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

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

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

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.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)263-290
Number of pages28
JournalEntrepreneurship: Theory and Practice
Volume45
Issue number2
Early online date16 Dec 2019
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Mar 2021

Keywords

  • coping
  • entrepreneurial fear of failure
  • meditation
  • resilience
  • self-compassion

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