Enlightening the shadow dimensions of part‐time entrepreneurship: Navigating fear of failure and enhancing social status

Abstract Part‐time entrepreneurs—individuals acting simultaneously as entrepreneurs and employees—are often considered to be in a transitional stage towards becoming full‐time entrepreneurs. However, they can also exit a venture or remain hybrid entrepreneurs. Based on this evidence, we explore the influence of social norms (social status and shame of failing), the desire to create a company, entrepreneurial motivation, the need for achievement, risk propensity, and indirect shame on the entrepreneurial intention of part‐time entrepreneurs. A questionnaire was administered to 304 part‐time entrepreneurs residing in Brazil. The results of partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS‐SEM) have shown that social status and entrepreneurial motivation positively influence the entrepreneurial intention of hybrid entrepreneurs, while the shame of failing has a negative effect on this dimension. We also found that the desire to create a company has a positive impact on entrepreneurial intention but negatively moderates the relationship between social status and entrepreneurial intention, that is, the direct relationship becomes weaker as the desire to create a company increases. Accordingly, this study provides evidence on the main drivers of entrepreneurial intention by focusing on the specific case of part‐time entrepreneurs. The uniqueness of this study, therefore, lies in its valuable contribution to empirical knowledge about hybrid entrepreneurship, a category often underestimated in research dedicated to the field of entrepreneurship.