Influence of Personality

government official), prizing obedience to authority and rote memorization over all else. Student autonomy and critical thinking were typically punished, thus perpetuating a culture of student apathy, conformity, and acquiescence to authority. As a result, Yong’s penchant for creative thinking, risk taking, innovation, and love of learning for its own sake made him an outlier who was unusually attuned to opportunities that others missed. † Global perspective: As an adult, Yong traveled widely, developing friendships and collaborations with people from many different countries. As a result, he recognizes that no single culture or ethnicity can claim to be the bearers of “the truth” and that contributions to solving global problems can come from anyone.

Every person, even siblings in the same family, encounters a different set of environmental factors that shape who they are and offer various opportunities. This is an experience common to everyone. The difference is that some people recognize opportunities while others don’t. Some people jump at the chance to walk through an open door while others hold back or turn away. Why was Yong able to recognize and take advantage of opportunities when many around him did not? Part of the answer to this may lie with his personality traits.

Research on the recognition of opportunities has focused almost entirely on entrepreneurial opportunities and the characteristics of those who seize promising ones. Most of the factors that researchers have identified and explored, such as social capital and prior knowledge of a given business sector, seem unhelpful in understanding Yong’s ability to recognize opportunities.21 However, one vein of research—focused on the psychological and cognitive factors that help explain the phenomenon—may help us understand

Yong’s eye for opportunity. Researchers have found that personality traits play a vital role in a person’s ability to recognize and capitalize on opportunities.22, 23, 24

Researchers Scott Shane, Nicos Nicolaou, Lynn Cherkas, and Tim Spector conclude, “Genetic factors account for a large part of the variance in opportunity recognition by influencing the probability that people will be open to experiences.”25 This research speaks to Lewontin’s formulation and supports the idea that genes interact with both the environment and chance. Is it possible that certain personality traits could tip the scales, and increase the probability that some people are more likely than others to encounter promising opportunities?

Researcher Richard Wiseman became curious about this very question. Why do some people seem to be luckier than others?26 Speculating that luck might not be totally random, he conducted several studies to learn more about what lucky people have in common and why they differ from those less lucky. When he studied the underlying dimensions of personality that psychologists had identified as universal, he found that luckier people shared three of the Big Five personality traits: extroversion, neuroticism, and openness.27 How did these traits seem to play out in Yong’s life?

† Extroversion: Evidence of Yong’s extroversion includes his wide circle of friends across the globe and the numerous (over one hundred annually) invitations he receives to speak to business, educational, and governmental audiences. This speaks not only to the value others find in his ideas but also to his inherent likability and the genuine pleasure he takes in meeting and talking with others, especially those whose backgrounds differ from his own. † Neuroticism: Wiseman notes that lucky people have “a relaxed attitude toward life.”28 The less anxious we are,