A Study On The Influencing Mechanism Of Entrepreneurial Adversity On Entrepreneurial Persistence Behavior Based On The Dual Perspective Of "Emotion" And "Cognition"

In recent years,the domestic entrepreneurial environment continues to optimize,the market has increased a large number of subjects and entrepreneurial activities continue to flourish with implementation and upgrading of the strategy "mass entrepreneurship,mass innovation" in China.By the end of 2020,China has 140 million enterprises of all kinds,doubling the number by the end of 2014.However,entrepreneurship is an activity of highuncertainty,high-risk and high-challenge,and entrepreneurs inevitably encounter various setbacks,difficulties and even failures in the process of starting a business.Coupled with the increasingly complex political and economic environment at home and abroad in recent years and the domestic and global outbreak of the novel coronavirus pneumonia epidemic in 2020,the actual survival rate of start-ups in China is not high.A large number of entrepreneurial cases show that the only way for entrepreneurs to reach the other side of success is to persevere while facing different levels of entrepreneurial adversity or even entrepreneurial failure.Therefore,the phenomenon of entrepreneurial persistence has attracted widespread attention and active exploration in academic circles at home and abroad recently.By sorting out the existing studies,it is found that scholars explored entrepreneurial persistence decisions and behaviors mainly from individual level such as personal characteristics and psychology,environmental level such as macroeconomic crisis and external support,and organizational level such as business operation status and entrepreneurial team,etc.These findings had explained the causes of entrepreneurial persistence decisions and behaviors in different contexts to a certain extent,and laid a certain theoretical foundation for later scholars to continue their exploration.However,entrepreneurial persistence is a highly complex behavioral decision and behavior process that is inevitably influenced by a variety of factors,so the findings from a single level or a particular perspective cannot provide a comprehensive and profound explanation of the causes of entrepreneurial persistence.This thesis argues that only by integrating individual,environmental,or organizational factors,and by deeply exploring entrepreneurs’ responses and decision-making processes in specific contexts,can we accurately find ways to promote entrepreneurial persistence,which is of positive significance for improving the survival and success rates of entrepreneurial enterprises in China and for sustaining economic growth under the new economic normal.The "S-O-R" analytical framework suggests that environmental changes as an external stimulus can shape the internal state of an organism(e.g.,an individual’s feelings,emotions,cognition,motivation,etc.),which in turn affects his behavioral outcomes.Theories and practices have also demonstrated that emotion and cognition,as psychological responses to specific events or situations,play an important role in entrepreneurial decision making and behavior,and thus entrepreneurial emotion and entrepreneurial cognition have attracted much attention from scholars in recent years.By combing the existing studies,it is found that:(1)In terms of entrepreneurial emotions,most studies used a single research method to explore the influencing factors and effects of one or a few entrepreneurs’ traits positive affects,or focused on the entrepreneurs’ negative emotional state and its effects after a specific event(setback or failure).However,the research combining two or more methods to examine the level of positive affects of entrepreneurs after a specific event and their influences on decision-making and behavioral effects are relatively scarce.Entrepreneurs are not completely rational,and their decisions and behaviors are also affected by the immediate emotional state of entrepreneurs.Therefore,the influencing mechanism of entrepreneurial adversity on entrepreneurs’ affects especially positive affects and entrepreneurial persistence behavior needs to be explored in depth.(2)Concerning entrepreneurial cognition,most scholars believed that the cognitive structure and cognitive level of entrepreneurs have certain stability and relative durability,and thus explored the formation of entrepreneurial cognition and its effects focusing on environmental factors such as cultural values,institutional environment and individual factors such as trait positive affects,psychological capital.In fact,entrepreneurial cognition is dynamic in nature,and entrepreneurs’ cognitive structures and cognitive levels will be changed as a result of their particular entrepreneurial experiences,which will have important implications for entrepreneurial decisions and behaviors.Therefore,the mechanism by which different levels of entrepreneurial adversity affect entrepreneurial cognition and thus entrepreneurial persistence behavior from a dynamic cognitive perspective deserves a great deal of attention.