Unsticking the Rationality Stalemate: Motivated Reasoning, Reality, and Irrationality
Date
2022
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Article
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19 p.
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Abstract
Rationality is an elusive and increasingly debated concept in entrepreneurship research.
We offer a novel conceptualization of rationality based on reasoning motivations. We posit that logical, probabilistic, and heuristic reasoning logics are motivationally rational because the decision-maker
attempts to accurately perceive the external world and problem-solve (even if rapidly and approximately). By contrast, when the reasoning ignores an assessment of reality and accuracy in problem-solving, and instead is deluded by psychological (e.g., hedonic) urges that prompt self-serving inferences, we categorize such decisions as motivationally irrational. We develop a theoretical account
for how motivational irrationality is adaptive under extreme uncertainty as it enables entrepreneurs to dare action when even heuristic reasoning is inconclusive or entirely ineffective.
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Citation
Kurdoglu, R., Lerner, D., & Ates, N. (2022). Unsticking the Rationality Stalemate: Motivated Reasoning, Reality, and Irrationality. Journal of Business Venturing Insights, 18, e00336. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbvi.2022.e00336
Keywords
Business venturing, Irrationality, Uncertainty, Entrepreneurial decision-making, Entrepreneurial action theory