Orientation of attitudes found in businesspeople: A review of entrepreneurial attitudes found in entrepreneurs and nonentrepreneurs

The purpose of this study was to identify and assess Entrepreneurial Attitude Orientation found in businesspeople who hold entrepreneurial versus nonentrepreneurial positions. The survey instrument utilized was based on 2 well-established psychometric instruments: Robinson et al.'s (1991) Entrepreneurial Attitude Orientation (EAO), which was specifically designed to measure attitudes found in entrepreneurs versus nonentrepreneurs; as well as the additional use of McLain's (1993) Multiple Stimulus Types Ambiguity Tolerance (MSTAT-I) instrument, which was designed to measure an individual's tolerance/intolerance to ambiguity in risk and uncertainty.;The 2 primary classes of participants entrepreneurs and nonentrepreneurs were stratified into 2 or more subcategories. Both entrepreneurial and nonentrepreneurial participants were separated into categories based on their occupational activities in day-to-day business functions. The study was interested in the attitudes found in the participants and their relationship to the participants' occupational activities based on a modified version of a typology developed by Kunkel (2001). Additionally, the study was interested in the relationship of the participants' attitudes and their self-assessed level of key business core competencies and their self-assessed level of success and satisfaction. The study also wished to identify if the scale Tolerance to Ambiguity could improve the EAO.;The scales used to measure attitudes combining with the EAO and MSTAT-I included Achievement in Business---based on concrete results in business endeavors, Innovation in Business---perceived and action in creative and innovative ways in business, Perceived Personal Control of Business Outcomes---perceived control and influence over the destiny of their business, Perceived Self-Esteem in Business---the individual's self-confidence and perceived competency of running his/her business, and Tolerance to Ambiguity tendency to interpret ambiguous situations as desirable (Robinson et al., 1991; McLain, 2001; Budner, 1962). The findings of the study suggest that there is a relationship between the attitudes of both entrepreneurs and nonentrepreneurs and their occupational activities. The entrepreneurial attitude orientation found in the businesspeople did relate to their scores on the self-assessed Levels of Core Competencies and their self-assessed Level of Success and Satisfaction inventories designed for this study. The inclusion of the scale of Tolerance to Ambiguity improved the use of the Entrepreneurial Attitude Orientation instrument (EAO).