Powered by compassion: The effect of loving-kindness meditation on entrepreneurs' sustainable decision-making

As environmental degradation and climate change continue to threaten our livelihood, entrepreneurs have a crucial role to play in promoting environmental regeneration and infusing their ventures with sustainable decision-making. Building on advances in research on social and sustainable entrepreneurship, we propose that compassion is an important predictor of entrepreneurial decisions involving an ethical balancing act between concerns for environmental and economic sustainability. We further draw on emerging evidence in psychology, pointing to meditative practice as a powerful and accessible source of compassion. In two experimental studies, we test and find support for a mediation model predicting that, compared to an active control group, entrepreneurs engaging in a brief Loving-Kindness Meditation report an increase in compassion and, in turn, higher sustainable decision-making. On the basis of these findings, we offer contributions to research on the psychological drivers of sustainable entrepreneurship and to the literature about meditation and compassion in entrepreneurship.

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