IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/entthe/v45y2021i6p1307-1338.html

Let’s Focus on Solutions to Entrepreneurial Ill-Being! Recovery Interventions to Enhance Entrepreneurial Well-Being

Author

Listed:
  • Amanda Jasmine Williamson
  • J. Jeffrey Gish
  • Ute Stephan

Abstract

Entrepreneurship is uniquely stressful. Entrepreneurs often cannot avoid entrepreneurial stressors (e.g., uncertainty, workload, resource constraints) and these stressors can deter natural recovery activities (e.g., detachment and sleep). Yet, entrepreneurs may be able to lessen the negative impact of stress on their well-being, health, and productivity by engaging in recovery. In this editorial, we outline how scholars can employ recovery interventions to ameliorate some of entrepreneurship’s ill effects and support entrepreneurs’ health, well-being, and productivity. We aim to move the focus of scholarly inquiry from documenting the health and well-being challenges of entrepreneurs, toward identifying and implementing solutions to support entrepreneurs.

Suggested Citation

  • Amanda Jasmine Williamson & J. Jeffrey Gish & Ute Stephan, 2021. "Let’s Focus on Solutions to Entrepreneurial Ill-Being! Recovery Interventions to Enhance Entrepreneurial Well-Being," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 45(6), pages 1307-1338, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:entthe:v:45:y:2021:i:6:p:1307-1338
    DOI: 10.1177/10422587211006431
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10422587211006431
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/10422587211006431?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Shir, Nadav & Nikolaev, Boris N. & Wincent, Joakim, 2019. "Entrepreneurship and well-being: The role of psychological autonomy, competence, and relatedness," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 1-1.
    2. Gish, J. Jeffrey & Wagner, David T. & Grégoire, Denis A. & Barnes, Christopher M., 2019. "Sleep and entrepreneurs' abilities to imagine and form initial beliefs about new venture ideas," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(6).
    3. Fischer, Eileen & Reuber, A. Rebecca, 2011. "Social interaction via new social media: (How) can interactions on Twitter affect effectual thinking and behavior?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 1-18, January.
    4. Johan P. Larsson & Per Thulin, 2019. "Independent by necessity? The life satisfaction of necessity and opportunity entrepreneurs in 70 countries," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 53(4), pages 921-934, December.
    5. Mcmullen, Jeffery S., 2015. "Entrepreneurial judgment as empathic accuracy: a sequential decision-making approach to entrepreneurial action," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 11(3), pages 651-681, September.
    6. Maula, Markku V.J. & Autio, Erkko & Murray, Gordon C., 2009. "Corporate venture capital and the balance of risks and rewards for portfolio companies," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 274-286, May.
    7. repec:eme:aaaj00:aaaj-02-2015-1984 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Deaton, Angus & Cartwright, Nancy, 2018. "Understanding and misunderstanding randomized controlled trials," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 2-21.
    9. Murnieks, Charles Y. & Arthurs, Jonathan D. & Cardon, Melissa S. & Farah, Nusrat & Stornelli, Jason & Michael Haynie, J., 2020. "Close your eyes or open your mind: Effects of sleep and mindfulness exercises on entrepreneurs' exhaustion," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 35(2).
    10. Wennberg, Karl & Anderson, Brian S. & McMullen, Jeffrey, 2019. "2 Editorial: Enhancing Quantitative Theory-Testing Entrepreneurship Research," Ratio Working Papers 323, The Ratio Institute.
    11. Joern H. Block & Marcus Wagner, 2010. "Necessity and Opportunity Entrepreneurs in Germany: Characteristics and Earning s Differentials," Schmalenbach Business Review (sbr), LMU Munich School of Management, vol. 62(2), pages 154-174, April.
    12. Dan Buettner & Toben Nelson & Ruut Veenhoven, 2020. "Ways to Greater Happiness: A Delphi Study," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(8), pages 2789-2806, December.
    13. Ioana Lupu & Laura Empson, 2015. "Illusio and overwork: playing the game in the accounting field," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 28(8), pages 1310-1340, October.
    14. Anderson, Brian S. & Wennberg, Karl & McMullen, Jeffery S., 2019. "Editorial: Enhancing quantitative theory-testing entrepreneurship research," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 1-1.
    15. Patzelt, Holger & Shepherd, Dean A., 2011. "Negative emotions of an entrepreneurial career: Self-employment and regulatory coping behaviors," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 226-238, March.
    16. Wiklund, Johan & Nikolaev, Boris & Shir, Nadav & Foo, Maw-Der & Bradley, Steve, 2019. "Entrepreneurship and well-being: Past, present, and future," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 579-588.
    17. Ioana Lupu & Laura Empson, 2015. "Illusio and overwork: playing the game in the accounting field," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 28(8), pages 1310-1340, October.
    18. Patel, Pankaj C. & Wolfe, Marcus T. & Williams, Trenton A., 2019. "Self-employment and allostatic load," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 731-751.
