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

Author

Listed:
  • 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])

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."

Suggested Citation

  • Brett Smith & Amanda Lawson & Saulo Dubard-Barbosa & Jessica Jones, 2023. "Navigating the highs and lows of entrepreneurial identity threats to persist : The countervailing force of a relational identity with God," Post-Print hal-04325701, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04325701
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusvent.2023.106317
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-04325701
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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