Creative Entrepreneurs’ Well-Being, Opportunity Recognition and Absorptive Capacity: Self-Determination Theory Perspective

Abstract

Recognizing the right opportunities is a key capability in the entrepreneurial process, and creative entrepreneurs’ well-being at work can strengthen their inherent motivation to absorb external knowledge for desirable outcomes. Well-being at work is pleasant judgments of positive attitudes or pleasant experiences, but previous research mainly regarded well-being as an outcome variable. Therefore, this study considers the role of well-being as a mediator conceptualized in physical, psychological, and social well-being dimensions in the opportunity recognition process. Based upon the self-determination theory, this study examines how creative entrepreneurs’ motivation, including creative thinking, self-efficacy, and relatedness, influences their well-being and further affects opportunity recognition. Results from a sample of 234 creative entrepreneurs in Taiwan show that well-being positively mediates the effect of relatedness on opportunity recognition capabilities and absorptive capacity. Moreover, creative thinking and self-efficacy are associated with relatedness, and further with well-being. The key findings suggest that well-being plays a critical role to stimulate motivation for further capability building. This study extends the self-determination theory by linking entrepreneurial motivation with well-being in the entrepreneurial opportunity seeking process.