    19. Williams, David W. & Wood, Matthew S. & Mitchell, J. Robert & Urbig, Diemo, 2019. "Applying experimental methods to advance entrepreneurship research: On the need for and publication of experiments," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 215-223.
    20. Zoltan Acs, 2008. "How is Entrepreneurship Good for Economic Growth?," Chapters, in: Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy, chapter 21, pages 291-301, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    21. Stam, Wouter & Arzlanian, Souren & Elfring, Tom, 2014. "Social capital of entrepreneurs and small firm performance: A meta-analysis of contextual and methodological moderators," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 152-173.
    22. Wincent, Joakim & Örtqvist, Daniel & Drnovsek, Mateja, 2008. "The entrepreneur's role stressors and proclivity for a venture withdrawal," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 232-246, September.
    23. Martin Carree & Ingrid Verheul, 2012. "What Makes Entrepreneurs Happy? Determinants of Satisfaction Among Founders," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 13(2), pages 371-387, April.
    24. Wouter Stam & Souren Arzlanian & Tom Elfring, 2014. "Social capital of entrepreneurs and small firm performance : A meta-analysis of contextual and methodological moderators," Post-Print hal-04850409, HAL.
    25. Friederike Welter & Ted Baker & David B. Audretsch & William B. Gartner, 2017. "Everyday Entrepreneurship—A Call for Entrepreneurship Research to Embrace Entrepreneurial Diversity," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 41(3), pages 311-321, May.
    26. Jantien van Berkel & Cécile R L Boot & Karin I Proper & Paulien M Bongers & Allard J van der Beek, 2014. "Effectiveness of a Worksite Mindfulness-Related Multi-Component Health Promotion Intervention on Work Engagement and Mental Health: Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(1), pages 1-10, January.
    27. Mathias, Blake D. & Williams, David W. & Smith, Adam R., 2015. "Entrepreneurial inception: The role of imprinting in entrepreneurial action," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 11-28.
    28. Marcus T. Wolfe & Pankaj C. Patel, 2020. "I will sleep when I am dead? Sleep and self-employment," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 55(4), pages 901-917, December.
    29. repec:plo:pone00:0229942 is not listed on IDEAS
    30. Hessels, Jolanda & Rietveld, Cornelius A. & van der Zwan, Peter, 2017. "Self-employment and work-related stress: The mediating role of job control and job demand," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 178-196.
    31. Eva Real & Lluís Jover & Ricard Verdaguer & Antoni Griera & Cinto Segalàs & Pino Alonso & Fernando Contreras & Antoni Arteman & José M Menchón, 2016. "Factors Associated with Long-Term Sickness Absence Due to Mental Disorders: A Cohort Study of 7.112 Patients during the Spanish Economic Crisis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(1), pages 1-16, January.
    32. Melissa Mazmanian & Wanda J. Orlikowski & JoAnne Yates, 2013. "The Autonomy Paradox: The Implications of Mobile Email Devices for Knowledge Professionals," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(5), pages 1337-1357, October.
    33. Maija Renko, 2013. "Early Challenges of Nascent Social Entrepreneurs," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 37(5), pages 1045-1069, September.
    34. Eva De Mol & Violet T. Ho & Jeffrey M. Pollack, 2018. "Predicting Entrepreneurial Burnout in a Moderated Mediated Model of Job Fit," Journal of Small Business Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(3), pages 392-411, July.
    35. Engel, Yuval & Ramesh, Anusha & Steiner, Nick, 2020. "Powered by compassion: The effect of loving-kindness meditation on entrepreneurs' sustainable decision-making," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 35(6).
    36. Stephan, Ute & Tavares, Susana M. & Carvalho, Helena & Ramalho, Joaquim J.S. & Santos, Susana C. & van Veldhoven, Marc, 2020. "Self-employment and eudaimonic well-being: Energized by meaning, enabled by societal legitimacy," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 35(6).
    37. Goldenstein, Jan & Hunoldt, Michael & Oertel, Simon, 2019. "How optimal distinctiveness affects new ventures' failure risk: A contingency perspective," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 477-495.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Shibo Li & Edwin Setiawan Sanusi, 2025. "Pull motivation and well-being as drivers of entrepreneurial success: The moderating role of social capital," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 20(8), pages 1-22, August.
    2. Fultz, Andrew E.F. & Hoffman, James J. & Jiang, David S., 2025. "Lost in the fog: How entrepreneurs’ poor mental health breeds organizational inability in founder-run ventures," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 23(C).
    3. Seyb, Stella & Shepherd, Dean A. & Maitlis, Sally, 2025. "Meaningful venturing: Examining how entrepreneurs generate meaning in life," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 40(5).
    4. van Gelderen, Marco, 2025. "Living healthily to 120: Implications for entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 40(4).
