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Job burnout and work engagement in entrepreneurs: How the psychological utility of entrepreneurship drives healthy engagement

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  • Obschonka, Martin
  • Pavez, Ignacio
  • Kautonen, Teemu
  • Kibler, Ewald
  • Salmela-Aro, Katariina
  • Wincent, Joakim

Abstract

What is the real value of entrepreneurship? We propose a framework of psychological utility by integrating Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) theory with a recovery approach from a personal agency perspective. We hypothesize that personal agency together with the positive JD-R pattern of entrepreneurship generates outstanding psychological utility, which maintains and rewards a healthy, strong work engagement that spills over to off-work time. This benefits entrepreneurs, but also their businesses reliant on strong work engagement that avoids burnout. We validate our framework by means of panel data comprising four waves (348 entrepreneurs and 1002 employees), where we also analyze different types of entrepreneurs.

Suggested Citation

  • Obschonka, Martin & Pavez, Ignacio & Kautonen, Teemu & Kibler, Ewald & Salmela-Aro, Katariina & Wincent, Joakim, 2023. "Job burnout and work engagement in entrepreneurs: How the psychological utility of entrepreneurship drives healthy engagement," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 38(2).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbvent:v:38:y:2023:i:2:s0883902622000842
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusvent.2022.106272
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    3. Víctor Hugo Fernández-Bedoya & Monica Elisa Meneses-La-Riva & Josefina Amanda Suyo-Vega & Johanna de Jesús Stephanie Gago-Chávez, 2023. "Entrepreneurship Research in Times of COVID-19: Experiences from South America," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-17, March.
    4. Kibler, Ewald & Sirén, Charlotta & Maresch, Daniela & Salmivaara, Virva & Fink, Matthias, 2024. "Aging and entrepreneurs' emotional exhaustion: The role of entrepreneurial strategy, psychological capital, and felt age gap," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 39(5).
    5. Al James, 2024. "Platform work‐lives in the gig economy: Recentering work–family research," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(2), pages 513-534, March.

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