Self-Compassion When Coping With Venture Obstacles: Loving-Kindness Meditation and Entrepreneurial Fear of Failure

Entrepreneurs who practiced a brief guided Loving-Kindness Meditation reported higher self-compassion, which was linked to lower fear reactivity when facing a threatening venture obstacle. The experiment compared these entrepreneurs to an active control group, showing that self-compassion cultivated through meditation helps counteract the aversive experience of entrepreneurial fear of failure. The findings suggest that meditation and self-compassion can build psychological resilience, offering new insights for entrepreneurship theory and practice.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Entrepreneurial fear of failure is a ubiquitous yet aversive experience with critical implications for entrepreneurial action and well-being. To understand how entrepreneurs can effectively cope with fear-inducing obstacles, we hypothesize and experimentally test the extent to which self-compassion, cultivated through Loving-Kindness Meditation (LKM), counteracts entrepreneurs’ fear of failure when facing a threatening venture obstacle. Compared to an active control group, entrepreneurs exposed to a brief guided LKM showed higher self-compassion, which, in turn, was associated with lower fear reactivity. We offer novel contributions to entrepreneurship theory and practice by highlighting the role of meditation and self-compassion in building entrepreneurial resilience.