Emotional demands and entrepreneurial burnout: the role of autonomy and job satisfaction

Plain English Summary Leveraging Autonomy as a Stress-Coping Resource for Entrepreneurial Well-Being. External environmental disruptive events have promoted an urgent need for a better understanding of the factors associated with entrepreneurial burnout. We explored whether entrepreneur autonomy is a liability or a coping strategy. Insights from the conservation of resources and psychology theories were used to explore burnout reported by entrepreneurs in France. Entrepreneur emotional demands (i.e., strains) increased the risk of burnout. This risk was reduced when entrepreneurs had autonomy and job satisfaction resources. While the autonomy resource enabled the buffering of emotional strains that increase burnout, this was not the case with regard to the job satisfaction resource. Entrepreneurs need to obtain and maintain autonomy over time, which enables them to recuperate from emotional strains. Practitioners can play a role in encouraging entrepreneurs to be aware of the need to accumulate autonomy and job satisfaction resources, and the need to invest in coping strategies to reduce the risk of burnout. Abstract Entrepreneurs can exhibit the entrepreneurial burnout syndrome, which retards entrepreneur and firm performance. Building upon insights from the conservation of resources theory of stress response and psychology theory, this study examined the role of entrepreneur emotional demands as well as job autonomy and satisfaction resources with regard to entrepreneurial burnout. Multivariate regression analysis relating to 273 entrepreneurs in France revealed that emotional demands were positively associated with entrepreneurial burnout, while job autonomy and satisfaction were negatively associated with entrepreneurial burnout. Job autonomy buffered the negative effect of emotional demands on entrepreneurial burnout. However, job satisfaction did not buffer the negative effect of emotional demands on entrepreneurial burnout. Implications are discussed.