Passion as process: Three perspectives on entrepreneurial passion and an integrated path forward

Abstract

Extant treatments of entrepreneurial passion (EP) have often employed divergent assumptions, leading to differing interpretations of what constitutes EP and lingering disagreements concerning how EP relates to entrepreneurial decision-making, actions, and outcomes. Despite its prominence in both popular media and scholarly research, EP suffers for want of a unifying theoretical framework that simultaneously identifies, distinguishes, and integrates its varied intra- and interpersonal conceptions, descriptors, contexts, and perspectives. Consequently, this vast body of research sometimes has produced theoretical confusion and contradictory findings about EP’s role in the entrepreneurship process. To address this, we conducted an exhaustive review of extant work on EP as a precursor to developing a more comprehensive and unified framework for categorizing and assessing EP’s diverse facets, refining theoretical boundaries, and improving construct clarity. Our synthesis provides scholars with a promising roadmap for future research and practitioners with more reliable guardrails concerning EP’s favorable and unfavorable impacts.