How Identity-Specific Workplace Support and Authenticity Drive Individual Entrepreneurial Orientation: Evidence From Sexual and Gender Minoritized Employees

Research on individual entrepreneurial orientation (Ind.EO) has yet to reveal the psychological conditions under which employees demonstrate Ind.EO in the workplace. Addressing this gap, we theorize that authenticity is a crucial mechanism linking identity-specific support to Ind.EO expression, thereby introducing an identity perspective to Ind.EO research. Using two-wave survey data from 952 employees among sexual and gender minorities in 47 countries, a validation study of 135 participants, and qualitative interviews, we demonstrate that authenticity fully mediates the effect of identity-specific support on innovativeness and proactiveness, but not on risk-taking. These results expand Ind.EO theory by incorporating an identity-based psychological dimension.