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

Brett R. Smith, Amanda Lawson, Saulo Dubard Barbosa, Jessica Jones

Journal of Business Venturing · 2023 · Volume 38 · Issue 4

DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusvent.2023.106317

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

Entrepreneurial action, Mental health, Entrepreneurial identity, Success, Religion, Theological turn, Entrepreneurial persistence, Relational identity, Well-being, Inter-identity work, Identity work, Failure

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