Entrepreneurial passions and identities in different contexts: a comparison between high-tech and social entrepreneurs

Abstract

This study examines entrepreneurial passion and components of entrepreneurial identity – sameness, otherness, and identity centrality and salience – in two different contexts, high-tech and social entrepreneurship. Based on life story interviews of 45 high-tech entrepreneurs (HTE) and social entrepreneurs (SEs), passion and identities are linked for each group but evolve differently. For HTEs, passion is composed of a strong challenge to lead a meaningful activity and to leave a ‘fingerprint’. SE passion is characterized more in terms of enthusiasm and excitement and a desire to make a mark. HTEs’ identities are central to their self-concept while SEs’ identities can be more salient than central. SE identities are more synchronized than those of HTEs. For HTEs, otherness is dominant in their self-concept; however, they also maintain a concept of sameness. The findings of this study expand the literature by showing that passion is a dynamic motivational construct that is associated with entrepreneurs’ self-concept of their role identities. The interrelations between entrepreneurial passion and self-concepts of role identities are perceived differently among entrepreneurs who operate in different contexts. In addition, this study also expands the literature on entrepreneurial identities and affect.