Specifying the role of religion in entrepreneurial action: a cognitive perspective

Saulo Dubard Barbosa () and Brett R. Smith ()
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Saulo Dubard Barbosa: Entrepreneurship and Innovation (InvEnt) Research Center, EMLYON Business School
Brett R. Smith: Miami University

Small Business Economics, 2024, vol. 62, issue 4, No 3, 1315-1336

Abstract: Abstract Research on the relationship between religion and entrepreneurship has produced mixed findings. We argue such equivocal findings are partly the result of under-specification of the role of religion in entrepreneurial action. To address this issue, we build on the process perspective of entrepreneurial cognition by simultaneously incorporating mental representations and cognitive resources. Specifically, we theorize a cognitive process that incorporates both framing effects of opportunity cues and religious belief integration based on sanctification into the assessment of feasibility and desirability of entrepreneurial action. Through two within-subject experiments, we find (i) positively framed opportunity cues yield more favorable assessments of entrepreneurial action than negatively framed opportunity cues, and (ii) religious belief integration moderates the relationship between framing and assessments of entrepreneurial action, enhancing perceived feasibility and desirability when information framing is negative. We discuss the implications of our model to research the theological turn of entrepreneurship and a cognitive perspective of entrepreneurial action.

Keywords: Opportunity evaluation; Entrepreneurial action; Religion; Religious belief integration; Theological turn; Information framing; Opportunity cues (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C91 D80 D81 D91 L26 M13 Z12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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DOI: 10.1007/s11187-023-00839-2

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