Entrepreneurial Well-Being of Small and Medium Scale Business Owners: Role of Gender and Emotional Strategies

Abstract

Entrepreneurial well-being has been associated with different emotional strategies but, the exact impact of cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression together with gender difference on entrepreneurial well-being has not been adequately studied among Nigerian small-scale enterprises. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the role of emotional strategies and gender on entrepreneurial well-being among small and medium scale business owners in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. An ex-post facto research design was adopted to collect data from three hundred and ten (310) small and medium scale business owners at Bodija market area of Ibadan, Oyo State. The questionnaire comprised demographic variables and two standardized psychological scales used to assess relevant information from the respondents: emotional strategies scale and entrepreneurial well-being scale. Multiple regression and t-test for independent samples were used to test the three hypotheses formulated in the study. Findings reveal that cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression jointly predicted entrepreneurial well-being among small and medium business owners (R = .458 and a multiple R2 of .210). Further analysis showed that only cognitive reappraisal independently predicted entrepreneurial well-being (β = .405, p<.05). Again, t-test analysis revealed a statistically significant mean difference in entrepreneurial well-being (t(308) = 5.060, p < .05) between high and low emotional strategy. The findings further revealed no gender difference in entrepreneurial well-being of small and medium scale business owners. Therefore, this study concludes that entrepreneurial well-being is largely dependent on the individual level of cognitive reappraisal, while gender difference does not constitute any barrier for both existing and potential entrepreneurs. Based on the findings, it was recommended that entrepreneurs, existing as well as intending, should endeavour to embark on periodical psychologically structured training with focus on emotional management/regulation.