Keep the fire burning: Social entrepreneurs’ motives, role stress, perceived work competence and passion

Abstract

This study examines factors affecting social entrepreneurs’ passion, focusing on their motives, job stress, and perceived work competence. The analysis of the survey data of 264 self-identified social entrepreneurs working in different types of organizations reveals that other-oriented motives are strongly associated with passion while self-oriented motives are not. The results also show that job stress is negatively correlated with social entrepreneurs’ passion. When the perceived work competence is included as a mediator, however, it alters the nature of the job stress-passion relationship, suggesting that job stress can positively affect social entrepreneurs’ passion when they perceive a high level of competence. The findings also suggest that perceived work competence reinforces the positive relationship between other-oriented motives and passion. This paper concludes with practical implications for social entrepreneurship education.