Coping with COVID-19 : the effects of entrepreneurs' coping strategies on their psychological well-being

Abstract

Entrepreneurship is, during the best of times, fraught with uncertainty. Entrepreneurs therefore need effective coping strategies, otherwise, they could experience poor well-being due to elevated levels of stress and anxiety, which would in turn impair their ability to carry out entrepreneurial tasks and make effective decisions. COVID-19 has brought about unprecedented uncertainty, turmoil and disruption to people’s personal and professional lives, further accentuating the importance of effective coping. Given the pervasiveness of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is still raging across the globe at the time of writing, understanding what enables entrepreneurs to cope with adversity and safeguard their well-being is a relevant area of study with important academic and practical implications. However, limited research has been published to shed light on the matter in the COVID-19 scenario. This study aims to address this gap in the literature by exploring the relationship between different coping strategies and the subjective psychological well-being (PWB) of entrepreneurs in the context of COVID-19. For the purpose of this study, coping refers to cognitive and behavioural efforts in response to stressful situational demands, while subjective PWB includes both cognitive judgments of one’s life satisfaction as well as affective appraisals of emotions. Guided by theories of coping and well-being, a conceptual model and research hypotheses are proposed and tested using data from 179 self-employed and business owner-managers in Malta (EU), gathered via an anonymous online survey in March 2021. This was one year after the first positive COVID-19 cases were detected on the island, and coincided with a second partial national lockdown including closure of schools and all non-essential businesses. The findings indicate that task-based and avoidance-based coping strategies are positively associated with PWB, while emotion-based coping is negatively associated with PWB. This study contributes to the literature on entrepreneurial coping and well-being by shedding light on the effectiveness of different coping strategies during times of elevated uncertainty and duress. This has important practical implications because entrepreneurs who are better able to cope with stress, and who have higher levels of PWB, are likely to make better entrepreneurial decisions and run businesses for longer. Due to its focus on entrepreneurs’ well-being, this study addresses UN SDG3 (Good Health and Well-Being for People). Moreover, considering that entrepreneurship plays a crucial role in spurring employment, economic growth and innovation, this study also addresses UN SDG8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) and SDG9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure).