Decision on Social Entrepreneurship: Empathy or Sympathy?

Despite the current prevalence of social entrepreneurs, research on their psychological triggers is relatively scarce. To address this issue, in this study, we explore the gender-based motivation of social entrepreneurs. We conduct the experimental study in an entrepreneurial decision-making context. We find that women and men are driven by gender-based motivations (sympathy and empathy) to become social entrepreneurs. Our findings contribute to the literature on social entrepreneurship by exploring the mediating role of gender-based motivation as underlying explanatory mechanism of the gender difference in social entrepreneurial activities.