ECONOMIC INSTABILITY, PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS AND RESILIENCE IN ENTREPRENEURS

Abstract

The aim of the current research was to examine the relationship between the perceived economic instability, psychological distress, and resilience in entrepreneurs. The research design was correlational, and the study sample was 100 entrepreneurs (N = 100) (including 87 males (n = 87) and 13 females (n = 13) aged between 18 and 35 years (M = 27.46, SD = 5.12). Self-report measures were used to gather data, among which were a demographic information sheet, Perceived Economic Instability Scale, the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10; Kessler et al., 2002), and Brief Resilience Scale (BRS; Smith et al., 2008). The relationships and predictive roles of the study variables were tested and subsequently predicted using Pearson correlation and multiple regression analysis with the help of the SPSS. Findings established that the perceived economic instability was positively related to psychological distress and negatively related to resilience. In addition, regression analysis revealed that, perceived economic instability was a negative predictor of resilience and psychological distress, a positive predictor of resilience. These results indicates that both economic and psychological instability are important predictors of resilience in the entities of entrepreneurs and that both need to be represented in entrepreneurial well-being.