferable: possibility of big money, high status, big network, high flexibility, and so on. Therefore, many people desire to be(come) an entrepreneur. Yet, are these reasons not enough for you to engage in entrepreneurship? Well, getting back to the dating-app, what if I told you people also desire YOU more when you are an entrepreneur, meaning that engaging in entrepreneurship also comes with an increase in attractiveness to the sex you feel attractive to, would you want to switch careers now?

That the status of entrepreneur increases one’s attraction to the opposite sex was confirmed in the study by Van Gelderen et al. (2017). It was shown significant for women who rated male entrepreneurs as more attractive than employees or starting entrepreneurs. For male raters, on the other hand, it made much less difference whether a woman was an entrepreneur or not. This finding provides for evidence for a deeper motive to start a new venture, particularly for men, namely: to attract a mate. The study by Van Gelderen et al. raised several questions, to which I turn next.

1.2:

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ROBLEM

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TATEMENT

The study of van Gelderen raised a wide number of questions, five of which I will address in this thesis.

A first question is whether, given the linkage between entrepreneurship and attractiveness, male entrepreneurs engage in actions and entertain beliefs which research in evolutionary psychology has shown to be attractive to women. According to literature (Buss, 2015), some behavioral expressions are thought of as more attractive than others by the opposite sex.

6 For example, acts of dominance by men are thought of as more attractive to women than acts of submission (the opposite may apply for men). As I expect that males associate entrepreneurship with an increase in attractiveness to a higher extent than women, it may be expected that males do to a higher extent take actions and have beliefs which are attractive to the women, such as dominance. If sexually driven, such actions may not necessarily be in the best interest of the company. Therefore, it is of importance to know whether male entrepreneurs indeed have these cognitions and take such actions.

Expressing these actions and beliefs is one thing, but if I want to know whether they do this consciously, with the goal of impressing the opposite sex, than I need to dive deeper. This is a third puzzle raised by the Van Gelderen et al. study. This research will build a bridge between acts of unconsciousness and consciousness with regard to attractiveness behavior. I hypothesize that male entrepreneurs take certain actions and express beliefs in order to impress the opposite sex. If this were to be the case, this would provide further evidence that (male) entrepreneurial behavior is sexually motivated and driven.

Thirdly, whereas the previous question concerns whether male entrepreneurs take certain entrepreneurship related actions, or express entrepreneurship related beliefs in order to impress the opposite sex, there is the question whether (male) entrepreneurs are aware of and agree with the link between entrepreneurship and attractiveness. People may engage in entrepreneurship, to some extent, for this reason. It is to be believed that this motivation may be more or less unconscious to many people. People’s behavior may be sexually motivated without them being aware that it is, thus operating as an implicit motive (Griskevicius et al., 2011; Kehr, 2004). It may also play a role that there is not much known about the topic yet, and that the topic could be in the taboo sphere for some, and therefore not openly expressed or admitted. Men and women are not fully conscious of their assessments of what they find attractiveness, it is an instinct which was built into humans through evolution. This study will assess whether, in general, respondents associate entrepreneurship with an increase in attractiveness. It will ascertain whether the respondents think their own attractiveness is increased due to their (current or future) status of being an entrepreneur. Due to the results of the study by Van Gelderen et al. (2017), I hypothesize that at least the male respondents will associate entrepreneurship with an increase in attractiveness. This would add to the evidence that males, to a higher extent, engage in entrepreneurship due to the expected attractiveness increase than females, and serve as an explanation as to why more males are entrepreneurs than females.

The study by Van Gelderen et al. (2017) raised yet more puzzles this study aims to solve. If men’s entrepreneurial actions are rewarded by an increase in attractiveness to the opposite

7 sex, but women’s entrepreneurial actions are not, then what social rewards are motivating to female entrepreneurs? Next to attractiveness as a social reward that comes with engaging in entrepreneurship, there exist other types of social rewards as well, think of the obtainment of prestige, or making your family proud. Do male and female entrepreneurs differ in their experience of these social rewards? And if they do, how much value do they attach to them? Could it be that women gain more satisfaction out of these other types social rewards obtained through entrepreneurship than men, since evolutionary theory would put us into the direction of thinking so? This could imply that we should approach female entrepreneurs differently than male entrepreneurs, with a focus on rewarding them socially in other ways than through means of sexual attraction.

1.3:

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ESEARCH

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UESTIONS AND

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QUESTIONS

The problem statements above lead us to some important unanswered questions. Within this section, five research questions are formulated in order to fill the gaps in the literature which are described above. In order to be able to answer the research questions, some additional sub-questions are also formulated.

The literature will provide us with characteristics that are both relevant to entrepreneurship, and that are also important interpersonal attractions to humans. The underneath research question asks whether entrepreneurs have certain beliefs and/or actions which reflect these characteristics.

Research Question 1: Of the characteristics which research on interpersonal attractions has shown to be important, and which are relevant to entrepreneurship, do male entrepreneurs take actions and/or have beliefs which reflect these characteristics to a higher extent than female entrepreneurs?

Sub Question 1: What characteristics are known to make either males or females more attractive to the opposite sex?

Then, following up on that knowledge of whether male entrepreneurs express these types of behavior and beliefs, I also want to know whether male entrepreneurs express these types of behavior deliberately, with the goal of impressing the opposite sex. The following research question assesses whether male entrepreneurs take these actions and have these beliefs consciously.

Research Question 2: Of the characteristics which research on interpersonal attractions has shown to be important, and which are relevant to entrepreneurship, do male entrepreneurs deliberately disclose these beliefs and/or actions which reflect these characteristics in order to impress the opposite sex, compared to female entrepreneurs?

8 Thirdly, to assess whether entrepreneurs, and men in particular associate their entrepreneurship with increased attractiveness, I need to find an answer to the following research questions.

Research Question 3: Do male entrepreneurs to a higher extent associate entrepreneurship with an increase in attractiveness than female entrepreneurs?

