Abstract Research Summary Research has long emphasized entrepreneurs' status as a driver of philanthropy. Extending this literature, we examine how status inconsistency—misalignment among perceived economic, social, and political status—is associated with entrepreneurs' philanthropic contributions. We develop two theoretically grounded but competing interpretations: compensation , which suggests that entrepreneurs may increase giving to offset perceived status imbalance, and resentment , which suggests that perceived imbalance may dampen prosocial engagement. Using a national survey of Chinese private entrepreneurs supplemented with qualitative interviews, we find that while higher perceived status in individual dimensions is positively associated with philanthropy, inconsistency across these status dimensions is, on average, negatively associated with it. Moreover, entrepreneurs from farmer backgrounds, compared with those from upper‐class origins, exhibit patterns consistent with stronger compensatory giving. These findings underscore the nuanced implications of multidimensional perceived status for entrepreneurial philanthropy. Managerial Summary Entrepreneurs' philanthropic behavior depends not only on how high their perceived status is but also on how consistent it is across different domains. When entrepreneurs experience status inconsistency—for example, being economically successful but perceiving weaker social or political standing—this imbalance may be associated with either efforts to compensate through giving or feelings of resentment that suppress it. Overall, entrepreneurs with unbalanced perceived status tend to give less, yet those from lower‐class backgrounds are more inclined to donate in ways consistent with status‐balancing motives. Our study highlights how the interplay of economic, social, and political status perceptions relates to entrepreneurial philanthropy.
Ge et al. (Sun,) studied this question.