The Managerial Preferences for Risk-Taking in a Business Environment

The goal of this research was to determine the relative contribution of an individual’s personality traits and motives and their interactions with a person’s willingness to take risks in a business environment. The test sample was made up of managers from different hierarchical positions with varied work experiences (N = 172; 55% male). For this research Hogan’s battery tests were chosen.The results of the regression analysis suggest that personality traits and motives are important predictors for willingness to take risks. The individual personality traits that stand out are prudence (?= -.32, p< .01) and inquisitiveness (?=.31, p< .01), and the motives that stand out are hedonism (?= .31, p< .01) and recognition (?=.27, p< .001). On the level of interactions, the significant moderating effects of science on the relationship of inquisitiveness and willingness to take risks (?F= 6.80, p<.01; ?= .223, p< .01) and of affiliation on the relationship of learning approach and willingness to taking risks (?F= 6.01, p<.01; ?= -.183, p< .01) were noted. The results suggest, both directly and indirectly, ways of motivating employees and devising activities tied to changes and risk. The results can be of importance for selecting, recruiting, training and educating managers.