Research On The Impact Of Entrepreneur's Role Stressors On Entrepreneurial Exit

Due to the uncertainty of entrepreneurial prospects and the demand of playing multiple roles,entrepreneurs often face more significant role stressors in the entrepreneurial process.Frequent encounter with role stressors will exert a negative impact on entrepreneurs' cognitive psychology,which may cause entrepreneurs' withdrawal tendency.And yet,as a strong supporter of entrepreneurship,family can provide different types of resources to support entrepreneurs‘ efforts in overcoming the various obstacles and impediments associated with new venture development and sustainability.Based on the transactional theory of stress and theory of family-work enrichment,this paper constructs a moderated mediating research model,with entrepreneur‘s role stressors as independent variable,entrepreneurial exit intention as outcome variable,hindrance appraisals as mediating variable,and family support as moderating variable,to explore whether and how the family support can buffer the negative impact of the entrepreneur‘s role stressors on entrepreneurs.In order to test the above models and hypotheses,a total of 354 valid questionnaires were collected in this study by means of questionnaire survey.Then SPSS21.0 and Mplus7.0 software were used to conduct descriptive statistical analysis,regression analysis,the tests of mediating effect,moderating effect and moderated mediating effect on the sample data.And the following conclusions were drawn:(1)Entrepreneur‘s role stressors significantly influence entrepreneurial exit intentions,among which,role conflict and role ambiguity positively influence entrepreneurial exit intentions,but role overload negatively influences entrepreneurial exit intentions;(2)Hindrance appraisals mediate the relationship between entrepreneur‘s role stressors and entrepreneurship exit intentions;(3)Family support moderates the positive relationship between hindrance appraisals and entrepreneurship exit intentions such that the relationship is less positive for those whose family support is high;(4)Family support negatively moderates the positive indirect relationship of entrepreneur‘s role stressors with entrepreneurial exit intentions through hindrance appraisals such that the effect is less positive when level of family support is higher.Previous studies on the impact of family factors on entrepreneurial activities were mostly from the perspectives of social support or family embeddedness,and focused on the direct impact of family factors on entrepreneurial activities.Building upon a family-work enrichment perspective,this paper explores the moderating role of family support in the process that entrepreneur's role stressors affect entrepreneurial exit intentions.It not only broadens the perspectives of family support research,but also enriches the study of family factors in entrepreneurship field.In addition,the conclusions of this paper provide a useful reminder to entrepreneurs and their families that the entrepreneur has to maintain a good relationship with their family members,so that they can get more family support,and the entrepreneurship will develop smoothly and sustainably.At the same time,family members need to fully understand that the entrepreneurship and the family are bound together for good or ill,and therefore they should actively support the entrepreneurship.All of these are of great significance for reducing the overall rate of entrepreneurial withdrawal and promoting the sound development of China's entrepreneurial economy.