A Case of Mistaken (Role) Identity?: Envisioning Entrepreneurial Role Demands

11 Pages Posted: 6 Jul 2008

See all articles by Norris F. Krueger

Norris F. Krueger

Entrepreneurship Northwest; University of Phoenix - Global Business Research, School of Advanced Studies; Max Planck Institute for Economics

Date Written: July 3, 2008

Abstract

We have learned that understanding perceptions plays a critical role in understanding entrepreneurial activity (Shaver & Scott, 1991). There is another perception that we have yet to address in great depth: The entrepreneur's perception that "I am an entrepreneur." In many career fields, individuals may have a limited, even distorted mental model of what that career entails in terms of role demands. For example, education students might choose whether or not to be a kindergarten teacher based on their mental model of the prototypical (or the optimal) kindergarten teacher. As that mental prototype is usually based on vague memories of one's own kindergarten teacher it is at best too narrow and at worst quite distorted. Potential entrepreneurs may be deterred or attracted to entrepreneurship from similar mental prototyping, a cognitive phenomenon related to categorization (Jelinek & Litterer 1995; Krueger & Hamilton 1996).

Keywords: role identity, mental prototyping, entrepreneurial intentions, mental models

JEL Classification: M13

Suggested Citation

Krueger, Norris F. and Krueger, Norris F., A Case of Mistaken (Role) Identity?: Envisioning Entrepreneurial Role Demands (July 3, 2008). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1155254 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1155254

Norris F. Krueger (Contact Author)

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