Following up, the other topic of research within this study is attainment of other social rewards, besides increased attractiveness. Because the literature suggests that male entrepreneurs are more motivated by increased attractiveness than entrepreneurial females, could it be that female entrepreneurs are more motivated by these other types of social rewards? In order to answer this research question, it is essential to know what other types of social rewards can be attained through engaging in entrepreneurship.

Research Question 4: Do female entrepreneurs to a higher extent experience other types of social rewards than male entrepreneurs?

Sub Question 2: What other types of social rewards than increased attractiveness can be attained through engaging in entrepreneurship?

Lastly, I want to know whether these social rewards motivate the female entrepreneurs more so than male entrepreneurs.

Research Question 5: Do female entrepreneurs to a higher extent gain satisfaction out of the other social rewards of being an entrepreneurs than male entrepreneurs?

1.4:

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ONTRIBUTIONS

This section will outline both the theoretical and practical contributions of this study. With that, it will be made clear what this study does to help answer the research questions and what this adds in terms of theoretical understanding and practical application.

1.4.1:THEORETICAL

Filling the gaps in the literature as described in the previous sections will extend the research field of entrepreneurial motivation. So far, not much research has been done on attractiveness as a motivation for entrepreneurship, except the study by Van Gelderen et al. (2017) which found that, for male entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship comes with an increase in attractiveness. This research builds on this finding, by diving deeper into outcomes related to this association, in the form of behaviors that relate to this and are expressed by entrepreneurs due to this association.

9 Another theoretical contribution is to make researchers more aware of the differences between men and women with regard to their motives to engage into entrepreneurship. This study will elaborate on the extent to which both male and female entrepreneurs are motivated by increased attractiveness to the opposite sex and will explore the extent to which they are motivated by other types of social rewards. This knowledge can be used in further research on entrepreneurship, in which gender differences are a topic of interest. Finally, this study will ascertain whether the relations hypothesized above differ per age groups and the degree of entrepreneurial experience.

1.4.2:PRACTICAL

The first practical contribution of this study is to make readers more conscious of another, not yet well known, motivation of engaging in entrepreneurship: increased attractiveness. By making readers conscious of this ‘hidden’ motivation, people might alter their view on the engagement in entrepreneurship. For example, people who are already entrepreneurs might reevaluate the behaviors they expressed as an entrepreneur, and might come to conclusions that some of those were driven by attractiveness motives. Also, people who want to become an entrepreneur, could, due to the results of this study, be aroused to alter their decisions as they can anticipate on the knowledge of their attractiveness motives. To the general public it is a practical implication that they become more knowledgeable of the motives and behaviors of male and female entrepreneurs. With this they can, when they come in contact with entrepreneurs, anticipate on the behavior of these entrepreneurs better which can benefit them in many ways.

1.5:

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VERVIEW

In the next chapter, theory into the topics of both entrepreneurship and attractiveness is provided, and especially the link between the two is described. The methodology outlines the details on the quantitative study that was done. The results chapter describes the results of the study. Lastly, the discussion discusses the results of the study, draws implications, outlines the limitations of the study and makes suggestions for further research.

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HAPTER

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HEORETICAL

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RAMEWORK

Within this chapter, relevant literature for answering the research questions will be discussed. In order to investigate the association between entrepreneurship and increased attractiveness, I need to analyze two streams of literature thoroughly: entrepreneurial motivation (2.1) and attractiveness and entrepreneurship (2.2). The literature on entrepreneurial motivation is divided in personal motives and social motives, but leaves us with unanswered questions regarding the extent to which increased attractiveness can be an additional motive to add to these lists. The literature on attractiveness and entrepreneurship stems from evolutionary psychology. Based on the parental investment theory and sexual strategies theory, insights will be provided on why certain people are found more attractive than others. This information helps us to connect certain behavioral characteristics that are tied to attractiveness, to tie to entrepreneurship as well. These two streams of literature will be connected to each other in the last two sections of this chapter, when hypotheses (2.3) and expectations (2.4) will be formulated.

2.1:

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NTREPRENEURIAL

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OTIVATION

This study revolves around entrepreneurship. In order to understand the outcomes of this study, it is important that the concept of entrepreneurship is firstly defined clearly. The literature is rich on definitions of entrepreneurship. From very simple ones such as ‘new entry’ Lumpkin & Dess (1996), to much more complicated and elaborative definitions such as ‘the process of creating something different with value by devoting the necessary time and effort; assuming the accompanying financial, psychological, and social risks; and receiving the resulting rewards of monetary and personal satisfaction’ (Hisrisch & Peters, 1989). For the sake of this study, the simplest derivative of definitions is taken, namely: entrepreneurship as ‘founding and owning a company’.

People differ in their motivations of becoming an entrepreneur, because being an entrepreneur offers many challenges, such as accepting the personal and financial risks that go with owning a business. As Campbell (1992) said, entrepreneurship is an unpleasant career choice where one is faced with work situations that are impeded with uncertainty, impediments, failures, and frustrations. Yet on the other hand, they can also benefit from the potential success of the business (Segal et al., 2005). So, what is it that drives certain people to take on these challenges?

11 Jean Bertrand Say defined the entrepreneur in the 19th century as someone who does something for economic gain, and that notion has persisted since, and Schumpeter came up with reasons for starting a firm in 1934 which were also considered to be purely economic (Shane et al., 2003). Yet, more recent insights show that there can be other motives for a person to become an entrepreneur, as people can vary in their personal motives to start a venture. There are certain personal motivations that are known to be big drivers for entrepreneurs-to-be.

