Self-employment and allostatic load

Pankaj C. Patel, Marcus T. Wolfe and Trenton A. Williams

Journal of Business Venturing, 2019, vol. 34, issue 4, 731-751

Abstract: Self-employment can be stressful and its long-term effects on individual health could be significant; yet, the physiological outcomes of self-employment related stress remain under-explored. Drawing on allostatic load as a long-term biological consequence of physiological wear-and-tear and an indicator of stress response, we use three different studies to provide a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between self-employment and physiological outcomes. In Study 1, based on a sample of 194 self-employed and 1511 employed individuals, we find that self-employment is marginally related to allostatic load and allostatic load marginally mediates the relationship between self-employment and physical, but not mental, health. Study 2, based on a sample of 776 self-employed and 8003 employed individuals, extends these findings, and provides evidence that those who are self-employed for longer periods have a higher allostatic load. Finally, in Study 3 we draw on a sample of 174 twins and, consistent with Study 2, show that those reporting self-employment in two waves (about eight years apart) had a higher allostatic load, however, when leveraging problem-focused coping such individuals experienced lower allostatic load. Taken together, these three studies extend our understanding of the relationship between self-employment and wellbeing.

Keywords: Allostatic load; Coping; Self-employment; Stress (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (22)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0883902617304597
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jbvent:v:34:y:2019:i:4:p:731-751

DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusvent.2018.05.004

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Business Venturing is currently edited by S. Venkataraman

More articles in Journal of Business Venturing from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().