Opening the black box: how social interaction contributes to entrepreneurial intentions among deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals

Entrepreneurial intentions are widely recognised as a strong predictor of entrepreneurial behaviour. With regard to the minority of deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals, the recent literature has elaborated on the beneficial influence of social ties on entrepreneurial behaviour. The process of gathering and sharing information includes a variety of facets, including social ties. Derived from the theory of social capital and social identity theory, we expand the concept of social ties to a holistic view of social interaction. Accordingly, we define social interaction as a synergy of general social support, particularly from relatives, and general boundary-spanning. Respective insights are held within a black box - being scarcely highlighted. After applying a two-step methodology based on linear regression models, our results demonstrated that the concept of social interaction has a significant influence on entrepreneurial intentions. Having opened the black box, social interaction among deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals revealed a strong influence on entrepreneurial intentions, whereas social interaction with hearing individuals lacked significance levels.