(3)In the field of psychology,most scholars agree that only by integrating emotion and cognition can we better explain individual decision making and behavior.However,there is no unified conclusion in the field of psychology regarding the relationship between emotion and cognition.The question of whether cognitive evaluations come first and then emotions,or whether emotions affect behavior necessarily through cognition,or whether the two can function independently,needs further study.Therefore,based on the theory of risk-as-emotion and scripting theory,this thesis follows the two main lines of "situation-emotion-behavior" and "situation-cognition-behavior" to study entrepreneurs who are persisting in entrepreneurship.We explore the mechanism of entrepreneurial adversity on entrepreneurial persistence behavior from both "emotion" and "knowledge" perspectives,and try to answer the following three question such as "Does entrepreneurial adversity necessarily weaken entrepreneurs’ propensity to persist or trigger exit?","How does entrepreneurial adversity affect entrepreneurial persistence behavior?" and "What are the boundary conditions of these effects?",intending to provide theoretical guidance for correct intervention on the entrepreneurs’ psychology facing adversity(failure)and to promote entrepreneurial persistence behavior.In order to explore the above three specific questions,this thesis conducted the following research:(1)Based on the review of basic theories and previous research results,the thesis constructed a theoretical model of entrepreneurial adversity affecting entrepreneurial persistence from the perspectives of "emotion" and "knowledge",and proposed the main effect hypothesis of entrepreneurial adversity affecting entrepreneurial persistence,the mediating effect hypothesis of positive emotion and entrepreneurial cognition,the moderating effect and the moderating mediating effect hypothesis of entrepreneurial resilience.(2)In order to explore the psychological and behavioral mechanisms of entrepreneurs under the conditions of adversity,and clarify the relationship between entrepreneurial adversity,positive emotion or entrepreneurial cognition,and entrepreneurial persistence,the thesis tested the main effect and mediating effect hypotheses in the theoretical model by using the situational experiment method.(3)On this basis of re-test the main and mediating effects combining the questionnaire method and using large sample data to improve the generalizability and reliability of the experimental findings,the thesis then compared the differences in the effects of positive emotion and entrepreneurial cognition to test the parallel mediating role of emotion and cognition;finally,the study introduced entrepreneurial resilience as a moderating variable to explore the situational factors of entrepreneurial persistence decisions and behaviors under adversity.During the specific study process,480 college students majoring in economics and management were recruited and data were collected by means of immediate reporting in experimental research.The entire experimental study consisted of a pre-experiment to test the experimental materials and three sub-experiments to examine the main effect of entrepreneurial adversity on entrepreneurial persistence,and the mediating effect of positive affects and entrepreneurial cognition.The four experiments were designed with a single-level between-subjects design,and the data collected were analyzed by ANOVA using SPSS software and hypothesis testing using the Process 3.4 macro program.The study found that:(1)entrepreneurial adversity negatively affects entrepreneurial persistence;(2)entrepreneurial adversity negatively affects positive emotion,positive emotion positively affects entrepreneurial persistence,and positive emotion has a significant mediating role between entrepreneurial adversity and entrepreneurial persistence;(3)entrepreneurial adversity negatively affects entrepreneurial cognition and its dimensions of arrangement scripts and ability scripts,entrepreneurial cognition and its dimensions of willingness scripts and ability scripts positively affect entrepreneurial persistence;entrepreneurial cognition and ability scripts have a significant mediating role between entrepreneurial adversity and entrepreneurial persistence,while arrangement scripts and willingness scripts do not have a significant mediating role.The questionnaire study collected data using recall reports from entrepreneurs who were persisting in entrepreneurship and followed a rigorous and standardized pre-study and formal survey process.The pre-study matched 67 valid questionnaires,and these data were combined with SPSS software to conduct reliability and exploratory factor analysis for each variable.The results showed that all variables had high reliability and validity.The formal questionnaire was matched to 270 valid questionnaires,and these data were combined with SPSS and AMOS statistical analysis software for validation factor analysis,multicollinearity,homogeneous method bias,and correlation,followed by the Process3.4 macro-program in SPSS software to test the constructed conceptual model and all research hypotheses.It was found that:(1)The negative effect of entrepreneurial adversity on entrepreneurial persistence was not significant in the questionnaire study;(2)entrepreneurial adversity would negatively affect the level of entrepreneurs’ positive affects and entrepreneurial cognition(or ability scripts)through which their entrepreneurial persistence would be reduced.That is,positive affects,entrepreneurial cognition and its dimension ability scripts play a mediating role between entrepreneurial adversity and entrepreneurial