The image of the swashbuckling entrepreneur eager to take risks is untrue for most business owners, according to a psychological study that shows founders are more likely to express cautious traits than the general population.
The research found that 52 per cent of the entrepreneurs interviewed displayed one of three risk-averse traits: wary, prudent or deliberate.
Of the 250 business owners studied by the Psychological Consultancy and Association of Business Psychologists on behalf of AXA Business Insurance, only 3.6 per cent displayed what were called adventurous characteristics, compared with 12.8 per cent from a sample of 2,000 members of the public.