IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v179y2022i2d10.1007_s10551-021-04860-x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Role of Compassion in Shaping Social Entrepreneurs’ Prosocial Opportunity Recognition

Author

Listed:
  • Ronit Yitshaki

    (Ariel University)

  • Fredric Kropp

    (Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey)

  • Benson Honig

    (McMaster University)

Abstract

Compassion is acknowledged as a key motivational source of prosocial opportunity recognition (OR). This study examines the underlying processes of different types of compassion that lead to prosocial OR interventions designed to solve or ameliorate social problems. Self-compassion is associated with intimate personal experiences of suffering and encompasses a desire to alleviate the distress of others based on common humanity, mental distance and mindfulness. Other-regarding compassion is associated with value structures and social awareness and is based on a desire to help the less fortunate. Using a life-story analyses of 27 Israeli social entrepreneurs, we identified two OR process mechanisms, reflexivity (identifying overlooked social problems) and imprinting (identifying a known social problem within the social context). The relationship between these two types of compassion are equifinal, that is, both can lead to prosocial OR; however, the mechanisms differ. We contribute to the literature by showing that compassion serves as an internal enabler based on both cognitive and affective motivations for prosocial OR. We introduce a theoretical perspective that establishes a process model for further research on the role of compassion in identifying and leading prosocial action.

