Social entrepreneurs, fear of failure and growth aspirations: The moderating role of social value orientation

This article examines the growth aspirations of social entrepreneurs at the individual level, an aspect that has been largely overlooked in prior research. Specifically, two key factors influencing the growth aspirations of social entrepreneurs are identified. First, based on the fear of failure-shame framework in social psychology, we suggest that the fear of failure reduces the growth aspirations of social entrepreneurs. Second, drawing on the theory of social value orientation in social psychology and social entrepreneurship, we propose that social entrepreneurs with a social value orientation – their preferences for social value creation over economic value capture – are less affected by a fear of failure regarding growth aspirations. An analysis of a sample of 9,761 social entrepreneurs from 58 countries, as reported in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor survey, confirms these predictions. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed in the context of general and social entrepreneurship.