Entrepreneurship as an emotional rollercoaster : Investigating the interplay of affect and passion

Titelangaben

Streeb, Mirjam ; Franzke, Sonja ; Baum, Matthias:
Entrepreneurship as an emotional rollercoaster : Investigating the interplay of affect and passion.
In: Academy of Management Proceedings. (2022) Heft 1 .
ISSN 2151-6561
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5465/AMBPP.2022.12291abstract

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Abstract

Passion is what drives entrepreneurs. Recently, the burgeoning field of entrepreneurial passion has begun to look beyond harmonious passion, turning towards its potentially darker side: obsessive passion. Drawing on the broaden-and-build theory, we argue that passion and affect unfold a cyclic relationship in which harmonious passion enters a self-perpetuating cycle with affect (i.e. reducing negative and enhancing positive affect). Accordingly, obsessive passion should provide the opposite – a damaging downward cycle by reducing positive and enhancing negative affect. We test our assumptions on a sample of 225 entrepreneurs with an experience sampling design over eight weeks. In contrast to our hypothesis that obsessive passion will lead to negative affect, our study produces the counterintuitive finding, that although it emerges from negative affect, obsessive passion leads to a positive affect boost. We call this result the transform hypothesis. Our result challenges the assumption that obsessive passion is exclusively detrimental and we suggest a more positive role in an entrepreneurial context. Taken together, with our research we introduce specific mechanisms through which passion aids entrepreneurs in their emotional battles.