Firstly, the most obvious motivation of all are the financial resources that can be obtained through engaging in entrepreneurship. The decision for an entrepreneur to put in effort on a certain task depends on the extent to which this leads to valued outcomes, of which the most obvious one is pay (Kanfer, 1990; Vroom, 1964). This is why motivation can be initiated and strengthened through the promise of potential financial reward. Research has shown that there is a positive relationship between the promise of financial reward and the innovativeness of outcomes (Abbey & Dickson, 1983). Secondly, McClelland’s (1961) research on entrepreneurs found that risk-propensity is a personal motivation for people to engage in entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs need to have a high risk propensity, as they often have to take decisions under circumstances which are uncertain. As the entrepreneurial process involves acting in the face of uncertainty, individuals with motivation to become an entrepreneur should be motivated by the fact that risks will have to be taken. Thirdly, entrepreneurs can be personally motivated by doing well and getting a feeling of accomplishment, which is normally referred to as achievement motivation (McClelland, 1953). As entrepreneurship entails many risks, it can definitely help you in satisfying your needs for achievements. The last personal motive that is known to be a big driver to engage in entrepreneurship is autonomy. When talking about entrepreneurship, autonomy is to be defined as the right that a business owner has to decide what work is done, the timing at which the work is done, and the method in which the work is carried out (van Gelderen, 2016). It is a form of independency. If a person likes taking responsibility to use one’s own judgement as opposed to blindly following the assertion of others (Shane et al., 2003), than this can also be a motivation to engage in entrepreneurship. As an entrepreneur you can be in control and avoid restrictions (Brandstätter, 2011; Cromie, 2000).

The above-mentioned personal motivations are well known in the literature. Yet, there is a type of motivation that not yet has been studied much. It was recently found by Van Gelderen et al. (2017) that for men, the status of entrepreneur increases his attraction to women. This finding leads us to think that increased attractiveness might be a motivation to engage in entrepreneurship, particularly for men. This raises the question which social

12 rewards may then be operational for women. Within the remainder of this section, the possible social motives that are already known in the literature for people to engage in entrepreneurship will be explicated. The extent to which attractiveness is an additional motive that should be added to this list, is a topic of interest within this study.

2.1.1:SOCIAL MOTIVES

As described in the previous section, people engage in entrepreneurship because they can satisfy certain personal needs by doing so, which thus serves as motivation to engage. In this section, more external and indirect outcomes of engaging into entrepreneurship will be described. Not everyone might be aware of it, but the term ‘entrepreneurship’ holds quite a lot of positive associations to it. Entrepreneurship is generally seen as a positive force in society (Borst, 2016). People associate entrepreneurship with terms such as ‘daring’, ‘independent’, and ‘cool’. The entrepreneur is seen as a heroic rational man with an attractive super-normal set of characteristics (Anderson & Warren, 2011; Ogbor, 2000). Entrepreneurs are thought to have a high motivation for self-advancement, a strong attachment to work ethic, and are perceived to be self-reliant, autonomous, intelligent, and street-smart (Frese & Gielnik, 2014; Rauch & Frese, 2007; Zhao & Seibert, 2006). The word ‘entrepreneur’ has a certain sex appeal to it and many people want to be referred to as such. Therefore, it is to be assumed that an entrepreneur generally receives more social rewards from society than an average modal wageworker. A social reward can be seen as a form of recognition that a person gets for the effort he or she put into something, it is a positive evaluation from the environment that a person is in. I will discuss increased attractiveness in the eyes of the opposite sex in the next section. The different types of other social rewards will be discussed in this section: social acceptance, social status, and recognition.

Social acceptance

Social acceptance is a positive evaluation of the self by others (Izuma et al., 2008). It means that other people show that they wish to include you in their groups and relationships (Leary, 2010). Social acceptance can range from merely tolerating someone to actually pursuing someone as a relationship partner (DeWall & Bushman, 2011). The opposite of social acceptance is social rejection, where others do not have the desire to include you in their groups or relationships (DeWall & Bushman, 2011). An example of social acceptance could be that a person is asked to join a sorority or fraternity during their student life. The willingness to be socially accepted by people comes from the ‘need to belong’, which is the desire to form and maintain close, lasting relationships with some other individuals (Baumeister & Leary, 1995). This can also be referred to as ‘need for inclusion’, when you are rewarded with membership into a group (Schotsman & Haaijer, 2015). Social inclusion

13 involves the approval of others with a membership into a group after showing particular behavior or completing a certain task. These desires come from the fact that people look for some kind of positive social contact. Secondly, the stable framework of some ongoing relationship in which people share mutual concerns for each other is also much wanted by people.

Social status

Moving on to another social reward: social status. Social status is the extent to which an individual or group is respected or admired by others (Magee & Galinsky, 2008). This definition helps us to understand the development of hierarchy in task-oriented groups and organizations, because there, the ranking of respect and admiration forms around judgments of expertise and competence among its members (Magee & Galinsky, 2008). From interpersonal interaction, information about an individual on for example his or her expertise or competence can be retrieved. This information can also come from a person’s reputation or from a stereotype (Magee & Galinsky, 2008). The status of a person can only change when the respect for the person changes. For example, an important achievement or accomplishment of an individual can cause for a change in social status of this particular individual, yet only when this accomplishment is translated into subjective interpretations by others (Magee & Galinsky, 2008).

Recognition

Then lastly, recognition. A person can be positively recognized through acknowledgement by a certain group of his or her reputation, by being respected, and by being socially praised. The concept of reputation has quite a big connection with social status, as positive reputation can bring you social status (Anderson & Shirako, 2008). A reputation is defined as the set of beliefs, perceptions, and evaluations a community forms about one of its members (Bromley, 1993; Craik, 2007; Emler, 1990). Reputation often refers to an individual’s integrity or virtuousness. When someone is said to have a ‘good reputation’, often it is meant that he or she is known to be trustworthy and ethical (Anderson & Shirako, 2008). Yet, Anderson and Shirako say that reputation can entail other evaluations as well, such as industriousness, warmth, or creativity – depending on the community the individual is in. Another form of recognition is gaining respect from others. Respect is reverent recognition, or acknowledgement of a presence of a person. Respect is regard for that person which is worthy of admiration (Parse, 2006). The literature on respect specifies it as an earned phenomenon important to human dignity, recognition, and esteem, and earning respect should therefore be significant to health and quality of life (Parse, 2006). Lastly, recognition in the form of receiving social praise. Social praise is the explicit signaling of positive attitudes about another person (Ramirez-Marin & Shafa, 2018). Examples of social praise

14 are expressing sympathy to another person or complimenting someone. They are mere acts and happen at a moment in time. Receiving social praise can be a motivation for people to for example do certain tasks better or put more effort in.

