The Role of Affect in the Entrepreneurial Process

Research findings indicate that the feelings and moods individuals experience (i.e., their affect) influence many aspects of cognition and behavior. Extending these findings to entrepreneurship, I suggest that affect influences several aspects of entrepreneurs' cognition and, hence, important elements of the entrepreneurial process. I propose a theoretical framework for understanding the role of affect in key aspects of entrepreneurship (e.g., opportunity recognition, resource acquisition).