Abstract
Impact investors have become a subject of increasing academic interest for their unique capacity to channel financial capital to social impact projects. Identity theories have proved particularly useful in understanding the peculiar behaviors of this new breed of investors. Yet, we know little about how the social identity of impact investors, crucial to comprehend other-oriented behaviors, influences their approach to the field. One type of impact investors, who are also some of the leading players in the sector, is likely to shed light on this question: those born to business-owning families. Based on a grounded theory methodology, we follow the case of eight family impact investors and find three types of investors with different levels of social identification to their family groups and different corresponding approaches to impact investing in terms of breadth of collaboration and degree of hybridity.