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Introduction
Entrepreneurial judgment and decision-making are markedly shaped by emotional dynamics that influence entrepreneurs’ immediate choices, long-term resilience, strategic agility, and ethical judgments (Dabić et al., 2021; Foo, 2011; Paramita et al., 2022). Extant research has addressed some emotions critical to entrepreneurship, e.g., passion (Cardon et al., 2009) and resilience (Hayward et al., 2010). However, there is an urgent need to broaden this scope to include a wider range of affects that can uniquely influence entrepreneurial judgment and decision-making. Recent research has revealed how such emotions as guilt, empathy, and regret shape entrepreneurial actions (Williamson et al., 2024). However, certain distinct emotions like despair, awe, and humility remain largely unexamined despite their potential implications for entrepreneurial outcomes. This limitation of the extant research persists even though the complex emotional turmoil inherent in entrepreneurship can influence the strategic decisions entrepreneurs make. One promising direction for advancing this field of study is the prioritization of socio-economic development through the transitioning of traditional entrepreneurial ventures into social enterprises. This approach can provide entrepreneurs with a sense of balance and resolution by addressing the critical emotions mentioned above, while also allowing them to play a personal role in social change (Vidovic, 2023) in addressing different social issues and needs. By addressing these gaps, this special issue seeks to advance our understanding of the interplay between entrepreneurial emotion, judgment, and decision-making, focusing on these under-explored emotional domains.
Aims and Scope
This special issue explores the critical yet underexplored role of emotions in entrepreneurial decision-making within enterprising communities and local economies. So far, research has primarily focused on positive emotions, e.g., passion and resilience. However, community-based entrepreneurship presents distinct emotional challenges, often accompanied by a diverse range of both positive and negative emotions. In addition, entrepreneurs in localized ecosystems, i.e., small businesses, family firms, and social enterprises, find themselves navigating multifaceted emotional landscapes. The complexity of the latter is shaped by close-knit stakeholder relationships, resource constraints, and place-based identity. Understanding how emotions such as, for example, humility, empathy, regret, guilt, frustration, and despair influence entrepreneurial resilience, ethical decision-making, and community engagement is essential for fostering sustainable local entrepreneurial communities. This special issue aims to advance our understanding of how emotional dynamics influence entrepreneurial judgment in ways that affect not only individual entrepreneurs but also the broader social and economic fabric of their communities. By examining the interplay between discrete emotions (Bachkirov, 2015) and emotional blends (Gonzalez et al., 2017) on entrepreneurial judgments and decision-making in localized entrepreneurial ecosystems, we seek to provide insights into how affects drive sustainable business practices, social innovation, and economic resilience at the community level.
This special issue also aims to deepen our insights into how various emotional states and dispositions impact ethical decision-making and interpersonal relationships within entrepreneurial ecosystems. For instance, such emotions as empathy, gratitude, and compassion can be essential in shaping interactions with stakeholders, from co-founders and employees to investors and customers. This can be particularly critical in contexts like social entrepreneurship, where ethical decision-making and a commitment to social impact may intersect with personal interests or ambitions and financial pressures. Furthermore, emotions like anger (Bachkirov, 2023), guilt (Cristofari & Guitton, 2014), regret (Doan et al., 20240 and humility (Bachkirov, 2024), and shame (Murphy & Kiffin-Petersen, 2017) are likely to create moral complexities thus influencing how entrepreneurs address moral dilemmas. By emphasizing the dynamics between entrepreneurial judgment, decision-making, emotions, and ethics, this special issue will provide a platform for studies that reveal a multifaceted view of entrepreneurship.
This special issue welcomes interdisciplinary perspectives that can shed light on how diverse emotional experiences shape entrepreneurial cognition and behavior. Integrating insights from organizational behavior, sociology, anthropology, psychology, and behavioral economics, we hope to uncover the underlying mechanisms that influence emotional responses and their effects on entrepreneurial judgment and decision-making. We invite diverse methodologies and approaches, e.g., quantitative studies including experiments and surveys that explore causal relationships, as well as qualitative methods that can reveal the nuanced, contextual experiences of entrepreneurs. We equally encourage theoretical and conceptual papers that offer new frameworks and insights into the complex role of emotions in entrepreneurship.