    5. Patel, Pankaj C. & Wolfe, Marcus T., 2025. "The double-edged sword: Psychedelic-assisted therapy and entrepreneurial well-being, an early conceptual framework," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 24(C).
    6. Yu, Xiaoyu & Meng, Xiaotong & Stockdall, Kyle & Lanivich, Stephen E. & Cao, Gang, 2025. "A meta-analysis of the antecedents of entrepreneurial well-being," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ute Stephan & Andreas Rauch & Isabella Hatak, 2023. "Happy Entrepreneurs? Everywhere? A Meta-Analysis of Entrepreneurship and Wellbeing," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 47(2), pages 553-593, March.
    2. Ute Stephan & Przemysław Zbierowski & Ana Pérez-Luño & Dominika Wach & Johan Wiklund & Marisleidy Alba Cabañas & Edgard Barki & Alexandre Benzari & Claudia Bernhard-Oettel & Janet A. Boekhorst & A, 2023. "Act or Wait-and-See? Adversity, Agility, and Entrepreneur Wellbeing across Countries during the COVID-19 Pandemic," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 47(3), pages 682-723, May.
    3. Patel, Pankaj C. & Wolfe, Marcus T., 2025. "The double-edged sword: Psychedelic-assisted therapy and entrepreneurial well-being, an early conceptual framework," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 24(C).
    4. Hay, Georgia & Ward, M.K. & Doorn, Sebastiaan van & Parker, Sharon & Schepis, Daniel, 2025. "The role of work design in entrepreneurship: A review and meta-framework," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    5. Gish, J. Jeffrey & Guedes, Maria João & Silva, Bárbara G. & Patel, Pankaj C., 2022. "Latent profiles of personality, temperament, and eudaimonic well-being: Comparing life satisfaction and health outcomes among entrepreneurs and employees," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 17(C).
    6. Xiaoyu Yu & Xiaotong Meng & Laura Stanley & Franz W. Kellermanns, 2024. "Self-employment and life satisfaction: The contingent role of formal institutions," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 63(1), pages 135-163, June.
    7. Mathieu Le Moal & Roy Thurik & Olivier Torrès & Guillaume Soenen, 2026. "Mental health of entrepreneurs and daily recovery experiences," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 66(1), pages 27-48, January.
    8. Warnick, Benjamin J. & Kier, Alexander S. & LaFrance, Emily M. & Cuttler, Carrie, 2021. "Head in the clouds? Cannabis users' creativity in new venture ideation depends on their entrepreneurial passion and experience," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 36(2).
    9. Yosr Ben Tahar & Nada Rejeb & Adnane Maalaoui & Sascha Kraus & Paul Westhead & Paul Jones, 2023. "Emotional demands and entrepreneurial burnout: the role of autonomy and job satisfaction," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(2), pages 701-716, August.
    10. Seyb, Stella & Shepherd, Dean A. & Maitlis, Sally, 2025. "Meaningful venturing: Examining how entrepreneurs generate meaning in life," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 40(5).
    11. Boris N. Nikolaev & Michael P. Lerman & Christopher J. Boudreaux & Brandon A. Mueller, 2023. "Self-Employment and Eudaimonic Well-Being: The Mediating Role of Problem- and Emotion-Focused Coping," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 47(6), pages 2121-2154, November.
    12. Aishwarya Kakatkar & Holger Patzelt & Nicola Breugst, 2024. "Towards a Dynamic Model of Entrepreneurial Energy," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 48(4), pages 1037-1081, July.
    13. Wach, Dominika & Stephan, Ute & Weinberger, Eva & Wegge, Jürgen, 2021. "Entrepreneurs' stressors and well-being: A recovery perspective and diary study," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 36(5).
    14. Eriko Naiki & Yuta Ogane, 2024. "Effects of entrepreneurial heterogeneity within necessity- and opportunity-based entrepreneurs on business performance," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 807-840, June.
    15. Teemu Kautonen & Aracely Soto-Simeone & Ewald Kibler, 2025. "Unpacking the relationship between sense of place and entrepreneurs’ well-being," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 64(3), pages 1111-1139, March.
    16. Patel, Pankaj C. & Wolfe, Marcus T. & Lerner, Daniel A. & Fitza, Markus, 2025. "Self-employment, perceived ageism, and stress among older adults," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    17. Inessa Love & Boris Nikolaev & Chandra Dhakal, 2024. "The well-being of women entrepreneurs: the role of gender inequality and gender roles," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 62(1), pages 325-352, January.
    18. Mirko Hirschmann & Christian Fisch & Steffen Farny, 2025. "An attention-based perspective on how climate impact affects opportunity entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 65(4), pages 2217-2257, December.
    19. Binhui Wei & Chunkai Zhao & Mingzhong Luo, 2025. "Returning Entrepreneurship and Subjective Well-Being: Evidence from Migrant Worker Households in Rural China," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 1-45, March.
    20. Kensbock, Julia M., 2025. "Reaching out or going it alone? How birth order shapes networking behavior and entrepreneurial action in the face of obstacles," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 40(2).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:entthe:v:45:y:2021:i:6:p:1307-1338. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.