persistence;(3)there were no significant differences in the mediating effects of positive affects and entrepreneurial cognition(or ability scripts)between entrepreneurial adversity and entrepreneurial persistence behavior;(4)entrepreneurial resilience negatively moderated the inverse relationship between entrepreneurial adversity and entrepreneurial cognition(or ability scripts)and was able to moderate the mediating effect of entrepreneurial cognition(or ability scripts)between entrepreneurial adversity and entrepreneurial persistence.This thesis takes entrepreneurial persistence behavior under adversity as the research object,introduces environmental factors(entrepreneurial adversity)and personal factors(entrepreneurs’ psychological state and resilience ability)into a research framework,and explores the influencing mechanism of entrepreneurial adversity on entrepreneurial persistence behavior from both emotional and cognitive perspectives.The theoretical contributions of this thesis are mainly in the following aspects.(1)The mediating mechanism by which entrepreneurial adversity acts on entrepreneurial persistence is clarified.The emergence of entrepreneurial adversity or other(entrepreneurial or employment)opportunities is a prerequisite for entrepreneurial persistence,and thus the level of adversity or other opportunities is closely related to the persistence decisions and behaviors of entrepreneurs.Only a few scholars have explored entrepreneurial persistence decisions when subjective entrepreneurial adversity and other opportunities exist simultaneously,but few have addressed the mechanism of how objective entrepreneurial adversity acts on entrepreneurial persistence.Based on the background of China’s new economic normal and the changing entrepreneurial environment at home and abroad,this thesis constructs a relatively complete research framework to explore the mediating mechanism of entrepreneurial adversity affecting entrepreneurial persistence behavior from both irrational emotional and rational cognitive perspectives,and unveils the "black box" from entrepreneurial adversity to entrepreneurial persistence.(2)The boundary conditions under which entrepreneurial adversity affects entrepreneurial persistence are revealed.Individuals’ affective and cognitive responses are not only influenced by the entrepreneurial environment,but also vary according to individual entrepreneurial characteristics.Therefore,this thesis introduces the characteristic of entrepreneurs’ resilience to explore the moderating role of entrepreneurial resilience on the mechanism of entrepreneurial persistence.It is found that entrepreneurial resilience is a "threshold" for entrepreneurial cognition to influence entrepreneurial persistence after adversity or failure events,i.e.,entrepreneurial resilience not only moderates the negative effect of entrepreneurial adversity on entrepreneurial cognition or ability scripts,but also has a significant moderating effect on the mediating effect of entrepreneurial cognition or ability scripts between entrepreneurial adversity and entrepreneurial persistence.These findings not only reveal the boundary conditions of entrepreneurial adversity affecting entrepreneurial persistence,responding to the call of scholars to explore the boundary conditions in the mechanism of entrepreneurial persistence,and enriching the study of contextual factors in the mechanism of entrepreneurial persistence,but also effectively respond to the call of some scholars to strengthen the localized and empirical research on entrepreneurial resilience.(3)Expanding and enriching entrepreneurial cognitive theory.A large number of cognitive psychologists and scholars have actively explored the causes of entrepreneurs’ unique cognitive structures and thought processes in recent years,and have conducted rich research on the effects of entrepreneurial cognition on entrepreneurial opportunity recognition,entrepreneurial intention and entrepreneurial decision making.However,most scholars have viewed entrepreneurial cognition and the results of cognitive activities more from a static perspective,while few have focused on the dynamic changes in entrepreneurs’ knowledge structures,cognitive levels,and thinking patterns.In fact,entrepreneurial cognition is dynamic in nature,and the knowledge structure and cognitive level of entrepreneurs will evolve with the changes in the entrepreneurial environment and entrepreneurs’ own experiences.Therefore,based on scripting theory this thesis combines both experiments and questionnaires to study the effects of entrepreneurial adversity on entrepreneurial cognition and thus on entrepreneurial persistence behavior,which not only effectively validates the idea of dynamic entrepreneurial cognition,but also positively responds to the call of some scholars to use more dynamic cognitive theories to examine entrepreneurs’ thinking.