Anne Rienke Van Ewijk, Ghulam Nabi and Wiebke Weber
Building on authoritative studies on inspiration in the field of psychology (e.g. Thrash and Elliot, 2013, 2014), this study aims to clarify how entrepreneurial inspiration – an…
Abstract
Purpose
Building on authoritative studies on inspiration in the field of psychology (e.g. Thrash and Elliot, 2013, 2014), this study aims to clarify how entrepreneurial inspiration – an emotional state of personal attraction toward entrepreneurship – is created and how it affects entrepreneurial intentions. First, receptiveness to inspiration is introduced as a potential entrepreneurial feeling trait that constitutes a universal enabler of entrepreneurial inspiration alongside typically idiosyncratic inspirational triggers. Second, this study proposes to reinforce the theoretical base of the relation between entrepreneurial inspiration and entrepreneurial intentions by applying the affect infusion model (AIM) and empirically testing its explanatory power.
Design/methodology/approach
Hypotheses are tested through independent and dependent sample t-tests and hierarchical regression analyses with an interaction effect. Data originate from a pre-post course survey among 342 entrepreneurship students from various countries and institutions.
Findings
The results confirm a positive relation between receptiveness to inspiration and entrepreneurial inspiration. Receptiveness to inspiration precedes and increases with entrepreneurial experience, suggesting that it can be both inborn and cultivated. In line with the AIM, entrepreneurial inspiration stimulates only the entrepreneurial aspirations of participants without entrepreneurial experience. Experienced individuals, on the other hand, derived more entrepreneurial inspiration from their courses, but this was not translated to higher entrepreneurial intentions. Instead, they could benefit from this inspiration in other ways proposed in the literature, such as enhanced opportunity recognition.
Originality/value
This study provides much needed, theory-informed, insight into the formation of entrepreneurial inspiration. Furthermore, it is the first research to propose and test a specific theoretical underpinning of the relation between entrepreneurial inspiration and entrepreneurial intentions, which also accounts for the moderating role of entrepreneurial experience. Finally, the rare multi-country, multi-institution nature of the sample reinforces the external validity of the findings.
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Fabian Weber, Maria Juschten, Carina Fanninger, Christiane Brandenburg, Alexandra Jiricka-Pürrer, Christina Czachs and Wiebke Unbehaun
With an increase in hot days, tropical nights, and heat waves, assumedly more residents of large cities will seek rest and recreation in higher-altitude tourism destinations…
Abstract
With an increase in hot days, tropical nights, and heat waves, assumedly more residents of large cities will seek rest and recreation in higher-altitude tourism destinations during the summer. This phenomenon is referred to as the revival of ‘Sommerfrische’ (summer freshness or summer retreat). This chapter examines the impact of climate change on summer tourism in the Alps by urban residents. It scrutinizes the historical perception of the term Sommerfrische, as well as the understanding and perception of this term today, based on an extensive literature review and two focus-group discussions. The findings form the basis for specifying the attributes that can be used to describe a modern form of Sommerfrische. The results indicate that today’s understanding of what Sommerfrische could be and the attributes of Sommerfrische travel are very different from the historical phenomenon. Nowadays, summer excursions and short trips to destinations close to cities are considered to be Sommerfrische as long as they have escape from the heat as a common motive. The results demonstrate the broad interest of urban residents in Sommerfrische and also suggest avenues for further research on the adaptative behavior of town-dwellers in hot summers with respect to the extent of their actual and potential future travel behavior.
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The research is rooted in the interest in educational biographies of ethnic and linguistic minorities in Europe during the twentieth century. The purpose of this paper is to give…
Abstract
Purpose
The research is rooted in the interest in educational biographies of ethnic and linguistic minorities in Europe during the twentieth century. The purpose of this paper is to give an answer to the question of how the nationalistic educational norms during the period of totalitarian regimes manifested themselves in the educational biographies of minorities, and how much individuals and collectives transferred their scholastic denationalisation experiences (e.g. prohibition of alphabetisation in their mother tongue) to the following generations. In other words, if and how traces of the previously named experiences, for example the attitude towards education, can be found in insecurities and attitudes of the first or even the second follow-up generation.
Design/methodology/approach
The theoretical foundation used for this research is the conception of school as “institutional actor” theorised by Helmut Fend (2006). Fend used a widened concept based upon Weber’s (1922/1988) action-theoretical, Luhmann’s (2002) system-theoretical and Scharpf’s (2000) and Schaefers’ (2002) institution-centred approaches. This scientific background designs a theoretical concept of school fitted for the social and pedagogical research field. Specifically, in Fend’s analysis of design- and action-oriented potentials, Fend (2006) “turns his special attention to the processes in the educational field, which are implemented by actors, who themselves act in the context of institutional framework conditions” (p. 17).
Findings
The experience of school in totalitarian contexts manifests itself in individual and collective memories, later found in the following generations with particular emphasis on the approaches towards education.
Originality/value
This paper analyses the transgenerational impact of the experiences ethnical minorities had with schools.