Finding Self Among Others: Navigating the Tensions Between Personal and Social Identity

Abstract

Personal and social identity are critical for entrepreneurs in their journey of creating nascent ventures. However, tensions arise in entrepreneurial experiences due to the independence underlying personal identity and embeddedness underlying social identity. In this qualitative study involving interviews with entrepreneurs and leaders from incubators, accelerators, and shared work spaces in a large Midwestern city, we explore how entrepreneurs at different stages of the entrepreneurial process navigate the tensions between personal and social identity. We find that early-stage entrepreneurs are mainly concerned with discovering their unique personal identity (personal identity centrality) which predominantly occurs via extensive broad interactions within social groups (social identity salience). On the other hand, late-stage entrepreneurs devote more time to their advanced ventures (personal identity salience) and less time in social groups but they value these social groups, and the targeted collaborations occurring therein, more (social identity centrality). We discuss the mechanisms that we uncovered from our study that underlie the paradox between centrality and salience of personal and social identity for entrepreneurs at different stages of the entrepreneurial process.