Blaming Yourself or the Circumstance? Entrepreneurial Failure Narratives in Job Interviews

Abstract

Entrepreneurial failure is a common phenomenon, and failed entrepreneurs often consider paid employment after dropping an entrepreneurial project. However, the question pertains to how entrepreneurial failure affects former entrepreneurs’ chances on the job market. Drawing on attribution theory, we apply a within-subject experimental design using 188 recruiters and examine if the failure narratives of former entrepreneurs impact employability decisions toward paid employment. Our results show that internal attributions (e.g. lack of skills) are more effective than external attributions (e.g. distancing from failure) in the employment job interview. Additionally, we find that the combination of internal and controllable failure attributions is more effective than those that are external and uncontrollable. Thus, person-centered strategies seem more advantageous than distance-taking strategies. Importantly, we demonstrate that former female entrepreneurs are better off with internal failure attributions, whereas males are better off with external attributions.