Rule breaking in adolescence and entrepreneurial status: An empirical investigation

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t Entrepreneurship researchers contend that many entrepreneurs are rule breakers in order to succeed in their venturing processes. Few studies have examined the longitudinal relationship between negative forms of rule breaking in adolescence and entrepreneurial status in adulthood. Drawing upon Willis' [Willis, R.H. 1963. Two dimensions of conformity– nonconformity. Sociometry 26: 499–513.] theory on nonconformity, this study hypothesizes a positive relationship between an individual's modest rule breaking in adolescence and entrepreneurial status. Results (N = 165) support this hypothesis and also show that modest rule breaking serves as a mediator in the relationship between risk propensity and entrepreneurial status. These results have important implications for entrepreneurs' ethical decision making. 1. Executive summary Entrepreneurs are often characterized by traits such as autonomy, innovation, and high risk taking. Almost by definition, an entrepreneur should be a rule breaker in order to be innovative and successful in the venturing process. Rule breaking refers to individual behaviors that " fail to conform to the applicable normative expectations of the group " (Kaplan, 1980, p. 5). This definition reveals that rule breaking can be either positive or negative. Researchers and practitioners in entrepreneurship have paid extensive attention to the positive forms of rule breaking in adulthood (e.g., challenging accepted standards and practices, bypassing obsolete norms to improve efficiency, etc.). Numerous anecdotal stories have emerged with regard to the importance of positive forms of rule breaking for the invention of a new product or new production method, the generation of new markets, and the establishment of new ventures. In contrast, negative forms of rule breaking have seldom been discussed in the entrepreneurship literature. Few studies have examined the long-term consequences of negative forms of rule breaking that occurred in one's earlier life. This study attempts to fill this research gap by investigating the associations among rule breaking in adolescence, risk propensity, and entrepreneurial status (ES; i.e., whether an individual becomes an entrepreneur or a corporate manager). Rule breaking in adolescence is operationalized as negative forms of deviance that a person engaged in before graduating from high school. Various rule-breaking behaviors (e.g., delinquency, family and school offenses, drug use, etc.) were measured retrospectively in order to predict entrepreneurial status assessed six years apart. Previous studies only showed posterior differences between identified samples of Humanities Research Council of Canada. We …