(4)A useful addition to the research on entrepreneurial emotions and their effects.Recently,the role of entrepreneurial emotions or feelings in the entrepreneurial process has attracted widespread attention as more and more scholars have shifted the research perspective of entrepreneurial decision making and behavior from rational to emotional.However,current research has focused more on the effects of entrepreneurs’ trait positive affects or negative emotional states following specific events on entrepreneurial decisionmaking and behavior,ignoring the significance of state affects,especially state positive affects.In fact,entrepreneurs will encounter various difficulties and setbacks in the process of venture creation and operation,and their levels of positive affects will fluctuate to different degrees,and these fluctuations will also have various effects on their subsequent decisions and behaviors.Therefore,this thesis takes entrepreneurs facing adversity as the research object and explores the mechanism of entrepreneurs’ positive emotional responses(i.e.,state positive affects)under adversity on their entrepreneurial persistence behaviors.The findings not only break the shackles of research on emotional responses and their effects under adverse or stressful situations,but also help supplement the relatively lack of theoretical research on entrepreneurs’ state emotions at home and abroad.In practice,on the one hand,this study can provide practical guidelines for entrepreneurs to overcome adversity and persist in entrepreneurship.Specifically,firstly,entrepreneurs facing adversity can strengthen the clear understanding of the emotional effects after specific events,learn the knowledge of positive psychology,read and watch the relevant deeds or videos of entrepreneurial role models,etc.to strengthen the self-control of emotions after adversity in time;they can also use various ways to vent bad feelings and strengthen selfmotivation and guidance,through which they can strengthen the self-control of emotions after entrepreneurial adversity or failure.Secondly,they can continuously improve their human capital and social capital and thus improve the entrepreneurial cognition by strengthening the reflection,summary and accumulation of experiences and lessons learned from successful or failed events,or by consulting and learning from the experiences and practices of others through the entrepreneurial exchange platform set up by industry associations or government departments,or by actively participating in lectures,forums or exchanges held by universities,industry associations or government departments.Finally,during the normal practice of entrepreneurial management,entrepreneurs should face their own abilities,build confidence to overcome difficulties,set their mindset,cultivate an optimistic and positive spirit,strengthen communication and feedback with industry professionals,and focus on cultivating and improving their entrepreneurial resilience.On the other hand,this thesis can also provide reference for the government to take various effective initiatives to improve the success rate of entrepreneurship.The government should continue to improve the entrepreneurial support system,including providing entrepreneurs with emotional services such as "psychological counseling" and "psychological guidance",setting up communication platforms such as entrepreneurs’ clubs,providing special loans,business interest reductions,one-time business subsidies,and other substantial support,and creating a favorable social culture and re-entrepreneurial atmosphere,in order to reduce the perception of adversity and induce a high level of positive affects and entrepreneurial cognition,thus increasing their persistent likelihood.The innovation of this thesis are those:(1)It breaks through the previous research frameworks and a single research perspective by integrating environmental factors(entrepreneurial adversity)and individual factors(individual psychology and resilience)to explore the mechanism of entrepreneurial adversity on entrepreneurial persistence behavior from the dual perspective of ’emotion’ and ’knowledge’,which has constructed a relatively new and complete research framework to explain the causes of entrepreneurial persistence behavior.(2)In terms of viewpoints,this thesis breaks the mould of previous studies on the emotional and cognitive effects of adversity or failure.It proposes that different levels of entrepreneurial adversity or even failure not only cause fluctuations in the level of positive affects,but also lead to changes in the cognitive structure and cognitive level of entrepreneurs,and the role of different cognitive structures(dimensions)in the context of entrepreneurial persistence behavior under adversity conditions is different.(3)In terms of contents,this thesis not only explores the mediating mechanisms of positive emotions and entrepreneurial cognition between entrepreneurial adversity and entrepreneurial persistence,but also attempts to explore the boundary conditions of these mediating mechanisms,trying to find the contextual factors of the mediating effects of ’emotions’ and ’cognition’.(4)as for research method,the thesis combines the situational experimental method with the questionnaire survey method to explore the emotional and cognitive changes of entrepreneurs under adversity and their effects,effectively making up for the relative lack of experimental methods used in domestic entrepreneurship research.Due to the limitations of human resources,time and other conditions,there are some shortcomings in this study,such as limited rows of samples,data collection at a single time point,and less advanced research methods.Thus,future research could further increase the sample size as to improve the generalizability and reliability of findings,strengthen longitudinal studies of mechanisms of action,and apply neuroscience research methods to the field of entrepreneurship.