What we say = what we think? How implicit beliefs shape nascent entrepreneurial behavior

Robert Mai and Petra Dickel

Journal of Small Business Management, 2023, vol. 61, issue 6, 2986-3026

Abstract: Human decision-making is characterized by explicit (that is, controlled, self-reflective) beliefs as well as by implicit (that is, automatic, spontaneous) beliefs. Entrepreneurship research largely relies on explicit beliefs to explain entrepreneurial behavior, as it is harder to capture implicit beliefs with standard survey methods. This paper argues that integrating implicit beliefs—in combination with explicit beliefs—provides a more comprehensive picture of what individuals think about entrepreneurship and how they act as a result. A reaction-time tool, the Implicit Association Test, is used to measure two types of implicit beliefs (attitudes and self-concept), which play different roles for entrepreneurial behavior. Three studies provide evidence that implicit beliefs (a) affect explicit entrepreneurial attitudes and intentions, and (b) moderate whether these explicit beliefs translate into nascent entrepreneurial behavior. The implications for research and practice are discussed.

Date: 2023
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/00472778.2021.1956505 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:ujbmxx:v:61:y:2023:i:6:p:2986-3026

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/ujbm20

DOI: 10.1080/00472778.2021.1956505

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Small Business Management is currently edited by Eric Liguori

More articles in Journal of Small Business Management from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().