The described personal and social motives can be obtained through engagement in entrepreneurship. Therefore, they form – depending on the person – to some extent a part of the motive to engage. This study is interested in whether there is another variable that should be added to the list of social motives, namely: increased attractiveness. The next section explains what is already known about attractiveness and entrepreneurship, and serves the cues as to why this suggestion came to be.

2.1.2:INCREASED ATTRACTIVENESS AS A MOTIVE FOR ENTREPRENEURS

The general public perception of entrepreneurs is that they are perceived as attractive, interesting, sexy, and popular. A study by Tinder (Reynolds, 2016) showed that being an entrepreneur – for both men and women – scored in the top 3 of most desirable jobs as titles in online dating apps, right after pilots and fire workers. For men it was the number 2 position, and for women the number 3. The study showed that when people share a job title as ‘entrepreneur’, his or her chances of receiving a right swipe increased (Reynolds, 2016) (and were thus perceived as more attractive).

The study by Van Gelderen et al. (2017) provides for initial evidence for attractiveness as a motive to start a new venture. The study showed that the status entrepreneurship increases a woman’s attraction to an entrepreneurial man, women rated male entrepreneurs as significantly more attractive than male employees. Attractiveness motivation might be unconscious to many people, they might not really be aware of the evolutionary reasons behind the perception that entrepreneurship comes with a higher chance of an ability to invest in and protect offspring. Yet, since an increase in attractiveness accompanies entrepreneurship, some people (especially men) might have some sense of the enhanced appeal, and are thus (unconsciously) motivated by it. This could be an explanation of why there are higher start-up rates for male entrepreneurs than for female entrepreneurs (Van Gelderen et al., 2017).

This study by Van Gelderen et al. (2017) raised some further questions on this topic. Firstly, do individuals believe that they are more attractive because of their entrepreneurship, or so to say: do they associate entrepreneurship with an increase in attractiveness? In relation to this, how do these entrepreneurs express this attractiveness association? What non-physical behavioral expressions that are linked to entrepreneurship make a person more attractive? Do entrepreneurs take actions and have beliefs which originate from this increased

15 attractiveness perception? Exploratory results from the same study showed that men claim to use their entrepreneurial status to enhance their appeal to women (Van Gelderen et al., 2017), and it thus seems that they deliberately and consciously disclose their status to the opposite sex in order to impress them. To what extent, and on which behavioral expressions is this really true, and how do men and women differ on this? The study by Van Gelderen et al. mentions that women tend to refrain from explicitly mentioning that they deliberately disclose their status as entrepreneur to impress men, the reason being that they do not want to create relationships based on work status, and that they do not feel the need to brag about business. According to the women, that was more of a thing for men to do. So, women are aware that their status could enhance their appeal to men, but do not use it to do so (Van Gelderen et al., 2017). This asks for further investigation on whether or not it is true that women do not disclose certain types of behavior in order to impress men.

2.2:

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TTRACTIVENESS AND

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NTREPRENEURSHIP

Two broad categories determine human attractiveness: physical characteristics, and non-physical characteristics. The non-physical characteristics are the aspects of human beings that can be observed with the eye, such as the face and the body of a person. Non-physical characteristics are personality traits or behavioral aspects of a person. Human attractiveness is not only determined by physical characteristics of a person. Even though the physical is witnessed first and plays a very big role in defining a person’s admiration at first notice, the non-physical characteristics influence the perception of attractiveness substantially after this. Non-physical characteristics can for example be: social status, intelligence, humor, and prosocial behavior.

Within this section, there will be elaborated upon the origins of human attractiveness. Insights from evolutionary psychology will be provided, through an analysis of both the Parental Investment Theory and the Sexual Strategies Theory. This section will conclude with a description of characteristics that are generally perceived as attractive to humans, and thereafter the characteristics that are tied to attractiveness as well as to entrepreneurship will be described. These characteristics are named non-physical expressions of attractiveness.

2.2.1:PARENTAL INVESTMENT &SEXUAL STRATEGIES THEORY

The parental investment theory by Trivers (1972) is about time and energy that parents invest in raising their offspring and the risks that they incur in order to protect them. According to this theory, women have a relatively higher parental investment compared to men. Women have to put more effort into raising children, as they are the ones who are pregnant for nine months, who need to breastfeed during the child’s first months, and so on.

16 Therefore, women are said to be more selective in their choice for mates, as they want to have the best possible partner who can provide her with the necessary resources to raise her child. So, the sex that invests the most in the offspring will be more selective in choice of partner. The female looks for a mate with good genes which the child can inherit, and therefore a man who looks physically attractive and is physically fit. Also, she looks for a mate who possesses certain behavioral characteristics which could result in good future prospects with regard to material and financial resources needed in order to raise a child. A man who can obtain more financial resources and a higher social status can make greater parental investments and thus make a greater contribution to the success of the offspring.

The sexual strategies theory (Buss & Schmitt, 1993) proposes that humans have different mating strategies for both short-term and long-term mates. It focuses on the differences between men and women in mating preferences and strategies. The biggest difference between men and women lies within the minimum investment that has to be made: for women it is carrying a baby for nine months, for men it is simply an act of having sex. The result is a much higher risk for the women, compared to men. When a woman has sex, it could result in a pregnancy by a man who is not fit for future investments, or who has bad genes. As the woman needs to carry the child and also is expected due to cultural expectations to take care of the child (more so than men), she will be much more selective in choosing a mating partner. This explains why men are less choosy in selecting a short-term mate than women, and why women look more for a long-term partner instead of a short-term partner. The evaluation that women make of a good long-term partner can for example be on cues of ambition, income, status, and industriousness (Buss, 1989).

