"Psychological literature defines resilient prototypes as individuals who score highly on the Big Five traits: extraversion, openness, conscientiousness, agreeableness and emotional stability. We asked ourselves whether inviduals who fit this resilient prototype profile also demonstrate greater resilience during economic crises," said Dr Jörg Thomä (Institute for Small Business Economics – ifh –, Georg-August-University Göttingen), outlining his research approach at the IfM Bonn forum in early October. His early findings: During the Covid-19 crisis year of 2020, members of this group were significantly more likely to leave self-employment. But during the recovery phase between 2021 and 2022, they demonstrated a stronger tendency to enter self-employment than other individuals. "This means that entrepreneurial resilience is not just about persevering at any cost, but also about adapting to the situation at hand," said the ifh researcher.
Guests at the IfM Resilience according to the Big Five traits
