The Psychology of Entrepreneurship

The process of entrepreneurship, starting and running an own business, is an important mechanism in society, affecting job creation, innovation, and social and technological change. Many experts agree that the individual entrepreneur is the most important agent in this process, which highlights the relevance of human psychology for entrepreneurship-related practice, theory, and research. This inaugural lecture attempts to offer a brief overview over our psychological knowledge on core phenomena of entrepreneurship. The lecture covers historical approaches, current focus areas, with a particular emphasis on the interplay between applied psychology and entrepreneurship research. Guided by an interactive human agency-structure perspective, the lecture highlights work on personality, skill development, and local culture. It concludes with a discussion how current and emerging research frontiers, such as entrepreneurial AI, have the potential to transform the field.