2.2.2:CHARACTERISTICS TIED TO ATTRACTIVENESS

Before diving into the characteristics that are tied to attractiveness as well as to entrepreneurship, I first look at which attributes humans in general find attractive in a mate. This will provide for a clearer picture on the characteristics that are tied especially to attractiveness in relation with entrepreneurship.

Physical attraction

One the males’ side, women especially value body shape. The waist-to-chest ratio plays a big role in male attractiveness: men with broad shoulders and a narrow waist are preferred, as this shape signals physical power and muscle development (Fan, Dai, Liu, & Wu, 2005; Frederick & Haselton, 2007; Tovée et al., 1999; Swami & Tovée, 2005), which to women is a sign of safety and protection. On the females’ side, men especially value a women’s capacity to reproduce healthy offspring (Buss, 2015). Attributes such as age, health, hormone profile,

17 parity, and the ability to fight off diseases determine female reproductive potential (Wazir, 2016). Yet, since these attributes are hard to observe, certain features which are strongly linked to female reproduction act as cues towards these variables. A woman with a small waist, bigger hips and bigger breasts, is generally observed to have a higher reproduction value than other physical appearances, and therefore evaluated as more attractive by men. Both men and women prefer a symmetrical face. A symmetrical face represents a high quality of development and suggests that the possessor has resisted all types of environmental and genetic stressors and difficulties during growth (Gangestad & Thornhill, 1998). Also, people with symmetrical faces may be seen as less likely to pass on diseases to their children, thus serving a cue for good genes. Beauty cues are thus originally health and fertility cues.

There is also evidence that women prefer a man who is somewhat older than they are (Buss & Schmitt, 1993), whereas men prefer a woman who is younger. The reasons for this stem from evolutionary theory, which says that women look for men with more resources, which older men tend to have more of (Buss, 2015). Whereas men look for women who have highest reproductive value, and younger women are more fertile than older women.

Non-physical attraction

There are certain characteristics which are generally viewed as more attractive to the opposite sex than others. Think about someone who is very proactive and ambitious, and wants to make the most out of his or her day each day. And then, think about a passive and lazy person, who only cares about watching TV on the couch. Which person do you think most people find more attractive?

There exist many differences between what women find attractive in a men’s behavior and vice versa. The importance of these characteristics also varies when assessing the duration of engagement with a possible partner. For example, for short-term encounters women value certain behavioral characteristics less heavily than for long-term relationships.

Firstly, women prefer a men’s earnings capacity (Buss, 1989). Hill et al. (1987) found that when men wear clothes that represent a high socioeconomic class, that they are perceived as more attractive by women. Through a men’s ambition and industriousness, a woman assesses whether he has a high earnings capacity. Additionally, a men’s socio-economic status is an important resource that women look for in men. Dunn and Searle (2010) found that driving a high-status car increased a male’s attractiveness. Then, it is also argued that females prefer a male who dares to take risks and who acts dominantly. These traits are

18 signs of masculinity and the result of high levels of testosterone, which are attractive to females as they are seen as fitness values (Buss, 2015). Lastly, females prefer men who express pro-social behavior. Men with prosocial behavior are rated more physically and sexually attractive, socially desirable, and more desirable as dates by women than non-prosocial men (Jensen-Campbell et al., 1995).

Men tend to have lower requirements for women with regard to behavioral characteristics. On the other hand, they do have higher requirements on the physical side (Kenrick et al., 1990). As explained before, men tend to look at bodily features that express a women’s fertility (such as the waist-to-hip ratio and breast size), and a women’s youth.

Yet, aside from all these differences between men and women, there are also behavioral characteristics that both men and women value to the same extent in a partner, such as kindness, understanding, responsibility, a stable personality, and a sense of humor (Buss & Schmitt, 1993).

2.2.3:CHARACTERISTICS TIED TO ATTRACTIVENESS AS WELL AS TO ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Then, I move on to the typical characteristics that are related to entrepreneurship and attractiveness. As an entrepreneur, there are certain behavioral expressions that are beneficial to possess in order to successfully sustain your venture. The textbook by Buss (2015) called Evolutionary Psychology describes types non-physical behavioral expressions of attractiveness, and the ones related to entrepreneurship are selected and described underneath.

Expressions of economic resources

The possession of economic resources serves as a cue for attractiveness, especially for females. The evolution of women’s preference for a long-term mate with resources required preconditions in order for these economic resources to be of value to the females (Buss, 2015). First, they would have to be accruable, defensible, and controllable. Secondly, those resources would have to be different from the ones of other potential partners.

Expressions of good financial prospects / future potential of resources

Having good financial prospects is another non-physical expression of attractiveness to the other sex. Woman value good financial prospects in a mate about twice as highly as men (Buss et al., 2001). Some studies present how this can be expressed, namely through: growing up in affluent neighborhoods (Fisman et al., 2006), a person’s income and education (Asendorpf et al., 2010), resource acquisition (Minervini & McAndrew, 2006),

19 owning cars, good economic standing and placement of importance on career (Bokek-Cohen et al., 2007), and lastly, intelligence (Buss et al., 1990).

Expressions of a high social status

Commanding a high position or having a high social status is a universal cue to the control of resources (Buss, 2015). With status comes better food, more abundant territory, and superior health care. A high social status was studied as the likelihood of success in a profession and the possession of a promising career. Education and professional degrees in mates are also characteristics with a strong like to social status. Women especially prefer to prioritize social status. Women find man who possess high-status items such as luxury cars or apartments especially attractive (Dunn & Hill, 2014).

Expressions of ambition and industriousness / proactivity

Hard work is one of the best predictors of past and anticipated income and promotions (Buss, 2015). People who say they work hard achieve higher levels of education, status, annual salaries, and anticipate greater salaries and promotions than those who do not work as hard. When you are ambitious and industrious, your occupational status is higher than when you are lazy and unmotivated (Buss, 2015). Especially women have evolved a preference for men possessing signs of the ability to acquire resources and a disdain for men who lack all of this (Buss, 2015).

Expressions of dependability and emotional stability

A worldwide study on the characteristics that are most highly valued for mate selection showed that, after love, a dependable character and emotional stability/maturity were most important (Buss, 2015). Men and woman have the same preference for dependability in a partner, but emotional stability/maturity is valued higher by women than by men (Buss et al., 1990). These characteristics form signals that resources will be provided consistently over time, and on the other hand, when you lack these characteristics, potential heavy emotional costs could be inflicted on mates.

Expressions of generosity

Generosity is favored in a mate. When generous gestures are observable and reliable by a possible mate, this generous person will be found more attractive than someone who is stingy with resources (Buss, 2015). Again, this is more valued by women, as generosity indicates both the possession of resources and the willingness to share them.

20 Expressions of access to important or powerful networks

Having access to important people through your own network makes you more attractive. Important people can make or break you as they have much influence. When you possess these connections, and this is well known among your surroundings, you become more interesting to interact with as your potential in life is significantly higher than when you would not possess these connections. Again, a characteristic valued more by women, as women select for social status as an indication of the possession of resources.

Expressions of bravery, courage and risk-taking

By showing courage, being brave, and taking risks, there is potential that big successes will be achieved. When you lack the bravery or courage to ever take risks, the chances are much lower that these big successes will be achieved. People who are risk-takers are generally much admired by others, since it takes a strong character to accept uncertainty and the possibility of failure. Research found that women take less risks than men and are more (financially) risk averse than men (Charness & Gneezy, 2012). Because women value risk taking, men take more risks in the presence of women they find attractive. For example, Ronay & Hippel (2010) had attractive women pass by skate parks which led male skateboarders to perform dangerous stunts.

Expressions of dominance

Dominance-associated traits have been suggested as honest signals of male genetic quality (Havlicek, 2005). When male behave dominantly, it can be a sign to women that they are strong of character, and that they are able to protect them and take care of them. Having a dominant character can be beneficial in for example being a leader, which on its turn can provide for many benefits a mate can take advantage of.

Expressions of creativity

A personality trait as creativity is also beneficial in mating. When you have a creative mind, it is much more plausible that you will be able to distinguish yourself from others, and through that gain more resources than others. Creativity creates a possibility of starting your own business for example, which could account for a higher income than that of an average wageworker. Creativity is yet another resource women find attractive as it may increase the chances for offspring to survive.

Expressions of non-conformity

Non-conformity correlates with creativity, because when a person has the ability to be creative, he or she does not feel the need to conform to others or follow others, as he or she

21 can make his or her own way. Being a ‘follower’ is not attractive, as it is an expression of weak character. Being able to create your own destiny is a sign of a strong personality and provides for potential to make it big.

Expressions of independence

To be able to be self-reliant is an important factor of influence of a man’s attractiveness. Being able to take care of yourself and not be dependent on others makes a man more interesting to women, as when you can take care of yourself, you are more likely to be able to take care of another person as well. An independent man shows that he has the capacities to earn his own money and acquire the necessary resources to live a good life. The potential that he could share his resources with a mate makes him attractive to women.

Expressions of bragging or exaggeration

People experience the emotion of envy when they cannot get a certain mate whilst a competitor can. In studies of deception tactics, men are more likely than women to inflate their status, prestige, and income to potential mates (Buss, 2015). A study showed that men are more likely than women to misrepresent the magnitude of their personal assets, notably their income and education level (Hall, et al., 2010). This suggests that men are aware of women’s preferences for resources and qualities linked with their acquisition, and take action in an effort to embody (or appear to embody) what women want (Buss, 2015). Roney (2003) studied whether the mere exposure of attractive women would activate cognitive adaptations in men, so that they would embody the qualities that women want in a mate. Roney made three hypotheses, namely that exposure to young attractive women would: 1) increase the importance men place on their own financial success, 2) experience feeling more ambitious, and 3) produce self-descriptions that correspond to what women want. The study showed that when mating motives are primed by the exposure of the women, men will value and display precisely what women want and hence what men need to succeed in mate competition (Buss, 2015).

Expressions of derogation

As said in the section above, in studies of tactics of attraction, men are more likely to display resources, talk about their professional successes, flash money, drive expensive cars, and brag about their accomplishments (Buss, 2015). To derogate your competition, tactics can include indicating that a rival is poor, lacks ambition, and is unlikely to succeed professionally (Buss, 2015).

22 As will be noticed from all of the expressions described above, they mostly only count for increase in attractiveness on the man’s side. Due to evolutionary theory which claims that men had to take care of women, and thus needed the resources to do so, these behavioral expressions for the biggest part go in a one-way street. Men value physical beauty much more than women, but this is not a characteristic inherently tied to entrepreneurship. Similar to women they value such attributes as intelligence, humor and kindness, but these are also not tied to entrepreneurship.

2.3:

H

YPOTHESES

D

EVELOPMENT

Based on the literature provided above on entrepreneurial motivation and on entrepreneurship and attractiveness, hypotheses concerning the research questions are formulated within this section.

Firstly, I hypothesize on the behavioral expressions that are related to attractiveness. The literature points in the direction that due to evolutionary reasons, women find a wide number of characteristics associated with entrepreneurship attractive. As a consequence, male entrepreneurs are believed to take more actions and have more beliefs that are associated with increased attractiveness to the opposite sex, and that men are more likely to disclose these expressions in order to impress women. Therefore, the following two hypotheses are formulated.

