Entrepreneurs’ Personality Traits and Social Enterprise: A Legitimation Perspective

Abstract Prosocial personality traits are thought to be essential characteristics of social entrepreneurs. However, extant research has typically focused on how personality traits affect individuals to simply engage in social entrepreneurship but not on the actual prosocial behavior they employ or the eventual outcomes. We posit that studying the link between personality traits and organizational legitimacy, a salient outcome for social enterprise development, is a fruitful avenue for research. Building on the legitimation perspective, we examine the underlying mechanisms and contextual conditions in the relationship between personality traits (agreeableness specifically) and social enterprise legitimacy. Empirical analysis of 230 social enterprises in China demonstrates that a social enterprise’s legitimation strategy via network centrality and the contingent role of the focal venture’s development stage importantly conditions the effectiveness of the social entrepreneurs’ personality traits and their impact on social enterprise legitimacy. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.