ADHD-like behaviour and entrepreneurial intentions

Many entrepreneurs we see of the present and the past, have been subject to psychiatric symptoms. One of these symptoms, has recently attracted researchers’ attention and is known as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), a developmental disorder, associated with ample energy, in the form of severe and persistent hyperactivity and distractibility. Despite been categorized as a disorder, this condition is associated with traits that are of crucial importance for the success of a prospective entrepreneur, such as the ability to identify and take risks. In line with the Person-Environment fit theory, this study examines whether individuals exhibiting ADHD-like behaviour, are more likely to become entrepreneurs, compared to their peers, by using a dataset of 9,907 students of higher education. Despite the initial expectations, the analysis did not provide significant results on the relationship between ADHD and entrepreneurial intentions. On the other hand, the study was able to verify that individuals exhibiting ADHD-like behaviour are more likely to undertake risky decisions and that individuals exhibiting risk taking behaviour are more likely to become entrepreneurs. As a follow up study of Verheul et al. (2015), this study focuses on the importance to indirectly measure conditions that are perceived as disadvantageous in our society, in order to increase the response rate, and be able to produce more accurate results.