Title: Opening the black box: how social interaction contributes to entrepreneurial intentions among deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals

Authors: Michael Jasniak; Ronny Baierl; Jantje Halberstadt

Addresses: Centre for Sustainability Management, Leuphana University of Lüneburg, Breite Str., 8, 14199 Berlin, Germany ' Center for Interdisciplinary Education, HTW Dresden, Friedrich-List-Platz 1, 01069 Dresden, Germany ' Centre for Sustainability Management, Leuphana University of Lüneburg, Universitätsallee 1, 21335 Lüneburg, Germany

Abstract: Entrepreneurial intentions are widely recognised as a strong predictor of entrepreneurial behaviour. With regard to the minority of deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals, the recent literature has elaborated on the beneficial influence of social ties on entrepreneurial behaviour. The process of gathering and sharing information includes a variety of facets, including social ties. Derived from the theory of social capital and social identity theory, we expand the concept of social ties to a holistic view of social interaction. Accordingly, we define social interaction as a synergy of general social support, particularly from relatives, and general boundary-spanning. Respective insights are held within a black box - being scarcely highlighted. After applying a two-step methodology based on linear regression models, our results demonstrated that the concept of social interaction has a significant influence on entrepreneurial intentions. Having opened the black box, social interaction among deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals revealed a strong influence on entrepreneurial intentions, whereas social interaction with hearing individuals lacked significance levels.

Keywords: social interaction; entrepreneurial intentions; social support; boundary-spanning; deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals; minority entrepreneurship.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2020.109432

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2020 Vol.41 No.1, pp.74 - 95

Received: 02 Feb 2018
Accepted: 25 Jun 2018

Published online: 09 Sep 2020 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article