What makes entrepreneurs happy? Emotional agility and entrepreneurs' satisfaction

Abstract

This paper investigates entrepreneurs' satisfaction. We conceptually replicate and extend Carree and Verheul's (2012) Dutch study on the drivers of entrepreneurs' satisfaction with data from Belgian entrepreneurs. Thus, we respond to the need to replicate more in the (social) sciences, including entrepreneurship studies. The ‘extension’ aspect contributes novel theoretical understanding and empirical explanatory power of entrepreneurs' satisfaction. Specifically, the paper introduces psychological flexibility as an important new predictor of entrepreneurs' satisfaction. Indeed, we provide evidence that entrepreneurs with greater psychological flexibility are, on average, more satisfied.