The Impact Of Entrepreneurs’ Loneliness On Entrepreneurial Exit Intentions:the Role Of Ego Depletion And Core Self-evaluations

Entrepreneurship has gradually emerged as a popular career choice among the general public due to the entrepreneurship policy and an increasingly active and diverse socio-economic environment.More people are becoming entrepreneurs,whether it’s due to financial concerns or personal aspirations.The business community has emerged as the driving force behind encouraging social and economic advancement,boosting market vitality,and enhancing the job climate.Entrepreneurship,on the other hand,is a competitive,risky,and highly uncertain activity.Entrepreneurs will inevitably face numerous obstacles and challenging situations,which will put a great deal of psychological strain on them.Insufficient relief could even result in the tragedy of "people and money," which would be detrimental to the entrepreneur’s physical and mental health as well as critical financial outcomes.As a result,it’s crucial to pay attention to the stressful situations that entrepreneurs face as well as the processes that have negative consequences.Entrepreneurs often experience loneliness,which is a significant source of stress for them and can negatively affect their perspectives,attitudes,and results(e.g.,exit).The research on loneliness in management circles,however,is still restricted to normal office settings,and only a few academics have expanded loneliness to the entrepreneurial sphere.Based on this,this study will explore the impact of entrepreneurs’ loneliness on entrepreneurial exit intentions based on ego depletion theory and resource conservation theory,and further investigate the mediating effect of ego depletion and the moderating role of core self-evaluations,in order to enrich the research of loneliness in the entrepreneurial field,at the same time,explore the dynamic psychological process of entrepreneurial exit intentions.This study mainly uses the method of questionnaire to conduct a quantitative study on the relationship among entrepreneurs’ loneliness,ego depletion,core self-evaluations and entrepreneurial exit intentions.Specifically,with the help of SPSS27.0,Process4.1 and Amos21.0,based on the survey data of 320 entrepreneurs,the research hypothesis is tested by reliability analysis,validity analysis,correlation analysis and regression analysis.The final results are as follows:(1)entrepreneurs’ loneliness has a significant positive effect on entrepreneurial exit intention;(2)entrepreneurs’ loneliness has a significant positive effect on ego depletion;(3)ego depletion has a significant positive effect on entrepreneurial exit intentions;(4)ego depletion mediates the positive relationship between entrepreneurs’ loneliness and entrepreneurial exit intentions;(5)core self-evaluations moderates the positive relationship between entrepreneurs’ loneliness and ego depletion;(6)core self-evaluations moderates the positive relationship between entrepreneurs’ loneliness and entrepreneurial exit intentions.Based on the above research conclusions,this study extends the sense of loneliness in the workplace to the field of entrepreneurship and the theoretical system of workplace loneliness.Also,it explores the mechanism of entrepreneurial exit intentions from the psychological level.To a certain extent,it uncovers the black box of "how entrepreneurs’ loneliness affects entrepreneurial exit intentions",and makes some theoretical contributions to fill the existing research gaps.At the same time,it also helps to enhance the understanding of entrepreneurs’ loneliness among entrepreneurs,government departments and other relevant subjects,and provides some practical implications for preventing and alleviating entrepreneurs’ loneliness and its negative aftereffects.