The Impact of Entrepreneur’s Time Perspective on Insomnia and Psychological Capital

Journal Name: Small Business Economics

Abstract: Although some scholars have investigated a particular aspect of psychological time called time perspective (TP), scholars rarely directly consider the impact of that cognitive and motivational construct. Yet, this investigation is important because TP plays a crucial role in entrepreneurs’ decision-making and motivations in today’s business contexts. Focusing on the complex and poorly-understood relationships between entrepreneurs’ TP, their insomnia, and their psychological capital, we herein investigate how entrepreneurs’ TP does impact their insomnia and (subsequent) psychological capital. Using a final sample of 399 entrepreneurs from New Zealand and the UK, we find that negative (past-negative and present-fatalistic) TPs have a positive impact on entrepreneurs’ insomnia whereas positive (past-positive and future) TPs have a negative impact. We also find that a present-hedonistic TP has a positive (nonsignificant) impact on insomnia. Last, we find that gender plays a moderating role such that, in high insomnia conditions, women entrepreneurs have a lower psychological capital than men entrepreneurs.