Whether individuals grew up as first-born or later-born siblings in their families can influence their behavior well into adulthood. This study examines the impact of birth order on networking behavior and entrepreneurial action, integrating birth order theory with psychological threat response theories. It suggests that first-born and later-born entrepreneurs inherently differ in their social responses to the uncertainties and threats of entrepreneurship, which affects how intensively they engage in networking behavior and entrepreneurial action. Three empirical studies involving over 900 entrepreneurs were conducted using between-family analysis. The results indicate that later-borns, overall, exhibit more adaptive behavior than first-borns when navigating the challenges of entrepreneurship: Especially when facing severe threatening obstacles, later-born entrepreneurs tend to intensify their efforts to build, seek, and use external networks, which enables them to engage in more entrepreneurial action. This study offers new insights into the relationship between birth order and entrepreneurship, enhancing our understanding of why some individuals may respond more adaptively to threats, network more intensively, and exploit opportunities more actively than others.

中文翻译：

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伸出援手还是独自一人？出生顺序如何影响面对障碍时的社交行为和创业行动


个人是作为家庭中的长子还是晚生的兄弟姐妹长大，都会影响他们成年后的行为。本研究考察了出生顺序对网络行为和创业行为的影响，将出生顺序理论与心理威胁反应理论相结合。它表明，长子和晚生的企业家对创业的不确定性和威胁的社会反应本质上不同，这影响了他们参与网络行为和创业行动的强度。使用家庭间分析进行了涉及 900 多名企业家的三项实证研究。结果表明，总体而言，在应对创业挑战时，晚生者比长子表现出更多的适应性行为：尤其是在面临严重的威胁障碍时，后生企业家往往会加紧努力建立、寻求和使用外部网络，这使他们能够参与更多的创业行动。这项研究为出生顺序与创业之间的关系提供了新的见解，增强了我们对为什么有些人可能比其他人更适应威胁、更密集地建立网络和更积极地利用机会的理解。