By enhancing our understanding of the emotional dimensions of entrepreneurship within communities, this special issue will have direct implications for policy-making, education, and support structures for small businesses and social enterprises. The inquiries into how humility, empathy, regret, guilt, frustration, despair, etc., influence entrepreneurial resilience, ethical decision-making, and long-term sustainability, are expected to offer insights to inform policies that promote more supportive local business environments. Insights from this research can also enhance entrepreneurial education by equipping future entrepreneurs with emotional regulation strategies, improving their ability to navigate challenges unique to community-based enterprises. Additionally, a refined focus on emotions most relevant to localized entrepreneurial ecosystems—rather than an overly broad thematic scope—will ensure that contributions generate relevant and actionable knowledge. This includes informing mentorship programs, mental health initiatives, and financial resilience strategies tailored to the emotional realities of entrepreneurs embedded in close-knit social and economic networks.
List of Topic Areas
Potential topics include, but are not limited to:
- Entrepreneurial Decision Making in Digital and Algorithm-Driven Environments
- Emotion Regulation in Crisis and Disruptive Contexts
- Impact of Virtual and Augmented Reality on Entrepreneurial Emotion and Judgment
- Cross-Generational Differences in Emotional Decision-Making in Family Businesses
- Entrepreneurial Emotion and Decision-Making in Decentralized Autonomous Organizations
- Emotional Labor and Well-being in Serial Entrepreneurship
- Role of Synthetic and AI-Generated Emotions in Entrepreneurial Decision-Making
- Humility in Entrepreneurial Learning and Adaptation
- Empathy and Ethical Decision-Making in Social Entrepreneurship
- Entrepreneurial Despair: Causes and Consequences
- Pride and Self-Efficacy in Sustained Entrepreneurial Motivation
- Envy in Competitive Strategy and Innovation
- Entrepreneurial emotional dilemma: social or conventional/traditional entrepreneurship?
- Inner accomplishment and entrepreneurship
Submission Information
Submissions of full manuscripts are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts. Registration and access are available here:
Author guidelines must be strictly followed. Please see:
Authors should select (from the drop-down menu) the special issue title at the appropriate step in the submission process, i.e. in response to “Please select the issue you are submitting to”.
Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else, while under review for this journal.
Key Dates
Opening date for manuscript submissions: 1 September 2026
Closing date for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2026
References
Bachkirov, A. A. (2015). Managerial decision making under specific emotions. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 30(7), 861-874.
Bachkirov, A. A. (2023). Self-immanent pride as the underlying source of destructive managerial anger: a conceptual proposition. Journal of Management, Spirituality & Religion, 20(3), 270-290.
Bachkirov, A. A. (2024). Destructive managerial anger stemming from self‐immanent pride: Is humility a solution? Business Ethics, the Environment & Responsibility, 33(4), 795-806.
Cardon, M. S., Wincent, J., Singh, J., & Drnovsek, M. (2009). The nature and experience of entrepreneurial passion. Academy of Management Review, 34(3), 511-532.
Cristofari, C., & Guitton, M. J. (2014). Surviving at any cost: guilt expression following extreme ethical conflicts in a virtual setting. PloS One, 9(7), e101711.
Dabić, M., Stojčić, N., Simić, M., Potocan, V., Slavković, M., & Nedelko, Z. (2021). Intellectual agility and innovation in micro and small businesses: The mediating role of entrepreneurial leadership. Journal of Business Research, 123, 683-695.
Doan, T. T. T., Kim, J., Kim, H., An, W., Seo, E., & Park, M. (2024). Decision Regret and Decision-Making Process among Caregivers of Older Adults Receiving Home Care: A Cross-Sectional Study. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 25(9), 105166.
Foo, M. D. (2011). Emotions and entrepreneurial opportunity evaluation. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 35(2), 375-393.
Gonzalez, R., Smith, J., & Nielsen, L. (2017). Editorial overview: Theories, methods, and applications of mixed emotions. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 15, iv.
Hayward, M. L., Forster, W. R., Sarasvathy, S. D., & Fredrickson, B. L. (2010). Beyond hubris: How highly confident entrepreneurs rebound to venture again. Journal of Business venturing, 25(6), 569-578.
Murphy, S. A., & Kiffin-Petersen, S. (2017). The exposed self: A multilevel model of shame and ethical behavior. Journal of Business Ethics, 141, 657-675.
Paramita, W., Indarti, N., Virgosita, R., Herani, R., & Sutikno, B. (2022). Let ethics lead your way: The role of moral identity and moral intensity in promoting social entrepreneurial intention. Journal of Business Venturing Insights, 17, e00299.
Vidovic, D. (2023), "The meaning of being a social entrepreneur in the society of multiple transitions", Social Enterprise Journal, Vol. 19 No. 3, pp. 237-255. https://doi.org/10.1108/SEJ-08-2022-0075
Williamson, A. J., Drencheva, A., & Wolfe, M. T. (2024). When do negative emotions arise in entrepreneurship? A contextualized review of negative affective antecedents. Journal of Small Business Management, 62(1), 209-253.
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