Hypothesis 1: Male entrepreneurs to a higher extent take actions and have beliefs which the literature associates with increased attractiveness to the opposite sex than female entrepreneurs

Hypothesis 2: Of those entrepreneurs who take actions and have beliefs which are associated with increased attractiveness to the opposite sex, male entrepreneurs disclose these to impress the opposite sex to a higher extent than females

Then, I want to discover whether male and female entrepreneurs associate entrepreneurship with increased attractiveness. Everyone makes an evaluation of his or her own level of attractiveness, just like you have an evaluation of your own intelligence, humor, social skills, etc. Whether it is compatible with how others value your attractiveness, can differ per person. Generally, if you have a high self-esteem, and you are for example a bit narcissistic, the chances are quite high that you value your own attractiveness at a higher level than others value you. When on the other hand you are a humble person who lacks some self-esteem, than there is a high chance you will rate your attractiveness somewhat lower than

23 your surroundings would. So, depending on a person’s own personality traits it differs on how you view your own attractiveness. Yet, certain actions or experiences in life can enhance your personal view of yourself and can make you feel, for example, more confident and with that ‘feel more attractive’. As entrepreneurship comes with many positive associations, and because entrepreneurship has ‘sex appeal’, it is quite possible than through engaging in entrepreneurship a person’s own evaluation of his or her attractiveness will increase. An entrepreneur is generally viewed as higher on the social hierarchy than an average modal wageworker, so because of the fact that you can put the label ‘entrepreneur’ on yourself, it could be the case that your own perception of your own attractiveness will increase. As the literature showed that men are rewarded with attractiveness due to their engagement in entrepreneurship more so than women, it is expected that the following hypothesis is true.

Hypothesis 3: Male entrepreneurs associate entrepreneurship with an increase in attractiveness to a higher extent than women

As mentioned before, there are many positive associations with to entrepreneurship. It will therefore be likely that, relative to an average employee, an entrepreneur will be more frequently socially rewarded in its life due to his or her entrepreneurship. Humans all need social acceptance, social status, reputation, a feeling of inclusion, respect, and social praise to some extent. But, there are differences between people in how much of these social rewards they ‘need’, or to what extent they value these rewards in their lives. If men receive the social reward of increased attractiveness (to the opposite sex), then what social rewards are obtained by women? This is a relevant question to ask, because studies have found that women are more sensitive to social signals than men (Rosenthal and DePaulo, 1979; Baron-Cohen and Wheelwright, 2004; Proverbio et al., 2008), and women are found to be more reward-dependent than men (Cloninger et al., 1991; Otter et al., 1995; Krebs et al., 1998). As women are in general more sensitive to appraisal of others, it is expected that women would to a higher extent experience other types of social rewards than men, and that they gain more satisfaction out of them as well. I therefore hypothesize the following.

Hypothesis 4: Female entrepreneurs experience social rewards of being an entrepreneur (other than increased sexual attractiveness) to a higher extent than male entrepreneurs Hypothesis 5: Of those entrepreneurs who experience social rewards (other than increased sexual attractiveness), female entrepreneurs to a higher extent gain satisfaction out of the other social rewards of being an entrepreneur than male entrepreneurs

24

2.4:

E

XPLORING THE

E

FFECTS OF

S

TAGE AND

A

GE

This section will explore the effects that the entrepreneurial stage and the age of an entrepreneur have on the topics of research. Expectations regarding entrepreneurial stage and entrepreneurial age will be formulated. It should be noted that, due to the low power of the research methods of this study, no statistical evidence will be provided on these exploring effects. The results that will be gathered are simply to gain some additional insights into the effects that stage and age might have on the association entrepreneurs make between attractiveness and entrepreneurship, and the outcomes the association has on behavior. This section will start with an explanation of the expectations that are formulated regarding entrepreneurial stages and will conclude with an explanation of the expectations formulated regarding differing ages of entrepreneurs.

2.4.1:STAGE

An entrepreneur is a person who has or had an idea and exploited this into the market. This is one thing all people who call themselves entrepreneurs need to have in common. Yet, there is still a distinction to be made between types of entrepreneurs, or more to say, the stages that they currently are in. As the creation of a new venture is a process, this process can be considered to have four stages: conception, gestation, infancy and adolescence (Wagner, 2006). When at the beginning there is only the conception and idea of the venture, but it has not yet been started, you call this person with his or her ideas a nascent entrepreneur. When the gestation has happened and the start-up has been born, within the first two years of the venture we call the entrepreneur a beginning entrepreneur. As the venture moves on from its infancy towards an established firm, the entrepreneur behind the venture can be called an experienced entrepreneur, this process has mostly been completed after two years (Wagner, 2006).

I expect beginning entrepreneurs to express the non-physical behaviors of attractiveness to the highest extent. A beginning entrepreneur will feel new to the situation he or she is in. The new types of (positive) attention they get from their surroundings due to their entrepreneurship could account for an increase in their confidence. Through this increase in confidence, it could be expected that male beginning entrepreneurs dare to express the mentioned behaviors to a higher extent.

Expectation 1: Beginning male entrepreneurs to a higher extent take actions and have beliefs that are associated with increased attractiveness to the opposite sex than male nascent or experienced entrepreneurs or female entrepreneurs

25

Expectation 2: Beginning male entrepreneurs who take actions and have beliefs that are associated with increased attractiveness to the opposite sex, disclose these to impress the opposite sex to a higher extent than male nascent or experienced entrepreneurs or female entrepreneurs

The perception of your own attractiveness can increase bit by bit whilst engaging in entrepreneurship. As entrepreneurship is so desired, an entrepreneur will likely receive social rewards because of it possibly quite often. Indirectly through these social rewards your own perception of your attractiveness might increase bit by bit. The longer you are engaging in entrepreneurship, the more confident you get. Yet, this treatment by others also will start to become ‘normal’ after a while, and less value will be added to it thereafter. Therefore, I expect the following to be true.

Expectation 3: Beginning male entrepreneurs associate entrepreneurship with an increase in attractiveness to a higher extent than nascent or experienced male entrepreneurs or than female entrepreneurs

Then, I move on to the expectations on the topic concerning other types of social rewards. When a person is insecure, he or she seeks confirmation from others (social rewards) in order to gain confidence. A nascent entrepreneur lacks experience in entrepreneuring and is therefore the most likely to be insecure about the entrepreneurial process (compared to beginning and experienced entrepreneurs). Also, women are generally found to have less confidence than men and are generally more sensitive to the opinions of others than men. I therefore expect the following to be true.