Suggested Citation

  • Ronit Yitshaki & Fredric Kropp & Benson Honig, 2022. "The Role of Compassion in Shaping Social Entrepreneurs’ Prosocial Opportunity Recognition," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 179(2), pages 617-647, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:179:y:2022:i:2:d:10.1007_s10551-021-04860-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-021-04860-x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10551-021-04860-x
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-021-04860-x?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. Ronald K. Mitchell & Lowell Busenitz & Theresa Lant & Patricia P. McDougall & Eric A. Morse & J. Brock Smith, 2002. "Toward a Theory of Entrepreneurial Cognition: Rethinking the People Side of Entrepreneurship Research," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 27(2), pages 93-104, April.
    2. Helen M. Haugh & Alka Talwar, 2016. "Linking Social Entrepreneurship and Social Change: The Mediating Role of Empowerment," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 133(4), pages 643-658, February.
    3. Bacq, Sophie & Alt, Elisa, 2018. "Feeling capable and valued: A prosocial perspective on the link between empathy and social entrepreneurial intentions," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 333-350.
    4. Ronald K. Mitchell & Lowell W. Busenitz & Barbara Bird & Connie Marie Gaglio & Jeffery S. McMullen & Eric A. Morse & J. Brock Smith, 2007. "The Central Question in Entrepreneurial Cognition Research 2007," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 31(1), pages 1-27, January.
    5. Maw–Der Foo, 2011. "Emotions and Entrepreneurial Opportunity Evaluation," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 35(2), pages 375-393, March.
    6. Stephen Downing, 2005. "The Social Construction of Entrepreneurship: Narrative and Dramatic Processes in the Coproduction of Organizations and Identities," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 29(2), pages 185-204, March.
    7. Sutter, Christopher & Bruton, Garry D. & Chen, Juanyi, 2019. "Entrepreneurship as a solution to extreme poverty: A review and future research directions," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 197-214.
    8. Dietmar Grichnik & Alexander Smeja & Isabell Welpe, 2010. "The Importance of Being Emotional: How do Emotions Affect Entrepreneurial Opportunity Evaluation and Exploitation?," Post-Print hal-00856603, HAL.
    9. Kevin André & Anne-Claire Pache, 2016. "From Caring Entrepreneur to Caring Enterprise: Addressing the Ethical Challenges of Scaling up Social Enterprises," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 133(4), pages 659-675, February.
    10. Zahra, Shaker A., 2007. "Contextualizing theory building in entrepreneurship research," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 443-452, May.
    11. Shaker A. Zahra & Mike Wright, 2016. "Understanding the Social Role of Entrepreneurship," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(4), pages 610-629, June.
    12. Filipe Santos, 2012. "A Positive Theory of Social Entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 111(3), pages 335-351, December.
    13. Véronique Ambrosini & Cliff Bowman, 2001. "Tacit Knowledge: Some Suggestions for Operationalization," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(6), pages 811-829, September.
    14. Joep P. Cornelissen & Jean S. Clarke, 2010. "Imagining and rationalizing opportunities : Inductive reasoning and the creation and justification of new ventures," Post-Print hal-02276730, HAL.
    15. J. Dees, 2012. "A Tale of Two Cultures: Charity, Problem Solving, and the Future of Social Entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 111(3), pages 321-334, December.
    16. Diana Hechavarria & Maija Renko & Charles Matthews, 2012. "The nascent entrepreneurship hub: goals, entrepreneurial self-efficacy and start-up outcomes," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 39(3), pages 685-701, October.
    17. Dirk De Clercq & Benson Honig, 2011. "Entrepreneurship as an integrating mechanism for disadvantaged persons," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(5-6), pages 353-372, June.
    18. Denis A. Grégoire & Andrew C. Corbett & Jeffery S. McMullen, 2011. "The Cognitive Perspective in Entrepreneurship: An Agenda for Future Research," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48, pages 1443-1477, September.
    19. Mathias, Blake D. & Williams, David W., 2018. "Giving up the hats? Entrepreneurs' role transitions and venture growth," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 261-277.
    20. Havidán Rodríguez & Joseph Trainor & Enrico L. Quarantelli, 2006. "Rising to the Challenges of a Catastrophe: The Emergent and Prosocial Behavior following Hurricane Katrina," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 604(1), pages 82-101, March.
    21. A. Montgomery & Peter Dacin & M. Dacin, 2012. "Collective Social Entrepreneurship: Collaboratively Shaping Social Good," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 111(3), pages 375-388, December.
    22. Felicia Huppert & Timothy So, 2013. "Erratum to: Flourishing Across Europe: Application of a New Conceptual Framework for Defining Well-Being," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 110(3), pages 1245-1246, February.
    23. Barbara Orser & Catherine Elliott & Joanne Leck, 2013. "Entrepreneurial Feminists: Perspectives About Opportunity Recognition and Governance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 115(2), pages 241-257, June.
    24. Sally Maitlis & Scott Sonenshein, 2010. "Sensemaking in Crisis and Change: Inspiration and Insights From Weick (1988)," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(3), pages 551-580, May.
    25. Dean A. Shepherd & Trenton A. Williams, 2014. "Local Venturing as Compassion Organizing in the Aftermath of a Natural Disaster: The Role of Localness and Community in Reducing Suffering," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(6), pages 952-994, September.
    26. Nerine Mary George & Vinit Parida & Tom Lahti & Joakim Wincent, 2016. "A systematic literature review of entrepreneurial opportunity recognition: insights on influencing factors," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 12(2), pages 309-350, June.
    27. Björn C. Mitzinneck & Marya L. Besharov, 2019. "Managing Value Tensions in Collective Social Entrepreneurship: The Role of Temporal, Structural, and Collaborative Compromise," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 159(2), pages 381-400, October.
