Burnout among entrepreneurs: effects of individual resources variables and mediation via engagement

The mental health of entrepreneurs is the subject of much research. Burnout, in particular, is a major problem for these professionals. Working as an entrepreneur can involve high levels of stress and burnout. The aim of this article is to test the influence of variables related to personal resources on burnout, in particular locus of control, self-efficacy, affect, resilience, anxiety, work-life balance and engagement. A total of 118 French entrepreneurs affiliated with a French incubator(- accelerator) completed a self-administered questionnaire. All the entrepreneurs had registered the statutes of their startups for over a year and were not in the survival phase, as defined by Frese and Gielnik (2023). The online questionnaire consisted of eleven scales and seven demographic questions. Cronbach's for the study scales indicated satisfactory internal consistency for all scales. The results showed that the entrepreneurs' level of burnout decreased with internal locus of control, self-efficacy, positive affect, resilience, anxiety-situation and engagement, but increased with negative affect, anxiety-state, lack of work-life balance. The mediation analyses showed that work engagement at work played a total mediating role between internal locus of control, positive and negative affect, resilience, anxiety-situation, lack of work-life balance, and burnout. Over engagement played a partial mediating role between external locus of control, anxiety-state, and burnout. This research suggests that in the context of work, particularly entrepreneurship, there are phases of under-engagement and disengagement.