Self-Compassion When Coping With Venture Obstacles: Loving-Kindness Meditation and Entrepreneurial Fear of Failure

Yuval Engel, Stephany Noordijk, Afra Spoelder and Marco van Gelderen

Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 2021, vol. 45, issue 2, 263-290

Abstract: Entrepreneurial fear of failure is a ubiquitous yet aversive experience with critical implications for entrepreneurial action and well-being. To understand how entrepreneurs can effectively cope with fear-inducing obstacles, we hypothesize and experimentally test the extent to which self-compassion, cultivated through Loving-Kindness Meditation (LKM), counteracts entrepreneurs’ fear of failure when facing a threatening venture obstacle. Compared to an active control group, entrepreneurs exposed to a brief guided LKM showed higher self-compassion, which, in turn, was associated with lower fear reactivity. We offer novel contributions to entrepreneurship theory and practice by highlighting the role of meditation and self-compassion in building entrepreneurial resilience.

Keywords: entrepreneurial fear of failure; meditation; self-compassion; coping; resilience (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:entthe:v:45:y:2021:i:2:p:263-290

DOI: 10.1177/1042258719890991

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