Understanding the Prosocial Values and Behaviours of Non-Social Entrepreneurs: Adopting an Engaged Approach

While there is increasing interest in the role of entrepreneurs in addressing societal problems this has focused primarily on the contributions of social entrepreneurs, large corporations, and the actions of high-profile philanthropic individuals. There has been very little written about prosocial values and behaviors from the perspective of the non-social entrepreneur. This study asked in what ways can the adoption of an engaged-scholarship approach help us to understand the role of motivation, mindfulness traits, and character strengths when non-social entrepreneurs act in prosocial ways? It begins by outlining the findings of a literature review before going on to outline the rationale for adopting an engaged approach to address identified gaps in the literature. It then describes a study that adopted an engaged approach, the different approaches, and methods that were used, the results, and then how these might be used to advance the development of prosocial values and behaviors in non-social entrepreneurs. The approach taken to the research was informed by the Seven Principles of Responsible Research (Tsui,2021) and the chapter describes how adopting an engaged approach presented both benefits and challenges and the limitations of the study before going on to reflect upon some of the implications this has for both researchers and academic institutions.