IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bpj/erjour/v3y2013i3p287-294n7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Benefits of Emotional Intelligence and Empathy to Entrepreneurship

Author

Listed:
  • Humphrey Ronald H.

    (Department of Management, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, 23284–4000, USA)

Abstract

This paper reviews the literature on emotional intelligence/competencies and relates it to entrepreneurship. Emotional intelligence/competencies are positively related to job performance, leadership, and physical and mental health. This paper also reviews the research on another emotion-related trait, empathy. Empathy is related to leadership emergence and effectiveness, and empathic leaders have followers who experience less stress and physical symptoms. This paper generates nine propositions that relate emotional intelligence/competencies and empathy to entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs high on emotional intelligence/competencies will (1) be more emotionally resilient when facing obstacles, (2) be more successful at handling intense emotions when working with family members, and (3) they will work more effectively with their employees, customers, and other stakeholders and they will be rated higher on leadership by their employees. High emotional intelligence will give entrepreneurs (4) an advantage in developing new products and services, and (5) in negotiating with financial backers, vendors and suppliers, distributors and retailers, and with their employees. Entrepreneurs high on empathy will be more successful at (6) motivating and leading their employees, and (7) helping their employees cope with workplace stresses. They will be (8) more attuned to their customers’ wants and have higher customer satisfaction, and (9) be more innovative.

Suggested Citation

  • Humphrey Ronald H., 2013. "The Benefits of Emotional Intelligence and Empathy to Entrepreneurship," Entrepreneurship Research Journal, De Gruyter, vol. 3(3), pages 287-294, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:erjour:v:3:y:2013:i:3:p:287-294:n:7
    DOI: 10.1515/erj-2013-0057
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1515/erj-2013-0057
    Download Restriction: For access to full text, subscription to the journal or payment for the individual article is required.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1515/erj-2013-0057?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wright Mike & Zahra Shaker, 2011. "The Other Side of Paradise: Examining the Dark Side of Entrepreneurship," Entrepreneurship Research Journal, De Gruyter, vol. 1(3), pages 1-7, July.
    2. Danes Sharon M., 2011. "Pillow Talk Leaks: Integrating Couple Interactions into Entrepreneurship Research," Entrepreneurship Research Journal, De Gruyter, vol. 1(3), pages 1-7, July.
    3. Melissa S. Cardon & Maw–Der Foo & Dean Shepherd & Johan Wiklund, 2012. "Exploring the Heart: Entrepreneurial Emotion is a Hot Topic," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 36(1), pages 1-10, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zachary Ramona & Mishra Chandra S., 2013. "Research on Angel Investments: The Intersection of Equity Investments and Entrepreneurship," Entrepreneurship Research Journal, De Gruyter, vol. 3(2), pages 160-170, January.
    2. Burch Gerald F. & Batchelor John H. & Humphrey Ronald H., 2013. "Emotional Labor for Entrepreneurs: A Natural and Necessary Extension," Entrepreneurship Research Journal, De Gruyter, vol. 3(3), pages 331-366, July.
    3. Goel, Sanjay & Mazzola, Pietro & Phan, Phillip H. & Pieper, Torsten M. & Zachary, Ramona K., 2012. "Strategy, ownership, governance, and socio-psychological perspectives on family businesses from around the world," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 3(2), pages 54-65.
    4. Donald F. Kuratko & Greg Fisher & David B. Audretsch, 2021. "Unraveling the entrepreneurial mindset," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 57(4), pages 1681-1691, December.
    5. Maw–Der Foo & Marilyn A. Uy & Charles Murnieks, 2015. "Beyond Affective Valence: Untangling Valence and Activation Influences on Opportunity Identification," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 39(2), pages 407-431, March.
    6. Leonidas A. Zampetakis & Manolis Lerakis & Konstantinos Kafetsios & Vassilis S. Moustakis, 2016. "The moderating role of anticipated affective ambivalence in the formation of entrepreneurial intentions," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 12(3), pages 815-838, September.
    7. Stroe, Silvia & Sirén, Charlotta & Shepherd, Dean & Wincent, Joakim, 2020. "The dualistic regulatory effect of passion on the relationship between fear of failure and negative affect: Insights from facial expression analysis," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 35(4).
    8. David Audretsch & Jagannadha Pawan Tamvada, 2023. "From entrepreneurship to leadership," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 48(2), pages 814-820, April.
    9. Stephanie Duchek, 2018. "Entrepreneurial resilience: a biographical analysis of successful entrepreneurs," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 429-455, June.
    10. Mikhail Kosmynin & Elisabet Carine Ljunggren, 2023. "Tales of the Unexpected: The Repair Work of an Entrepreneurial Resourcing Practice and the Role of Emotions," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 47(6), pages 2347-2383, November.
    11. Halvarsson, Daniel & Korpi, Martin & Wennberg, Karl, 2018. "Entrepreneurship and income inequality," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 275-293.
    12. Sabrina Artinger & Nir Vulkan & Yotam Shem-Tov, 2015. "Entrepreneurs’ negotiation behavior," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 44(4), pages 737-757, April.
    13. Portocarrero, Florencio & Newbert, Scott & Young, Maia & Zhu, Lily, 2025. "The affective revolution in entrepreneurship: an integrative conceptual review and guidelines for future investigation," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 126090, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    14. Obschonka, Martin & Fisch, Christian & Boyd, Ryan, 2017. "Using digital footprints in entrepreneurship research: A Twitter-based personality analysis of superstar entrepreneurs and managers," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 8(C), pages 13-23.
    15. Danes Sharon M., 2013. "Entrepreneurship Success: “The Lone Ranger” Versus “It Takes a Village” Approach?," Entrepreneurship Research Journal, De Gruyter, vol. 3(3), pages 277-286, July.
    16. Hedberg, Patricia R. & Danes, Sharon M., 2012. "Explorations of dynamic power processes within copreneurial couples," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 228-238.
    17. Mauri Laukkanen, 2023. "Understanding the contents and development of nascent entrepreneurs’ belief systems," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 1289-1312, September.
    18. Santos, Gina & Marques, Carla Susana & Ferreira, João J.M., 2020. "Passion and perseverance as two new dimensions of an Individual Entrepreneurial Orientation scale," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 190-199.
    19. Jens Prüfer & Patricia Prüfer, 2020. "Data science for entrepreneurship research: studying demand dynamics for entrepreneurial skills in the Netherlands," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 55(3), pages 651-672, October.
    20. Dheer, Ratan J.S. & Castrogiovanni, Gary J., 2023. "Cognitive adaptability’s impact on entrepreneurial intent: The mediating roles of entrepreneurial passion and efficacy," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bpj:erjour:v:3:y:2013:i:3:p:287-294:n:7. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.degruyter.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.