Being Critical Is Innovative: Constructive Patriotism and Collective Actions Are Related to Social Entrepreneurship Intentions

Abstract

Social entrepreneurship, characterized by the development of innovative business solutions for sociocultural and environmental issues, has attracted the interest of psychologists in recent years. Previous work has highlighted the important role of personality and cognitive factors in understanding why individuals become social entrepreneurs. However, less attention has been dedicated to how different variables studied in the group processes literature relate to the formation of intentions toward social entrepreneurship. One possible approach to understanding psychological factors that correlate with social entrepreneurship intentions is the feeling of attachment to one's national group. Constructive patriotism, defined by the support for the ingroup through constructive criticism, shows stronger relations with progressivism and innovation than blind patriotism. We proposed that constructive patriotism, but not its blind counterpart, positively predicts social entrepreneurship intentions by increasing positive change collective action intentions. Two cross-sectional studies (N = 514) showed that constructive, but not blind patriotism, was positively related to social entrepreneurship intentions. Furthermore, constructive patriotism was related to social entrepreneurship intentions through greater levels of collective action intentions. The same mediational pattern did not hold when blind patriotism was considered a predictor of social entrepreneurship intentions. Specifically, being devoted to one's nation and questioning its harmful policies might predict social entrepreneurship intentions through stronger inclinations for social change actions.