Predictors of multi-dimensional well-being in women entrepreneurs: Family /business demands and sense of coherence

Women who are entrepreneurs report aspiring to "be" and "do" well in important areas of their lives while meeting demands from multiple sources. Influenced by Frankenhaeuser (1991) and Antonovsky (1987, 1994), this study was designed to partially test a proposed model of multi-dimensional well-being applicable to women entrepreneurs (WE) that included two salutogenic criteria (quality of life and position on a disease-health continuum related to physical, psychological, interpersonal and social role functioning) and three predictors (environmental demands from family and business sources and sense of coherence or SOC). The SOC construct, referring to a global orientation that the world is meaningful, comprehensible, and manageable, was of particular interest.;Using 7 recruiting methods, 319 self-identified WE agreed to participate in an anonymous survey; 233 returned completed packets. The sample reflected ethnic diversity (11% women of color) and representation from sparsely (51% from rural/small town) and densely populated (49% from suburban/urban) areas. Ranging in age from 26 to 77, the WE had varied entrepreneurial experience (1 to 50 years), represented businesses across most of the US Department of Labor designated categories with varying size of work force (single part-time to 230 full-time workers). The measures included four pre-existing questionnaires, a researcher-developed instrument examining start-up and on-going demands unique to entrepreneurs, and a researcher-developed instrument providing extensive personal, family, and business characteristics.;Consistent with prior research, the results showed that demands from family and business sources and SOC were significantly associated with both dimensions of well-being. The results of separate hierarchical regressions indicated that the three predictors, in combination, accounted for significant variance in quality of life and disease-health (31% and 60%, respectively). SOC alone accounted for 24% and 40% of the variance, respectively; while environmental demands did not contribute significantly to quality of life when SOC was entered. SOC did not moderate the demands-well-being relationships, however the results suggest that SOC may act as a mediator. Where feasible, WE levels of well-being, demands, and SOC were examined and comparisons made with other groups of women. Given the evidence, SOC may be an important intervention target. Implications for future research and practice were presented.