The Dark Triad, Moral Disengagement, and Social Entrepreneurial Intention: Moderating Roles of Empathic Concern and Perspective Taking

Abstract

Past research about social entrepreneurial intention has centered on the impact of bright personalities; however, dark personalities such as the dark triad are also considered to have advantages. This study explored the relationship between the dark triad and social entrepreneurial intention by focusing on the mediating role of moral disengagement and the moderating role of empathic concern and perspective taking. Based on a sample of 491 undergraduates and 412 students in a master in business administration program in China, the dark triad was found to be negatively related to social entrepreneurial intention through moral disengagement. Moreover, high levels of empathic concern and perspective taking weakened the direct effect of the dark triad on moral disengagement, as well as the indirect effect of the dark triad on social entrepreneurial intention. Our study extends the research in the field of personality and entrepreneurship. Given the findings on the role of moral disengagement, empathic concern, and perspective taking, education efforts may assist in decreasing the negative effects of the dark triad on social entrepreneurial intention.

Unraveling the Role of Empathy and Critical Life Events as Triggers for Social Entrepreneurship

“…Furthermore, it shows that prevailing focus on the social dimension is needed, in order to prevent mission drift. This is in line with Wu et al (2020) who found high levels of empathic concern among nascent social entrepreneurs (business students) to be an important factor as opposed to moral disengagement and elements of the dark triad, i.e., narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism. It would be interesting to explore these issues of mission drift in relation to empathy and the differences between social and commercial entrepreneurship in more detail in future research, as well as its link with business education with focus on social and sustainable entrepreneurship (e.g., Lambrechts et al, 2018).…”

“…These results confirm earlier research concerning empathy and social entrepreneurship in two ways. First, it provides qualitative evidence of the link between empathy and social entrepreneurship that has been made (quantitatively) in previous studies (e.g., Bacq and Alt, 2018;Wu et al, 2020). Second, it provides the view of experienced social entrepreneurs in addition to studies that are based on nascent perspectives by means of student questionnaires (e.g., Bacq and Alt, 2018;Ploum et al, 2019;Wu et al, 2020).…”

“…However, social entrepreneurs differ from traditional entrepreneurs by having more "social concerns, " a greater sense of moral obligation and a higher degree of empathy (Miller et al, 2012;Bargsted et al, 2013;Ruskin et al, 2016;Lubberink, 2020). Most of the studies report on (nascent) entrepreneurs who have the intention to engage in social (e.g., Saebi et al, 2018;Wang et al, 2019;Wu et al, 2020) or sustainable (e.g., Ploum et al, 2019) entrepreneurial activities. More empirical research is needed that concentrates on entrepreneurs who already have started their venture and actually create social value in combination with an economic activity.…”

Your Care Mitigates My Ego Depletion: Why and When Perfectionists Show Incivility Toward Coworkers

“… Ho and Gupta (2012) contended that colleagues who have higher empathic concern tend to express high levels of care in interpersonal relations to overcome negative emotions. Individuals high in empathic concern usually have compassionate feelings and exhibit positive expressions in ethical situations ( Pohling et al, 2016 ) and in attempting to uncover pessimistic emotional states, thereby, evading negative outcomes ( Bussey et al, 2015 ; Wu et al, 2020 ). Accordingly, the empathic concern is highly helpful to overcome disruptive behaviors by fortifying the will power of individuals ( Fang et al, 2020 ).…”

“…Empathic concern refers to “the other-oriented emotion elicited by and congruent with the perceived welfare of someone else in need” ( Batson, 2011 , p.11), and is highly effective in unfavorable circumstances and negative emotional states ( Batanova and Loukas, 2011 ). Previous studies have shown that empathic concern from other people can alleviate negative emotions and mental states of individuals ( Bussey et al, 2015 ; Wu et al, 2020 ). Concern and care from coworkers can safeguard the affected perfectionists to be less psychologically depleted, and thus helps them reduce negative perceptions and hostility toward their coworkers during interactions.…”