Expectation 4: Nascent female entrepreneurs experience other social rewards of being an entrepreneur (other than increased sexual attractiveness) to a higher extent than beginning or experienced female entrepreneurs or male entrepreneurs

Expectation 5: Nascent female entrepreneurs to a higher extent gain satisfaction out of experiencing other social rewards of being an entrepreneur than beginning or experienced female entrepreneurs or male entrepreneurs

2.4.2:AGE

Then, moving on to expectations regarding differences in age. Differences regarding age are expected to go in the following direction. A young person (20-29 years of age) is in the most fertile stage of his life. Generally during this age, they are most actively searching for mating

26 partners. For older aged males, the chances are higher that they have already settled down with a long-term partner. The younger males are therefore expected to behave on their attractiveness to a higher extent than the older age groups.

Expectation 6: Younger male entrepreneurs to a higher extent take actions and have beliefs that are associated with increased attractiveness to the opposite sex than older male entrepreneurs or female entrepreneurs

Expectation 7: Younger male entrepreneurs who take actions and have beliefs that are associated with increased attractiveness to the opposite sex, disclose these to impress the opposite sex to a higher extent than older male entrepreneurs or female entrepreneurs

Building on the information provided in the previous section on stages, I expect that the younger and less experienced you are, the more you seek to grow, the more you are open to development, and thus expect to become more attractive in the future.

Expectation 8: Younger male entrepreneurs associate entrepreneurship with an increase in attractiveness to a higher extent than older male entrepreneurs or than female entrepreneurs

Then lastly, expectations on age and social rewards are formulated. As a young person is still maturing, and thus in the development of his or her life, I expect that this comes with insecurities, and therefore less confidence about the person you are. A young person is much more vulnerable to the judgments of others, and will therefore to a higher extent be looking for confirmation from others. Women are generally less secure than men, and more sensitive to their surroundings. It is therefore logical to expect the following.

Expectation 9: Young female entrepreneurs experience other social rewards of being an entrepreneur (other than increased sexual attractiveness) to a higher extent than older women or male entrepreneurs

Expectation 10: Young female entrepreneurs to a higher extent gain satisfaction out of experiencing other social rewards of being an entrepreneur than older women or male entrepreneurs

27

C

HAPTER

3:

M

ETHODOLOGY

This study tests whether male and female entrepreneurs differ in the extent to which they associate entrepreneurship with an increase in attractiveness. Also, it looks at non-physical attractiveness expressions and social rewards obtained through entrepreneurship. It tests whether male and female entrepreneurs take actions and have beliefs regarding non-physical behavioral expressions of attractiveness, and whether they use these to impress the other sex. Next to that, it tests whether male and female entrepreneurs experience other types of social rewards, and to what extent they gain satisfaction out of these rewards. To test these assumptions, a quantitative study was performed in form of a survey among entrepreneurs. The remainder of this chapter will explain how the data for this study was collected and how it was analyzed. Firstly, the research design will be elaborated upon. Next up, the sample will be discussed. Then, the measures are explained, and lastly, the data analysis.

3.1:

R

ESEARCH

D

ESIGN

In order to answer the research questions, a quantitative study was performed in the form of a survey. An advantage of this method of research is that it makes it possible to generate a large sample size to represent the population. Also, the standardization of the survey makes replication of the study – in for example different contexts – easy. Therefore, this type of research is usually reliable. Data was collected via a survey and analyzed through SPSS.

This study mainly uses gender as the independent variable. The dependent variables that are tested within this study concern the expressions of behavioral types, the disclosing of the same behavioral expressions, the association of entrepreneurship and attractiveness, the experience of types of social rewards, and the satisfaction attainment from the same types of social rewards by entrepreneurs.

3.2:

S

AMPLE

This study researched entrepreneurs and people who will become an entrepreneur in the near future. Both male and female entrepreneurs were studied, of the age categories 20 to 29, 30 to 39, and 40+. I sampled nascent, beginning, and experienced entrepreneurs. Type or size of entrepreneurial ventures and the amount people they employ was not of importance.

28 The minimum sample size to ensure a representative distribution of the population, and to for the study to be considered representative of the groups of people to whom the results will be generalized to, is 100 respondents. When a sample size of 50 was reached, it became clear that more, especially some older respondents had to be added to the sample, as well as more women, relatively. So, 53 more respondents were added to the sample, resulting in a total of 103 respondents. In appendix I, Descriptive Statistics are presented of the sample group frequencies, in which can be viewed how each target group is represented in the sample. In table 1 below a summary with the most important information of appendix I is provided.

Table 1: Descriptive Sample Statistics

Count Gender Entrepreneurial stage Total Nascent entrepreneur Beginning entrepreneur Experienced entrepreneur Men Age 20-29 16 7 9 32 30-39 1 4 6 11 40+ 0 3 9 12 Total 17 14 24 55 Women Age 20-29 13 12 3 28 30-39 1 5 5 11 40+ 1 2 6 9 Total 15 19 14 48 Total Age 20-29 29 19 12 60 30-39 2 9 11 22 40+ 1 5 15 21 Total 32 33 38 103

As said, a sample size of 100 is a minimum to allow for reliable results. The distribution of the survey started on the 31st of May through social media and through anonymous links. Qualtrics has functions for distribution via social media. The LinkedIn and Facebook functions were used to set it out on those platforms, see the text that was used for the messages in appendix II. On Facebook, next to posting the message on the Facebook-wall, it was also posted in several groups: the Entrepreneurship master students groups (80 people), the group of my student home (850 people), and the group of my student association (1200 people). Also, on Instagram a story was created, and the survey-link was placed in my bio (appendix II), this story was seen by about 500 people. Lastly, the survey