Dan Forbes, Associate Professor of Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship at the University of Minnesota

Psychological Implications of Research on the Biological Basis of Business Behavior

Abstract

Researchers are increasingly asking how and to what extent people’s business-related behaviors are shaped by biological factors, such as genes. As research of this kind accumulates, it will become increasingly important for scholars to also understand how people think about biology and how their thinking impacts their behavior. In this paper I illustrate these points with an example intended to stimulate further attention to these issues. I begin by reviewing recent work within one stream of biology-based management research, which has found evidence of a link between genetics and entrepreneurial entry. Then, drawing on recent work in social psychology on lay theories of social categorization, I explain why the findings of work in this stream are likely to unintendedly strengthen popular belief in the idea that “entrepreneurs” as a group possess an underlying “essence” that is fixed and inborn. I go on to argue that that belief is likely to have significant and dysfunctional implications for how people make sense of their own business behavior and that of others. I conclude by proposing that biology and social psychology have complementary roles to play in the development of knowledge at the intersection of biology and business.