• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.139-154
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• 2018

Government support for entrepreneurship has been very useful for many young people who start new ventures to chase their dreams. However, it has constantly been abused by unscrupulous people who intend to take advantage of monetary support. Why do some exploit it, while others make good use of it? It is important to examine the immoral personality traits in potential entrepreneurs, because entrepreneurship affects not only individuals, but also the entire society and country. This study investigates the relationship between negative personality traits and nascent entrepreneurship. Specifically, it examines the effects of the dark triad of personality - narcissism, Machiavellianism, and subclinical psychopathy - on entrepreneurial intention, self-efficacy, and productive and unproductive entrepreneurial motives. We conducted a questionnaire-based survey on university students who intend to start new ventures in the future, while pursuing entrepreneurship education. We analyzed a total of 265 responses. We found that narcissism is the only factor that has a positive influence on entrepreneurial intention. Narcissism has a positive effect on entrepreneurial self-efficacy, while psychopathy has a negative effect. We also found that narcissism has a positive influence on productive entrepreneurial motives, while Machiavellianism has a significant negative influence. Finally, we found that Machiavellianism and psychopathy have a positive impact on unproductive entrepreneurial motives.