ABSTRACT
This chapter explores underlying assumptions about human behavior and perceptions of human interaction with society more widely. It introduces a contemporary debate in the entrepreneurship domain and shows how a social constructionist frame can be useful in understanding that debate. As a consequence of assumptions made about reality and knowledge, a number of principles about the social construction of human behavior can be identified. In social constructionism, the discovery perspective of entrepreneurial opportunity sits firmly in the objectification part of its epistemology. Objectifications are embedded in language, which are learnt through human interaction and are used by individuals to make sense of everyday reality. Disagreement over the very nature of the relationship between entrepreneurs and their environment results in another tension over the origin of opportunities. Many researchers have applied it to differing aspects of the entrepreneurship research, including personality, entrepreneurial opportunity, identity and evolutionary theory.
