Navigating the highs and lows of entrepreneurial identity threats to persist: The countervailing force of a relational identity with God

Brett Smith, Amanda Lawson, Saulo Dubard Barbosa () and Jessica Jones
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Brett Smith: MU - Miami University [Ohio]
Amanda Lawson: MU - Miami University [Ohio]
Saulo Dubard Barbosa: EM - EMLyon Business School
Jessica Jones: UTC - University of Tennessee [Chattanooga]

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Abstract: "While an economic paradigm has been productive for entrepreneurship, religion has been proposed as an alternative rationality to advance research in our field. To extend a theological turn in entrepreneurship and identity research, our study inductively develops a conceptual model that explains how individuals navigate entrepreneurial identity threats based on the interaction between a relational identity with God (RIG) and an entrepreneurial identity to persist in entrepreneurial action. Our study suggests this can happen when entrepreneurs engage in inter-identity work mechanisms - affirming and humbling - to mitigate these identity threats. Specifically, a relational identity with God acts as a countervailing force to an entrepreneurial identity during times of identity threats to generate inter-identity meaning change, resulting in interidentity stability and entrepreneurial persistence. Through our study, we advance knowledge on the theological turn in entrepreneurship and identity by inductively developing theory on a new religious identity construct (RIG), elaborating theory of inter-identity work by shifting the focus from structural to content changes, and extending theory on entrepreneurial action, persistence, and well-being based on theological rather than economic considerations."

Keywords: Identity work; Failure; Inter-identity work; Theological turn; Entrepreneurial identity; Relational identity; Mental health; Well-being; Religion; Entrepreneurial action; Entrepreneurial persistence; Success (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023-07-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-sbm
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-04325701v1
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Published in Journal of Business Venturing, 2023, 38 (4), 21 p. ⟨10.1016/j.jbusvent.2023.106317⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04325701

DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusvent.2023.106317

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