    28. Grichnik, Dietmar & Smeja, Alexander & Welpe, Isabell, 2010. "The importance of being emotional: How do emotions affect entrepreneurial opportunity evaluation and exploitation?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 76(1), pages 15-29, October.
    29. Ace Simpson & Stewart Clegg & Tyrone Pitsis, 2014. "Normal Compassion: A Framework for Compassionate Decision Making," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 119(4), pages 473-491, February.
    30. Zahra, Shaker A. & Gedajlovic, Eric & Neubaum, Donald O. & Shulman, Joel M., 2009. "A typology of social entrepreneurs: Motives, search processes and ethical challenges," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 24(5), pages 519-532, September.
    31. Dennis A. Gioia & Kumar Chittipeddi, 1991. "Sensemaking and sensegiving in strategic change initiation," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(6), pages 433-448, September.
    32. Nicola Pless, 2012. "Social Entrepreneurship in Theory and Practice—An Introduction," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 111(3), pages 317-320, December.
    33. David Barberá-Tomás & Itziar Castelló & Frank de Bakker & Charlene Zietsma, 2019. "Energizing through Visuals: How Social Entrepreneurs Use Emotion-Symbolic Work for Social Change," Post-Print hal-02511088, HAL.
    34. John Selsky & Barbara Parker, 2010. "Platforms for Cross-Sector Social Partnerships: Prospective Sensemaking Devices for Social Benefit," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 94(1), pages 21-37, July.
    35. Gartner, William B., 2007. "Entrepreneurial narrative and a science of the imagination," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 22(5), pages 613-627, September.
    36. James Austin & Howard Stevenson & Jane Wei–Skillern, 2006. "Social and Commercial Entrepreneurship: Same, Different, or Both?," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 30(1), pages 1-22, January.
    37. Jeffery S. McMullen & Dimo Dimov, 2013. "Time and the Entrepreneurial Journey: The Problems and Promise of Studying Entrepreneurship as a Process," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(8), pages 1481-1512, December.
    38. Jongseok Cha & Young Chang & Tae-Yeol Kim, 2014. "Person–Organization Fit on Prosocial Identity: Implications on Employee Outcomes," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 123(1), pages 57-69, August.
    39. M. Tina Dacin & Peter A. Dacin & Paul Tracey, 2011. "Social Entrepreneurship: A Critique and Future Directions," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(5), pages 1203-1213, October.
    40. Felicia Huppert & Timothy So, 2013. "Flourishing Across Europe: Application of a New Conceptual Framework for Defining Well-Being," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 110(3), pages 837-861, February.
    41. Joep P. Cornelissen & Jean S. Clarke, 2010. "Imagining and rationalizing opportunities : Inductive reasoning and the creation and justification of new ventures," Post-Print hal-02312342, HAL.
    42. Pratima Bansal & Wendy K. Smith & Eero Vaara, 2018. "New Ways of Seeing through Qualitative Research," Post-Print hal-02312197, HAL.
    43. Smith, Wendy K. & Gonin, Michael & Besharov, Marya L., 2013. "Managing Social-Business Tensions: A Review and Research Agenda for Social Enterprise," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 23(3), pages 407-442, July.
    44. Jennings, Jennifer E. & Edwards, Tim & Devereaux Jennings, P. & Delbridge, Rick, 2015. "Emotional arousal and entrepreneurial outcomes: Combining qualitative methods to elaborate theory," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 113-130.
    45. Suddaby, Roy & Bruton, Garry D. & Si, Steven X., 2015. "Entrepreneurship through a qualitative lens: Insights on the construction and/or discovery of entrepreneurial opportunity," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 1-10.
    46. Karl E. Weick & Kathleen M. Sutcliffe & David Obstfeld, 2005. "Organizing and the Process of Sensemaking," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 16(4), pages 409-421, August.
    47. Pratima Bansal & Wendy Smith & Eero Vaara, 2018. "New Ways of Seeing through Qualitative Research," Post-Print hal-02276705, HAL.
    48. Johanna Mair & Julie Battilana & Julian Cardenas, 2012. "Organizing for Society: A Typology of Social Entrepreneuring Models," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 111(3), pages 353-373, December.
    49. Davidsson, Per, 2015. "Entrepreneurial opportunities and the entrepreneurship nexus: A re-conceptualization," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 674-695.
    50. Karl E. Weick, 1988. "Enacted Sensemaking In Crisis Situations[1]," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(4), pages 305-317, July.
    51. Dean A. Shepherd & Dawn R. DeTienne, 2005. "Prior Knowledge, Potential Financial Reward, and Opportunity Identification," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 29(1), pages 91-112, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kim, Minseong & Kim, Jihye, 2024. "From empathetic hearts to digital hands: A study of compassion and donation behavior in social media advertising," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    2. Dwyer, Sean M. & Lerman, Michael & Gras, David, 2023. "When the going gets tough: Stressors and purpose in life among social and commercial entrepreneurs," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 20(C).
    3. Tang, Linjia & Guo, Yingying & Zha, Jianfeng & Zheng, Weiwei, 2024. "Acquiescence or Redemption: CEO’s early-life experience of environmental pollution and corporate green innovation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    4. Cristian PIECU & Florin-Aurelian BIRCHI & Ramona-Cristina GHITA & Patricia Cristiana BORUZESCU, 2024. "A Critical Approach Of Social Entrepreneurship Theories," Management and Marketing Journal, University of Craiova, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, vol. 0(1), pages 81-88, May.
    5. Ine Paeleman & Nadja Guenster & Tom Vanacker & Ana Cristina O. Siqueira, 2024. "The Consequences of Financial Leverage: Certified B Corporations’ Advantages Compared to Common Commercial Firms," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 189(3), pages 507-523, January.
    6. Bernadetta A. Ginting-Szczesny & Ewald Kibler & Melissa S. Cardon & Teemu Kautonen & Henri Hakala, 2024. "The role of passion diversity, compassion, and self-compassion for team entrepreneurial passion," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 62(3), pages 987-1007, March.

