Intergenerational Transmission of Entrepreneurial Identity within Entrepreneurial Families

Abstract

Entrepreneurial families play a critical role in the next generation’s interest in and desire for entrepreneurship. Because entrepreneurship is an identity construction process, the influence of entrepreneurial parents on the construction or nonconstruction of their children’s entrepreneurial identity (EI) needs to be explored. This paper provides a theoretical framework of the children’s EI construction process. It specifically suggests that entrepreneurial parents’ emotional expression resulting from the identity verification process and emotion regulation in family communication can influence the children’s identity construction processes. When parents’ EI is verified and its resulting positive emotion is expressed in a conversation- and conformity-oriented environment, it sends children the message that EI can enhance identity motives. This message leads to the activation of EI assimilation and maintenance for the children. We contribute to existing research by going beyond seeing parents only as role models by highlighting the interplay between parents’ EI enactment and child’s identity construction and explaining the family communication influence.