What Inspires Social Entrepreneurship? The Role of Prosocial Motivation, Intrinsic Motivation, and Gender in Forming Social Entrepreneurial Intention

This paper applies the assumptions of self-determination theory to study social entrepreneurial intention. We suggest that motivational forces, identified as autonomous and controlled, affect an individual's intention to start a social venture. The study extends the social entrepreneurial intention research by examining the effect of prosocial and intrinsic motivations on an individual's inclination to become a social entrepreneur and by testing the role of gender. Prosocial and intrinsic motivations are found to positively affect social entrepreneurial intention of individuals. Furthermore, females have demonstrated to be more influenced by the combination of motivational factors compared to males.