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Entrepreneurship has become an increasingly important and highly researched area for management scholars. Much of the research has focused on identifying the traits and motives of entrepreneurs, as well as the demographic characteristics that may predispose individuals toward entrepreneurial careers as opposed to those in other fields such as organizational management (e.g. [14] Collins et al. , 2004; [25] Hansemark, 2000, [26] 2003; [39] Lachman, 1980; [45] McClelland, 1965; [54] Meyer et al. , 1961). In addition, research has investigated the qualities and behaviors that lead to entrepreneurial success (e.g. [6] Baron and Markman, 2000; [47] McClelland, 1987; [63] Rauch and Frese, 2000, [64] 2007; [65] Rauch et al. , 2009). It has been argued that although personality traits may predispose persons to become entrepreneurs, entrepreneurial skills can be taught ([59] Neck et al. , 1999). The differences between entrepreneurship and other business endeavors are thought by many to be great enough to justify the offering of distinctive programs in entrepreneurship at numerous universities ([31] Hisrich and O'Cinneide, 1996).
The term "entrepreneurship" has been used inconsistently in the literature ([7] Bennett and Dann, 2000). It has been used as a proxy for self-employment and business ownership, as well as entrepreneurial activity ([9] Beugelsdijk and Noorderhaven, 2005). In our investigation of entrepreneurial career interests, we use the terms "entrepreneurship" and "self-employment" interchangeably to include individuals who have a desire to develop and/or implement an idea for an enterprise ([20] Cubico et al. , 2010; [36] Kets de Vries, 1996). As we will discuss, there are numerous personality traits that may contribute to persons becoming entrepreneurs. However, we focus specifically on affiliation motivation.
Affiliation motivation, i.e. the desire to have social contact and positive interaction with others ([29] Hill, 1987) or to establish and maintain relationships with others ([85] Wong and Csikszentmihalyi, 1991), has not been studied among entrepreneurs to the extent that achievement motivation, locus of control, and many other traits have been. The literature that does exist gives contradictory views as to whether entrepreneurs do or should possess a high level ([6] Baron and Markman, 2000; [86] Zhao and Seibert, 2006) or a low level ([27] Henderson, 1974; [39] Lachman, 1980) of affiliation motivation. Moreover, resolution of these inconsistencies is likely to have significant...