    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. Gupta, Parul & Chauhan, Sumedha & Paul, Justin & Jaiswal, M.P., 2020. "Social entrepreneurship research: A review and future research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 209-229.
    2. Pradeep Kumar Hota, 2023. "Tracing the Intellectual Evolution of Social Entrepreneurship Research: Past Advances, Current Trends, and Future Directions," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 182(3), pages 637-659, January.
    3. Alice Mascena Barbosa & Guillaume Dumont, 2024. "A New Understanding of the Role of Self-oriented Motivations in the Creation of Social Enterprises," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 191(3), pages 591-609, May.
    4. Maria Margarida Avillez & Andrew Greenman & Susan Marlow, 2020. "Ethical Judgments About Social Entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Influence of Spatio-Cultural Meanings," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 161(4), pages 877-892, February.
    5. Babita Bhatt & Israr Qureshi & Suhaib Riaz, 2019. "Social Entrepreneurship in Non-munificent Institutional Environments and Implications for Institutional Work: Insights from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 154(3), pages 605-630, February.
    6. Theodor Vladasel & Simon C. Parker & Randolph Sloof & Mirjam van Praag, 2024. "Revenue drift, incentives, and effort allocation in social enterprises," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(3), pages 630-651, August.
    7. Holger Patzelt & Dean A. Shepherd, 2024. "A fatigue model of social venturing," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 63(3), pages 1065-1088, October.
    8. Luca Mongelli & Francesco Rullani & Tommaso Ramus & Tomislav Rimac, 2019. "The Bright Side of Hybridity: Exploring How Social Enterprises Manage and Leverage Their Hybrid Nature," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 159(2), pages 301-305, October.
    9. Bacq, Sophie & Hertel, Christina & Lumpkin, G.T., 2022. "Communities at the nexus of entrepreneurship and societal impact: A cross-disciplinary literature review," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 37(5).
    10. Adélie Ranville & Marcos Barros, 2022. "Towards Normative Theories of Social Entrepreneurship. A Review of the Top Publications of the Field," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 180(2), pages 407-438, October.
    11. Tommaso Ramus & Antonino Vaccaro, 2017. "Stakeholders Matter: How Social Enterprises Address Mission Drift," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 143(2), pages 307-322, June.
    12. Gras, David & Conger, Michael & Jenkins, Anna & Gras, Michael, 2020. "Wicked problems, reductive tendency, and the formation of (non-)opportunity beliefs," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 35(3).
    13. Pradeep Kumar Hota & Balaji Subramanian & Gopalakrishnan Narayanamurthy, 2020. "Mapping the Intellectual Structure of Social Entrepreneurship Research: A Citation/Co-citation Analysis," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 166(1), pages 89-114, September.
    14. Patricio Osorio-Vega, 2019. "The Ethics of Entrepreneurial Shared Value," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 157(4), pages 981-995, July.
    15. Leitão, Maria Eugénia & Amaral, Miguel & Carvalho, Ana, 2024. "Reconceptualizing socio-tech entrepreneurship: A systematic literature review and research agenda," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    16. Dorobat, Carmen-Elena & McCaffrey, Matthew & Topan, Mihai Vladimir, 2024. "Exploring the microfoundations of hybridity: A judgment-based approach," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 39(4).
    17. Kevin Au & Sophia Soyoung Jeong & Anna J. C. Hsu & Yingzhao Xiao, 2024. "When Does Prosocial Motivation Deliver? A Dual-Motivations Approach to Social Enterprise Outcomes," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 193(1), pages 159-178, August.
    18. Shepherd, Dean A. & Seyb, Stella & Williams, Trenton A., 2023. "Empathy-driven entrepreneurial action: Well-being outcomes for entrepreneurs and target beneficiaries," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 38(2).
    19. Meyer, Camille, 2020. "The commons: A model for understanding collective action and entrepreneurship in communities," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 35(5).
    20. Syrus M Islam, 2022. "Social impact scaling strategies in social enterprises: A systematic review and research agenda," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 47(2), pages 298-321, May.

    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:kap:jbuset:v:179:y:2022:i:2:d:10.1007_s10551-021-04860-x. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.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.