Opportunity recognition ability for entrepreneurs from the affective perspective: how and when?

Purpose Applying the broaden-and-build theory, this paper aims to examine the effect of entrepreneurial wellbeing (EWB) on the opportunity recognition (OpR) ability and how it changes over entrepreneurial stages. Design/methodology/approach This study was based on the survey data of 307 entrepreneurs in Vietnam, which is an emerging market with full support for entrepreneurship by the government. Findings The results indicated that EWB has a salient effect on the OpR ability of entrepreneurs. Besides, in the later stages of the entrepreneurial process, EWB increases in its importance toward the ability to recognize potential business opportunities. Originality/value This study contributes to EWB and entrepreneurship research by providing theoretical and empirical evidence of wellbeing as a crucial psychological resource in entrepreneurship. Besides, this study uncovers the dynamic nature of entrepreneurship by analyzing when EWB can produce higher levels of entrepreneurs’ OpR along entrepreneurial stages.