Act or Wait-and-See? Adversity, Agility, and Entrepreneur Wellbeing across Countries during the COVID-19 Pandemic: ET&P

How can entrepreneurs protect their wellbeing during a crisis? Does engaging agility (namely, opportunity agility and planning agility) in response to adversity help entrepreneurs safeguard their wellbeing? Activated by adversity, agility may function as a specific resilience mechanism enabling positive adaption to crisis. We studied 3162 entrepreneurs from 20 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic and found that more severe national lockdowns enhanced firm-level adversity for entrepreneurs and diminished their wellbeing. Moreover, entrepreneurs who combined opportunity agility with planning agility experienced higher wellbeing but planning agility alone lowered wellbeing. Entrepreneur agility offers a new agentic perspective to research on entrepreneur wellbeing.

Face mask use during the COVID-19 pandemic: how risk perception, experience with COVID-19, and attitude towards government interact with country-wide policy stringency.

BACKGROUND: During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, governments imposed numerous regulations to protect public health, particularly the (mandatory) use of face masks. However, the appropriateness and effectiveness of face mask regulations have been widely discussed, as is apparent from the divergent measures taken across and within countries over time, including mandating, recommending, and discouraging their use. In this study, we analyse how country-level policy stringency and individual-level predictors associate with face mask use during the early stages of the global COVID-19 pandemic. METHOD: First, we study how (self and other-related) risk perception, (direct and indirect) experience with COVID-19, attitude towards government and policy stringency shape face mask use. Second, we study whether there is an interaction between policy stringency and the individual-level variables. We conduct multilevel analyses exploiting variation in face mask regulations across countries and using data from approximately 7000 students collected in the beginning of the pandemic (weeks 17 through 19, 2020). RESULTS: We show that policy stringency is strongly positively associated with face mask use. We find a positive association between self-related risk perception and mask use, but no relationship of mask use with experience with COVID-19 and attitudes towards government. However, in the interaction analyses, we find that government trust and perceived clarity of communication moderate the link between stringency and mask use, with positive government perceptions relating to higher use in countries with regulations and to lower use in countries without regulations. CONCLUSIONS: We highlight that those countries that aim for widespread use of face masks should set strict measures, stress self-related risks of COVID-19, and use clear communication.

Confinement et risque de burnout des dirigeants propriétaires de PME : le syndrome d’épuisement d’empêchement

En utilisant l’échelle BMS-10 (burnout measure short, version composée de dix éléments) mesurant le burnout, il est montré que son niveau a augmenté et sa composition a changé chez les dirigeants propriétaires de PME françaises pendant la pandémie de Covid-19. Sept échantillons indépendants de propriétaires de petites entreprises collectés sur une période allant de 2012 à fin avril 2020 (un mois après le début du premier confinement en France) sont étudiés. Avant la pandémie, la hiérarchie des éléments est en grande partie la même avec les sentiments d’être fatigué, d’être déçu et d’en avoir marre qui se positionnent comme les trois plus importants. Pendant la pandémie, une nouvelle hiérarchie émerge, dont les deux éléments les plus importants sont les sentiments d’impuissance et d’être coincé. Cela indique une nouvelle forme d’épuisement d’empêchement. Deux leçons peuvent être tirées. Tout d’abord, les autorités gouvernementales et sanitaires doivent être conscientes du risque d’épuisement professionnel croissant des dirigeants propriétaires de PME pendant la crise de la Covid-19 et, en particulier, lors des épisodes de confinement. Deuxièmement, en supposant qu’un propriétaire de PME peut être confronté à une situation d’incapacité, due à un accident ou à une maladie, les institutions d’assurance maladie devraient être alertées sur la possibilité de mettre en place de nouveaux services d’écoute et d’accompagnement afin d’éviter la détérioration de la santé mentale liée à l’épuisement d’empêchement. Cette évolution semble si grave et spécifique que le terme « syndrome d’épuisement d’empêchement » est proposé.Alternate :Using the BMS-10 scale (Burnout Measure Short version composed of ten éléments) it is shown that its level increased and its composition changed in French SME owners-managers from before to during the Covid-19 pandemic. Seven independent samples of SME owners-managers collected over a period from 2012 to the end of April 2020 (one month after the start of the first lockdown in France) are investigated. Before the pandemic the hierarchy of éléments is largely the same with feelings of being tired, of disappointment with people and of exhaustion (“I’ve had it”) as the three most important ones. During the pandemic a new hierarchy appears with feelings of helplessness and being trapped as the two most important éléments. This points at an unprecedented form of impediment exhaustion. Two lessons can be drawn. First of all, the governmental and health authorities should be aware of the risk of an increasing burnout for SME owners-managers during the Covid-19 crisis and in particular during lockdown episodes. Secondly, by assuming that a SME owner-manager can be confronted with a situation of incapacity, due to an accident or an illness, pension and health insurance institutions should be alerted about the option to set up novel consultation and support services in order to prevent the deterioration of mental health related to impediment exhaustion. This development seems so severe and so specific that the term impediment exhaustion syndrome is proposed.Alternate :Utilizando la escala BMS-10 (Burnout Measure Short version compuesta por diez ítems), se muestra que el nivel ha aumentado y su composición ha cambiado en los dirigentes-propietarios de PyME francesas durante la pandemia del Covid-19. Se investigan siete muestras independientes de dirigentes-propietarios de PyME recopiladas durante un período desde 2012 hasta finales de abril de 2020 (un mes después del inicio del primer confinamiento en Francia). Antes de la pandemia, la jerarquía de los elementos era en gran medida la misma, con sentimientos de fatiga (me siento fatigado), decepción (me siento decepcionado) y cansancio («estoy harto») clasificados como los tres más importantes. Durante la pandemia, una nueva jerarquía emerge cuyos dos elementos más importantes son la sensación de impotencia y de estancamiento. Esto apunta a una forma sin precedentes de agotamiento de impedimento. De este episodio, pueden sacarse dos enseñanzas. En primer lugar, las autoridades gubernamentales y sanitarias deben ser conscientes del riesgo de agotamiento profesional creciente de los dirigentes-propietarios de PyME durante la crisis de Covid-19 y, en particular, durante los episodios de confinamiento. En segundo lugar, asumiendo que el dirigente-propietario de PyME pueda estar confrontado a una situación de incapacidad, debido a un accidente o una enfermedad, se debe alertar a las instituciones de seguridad social sobre la posibilidad de establecer nuevos servicios de consulta y apoyo para prevenir el deterioro de la salud mental relacionado con el agotamiento por impedimento. Este desarrollo parece tan severo y específico que se propone el término síndrome de agotamiento por impedimento.

Act or Wait-and-See? Adversity, Agility, and Entrepreneur Wellbeing across Countries during the COVID-19 Pandemic

How can entrepreneurs protect their wellbeing during a crisis? Does engaging agility (namely, opportunity agility and planning agility) in response to adversity help entrepreneurs safeguard their wellbeing? Activated by adversity, agility may function as a specific resilience mechanism enabling positive adaption to crisis. We studied 3162 entrepreneurs from 20 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic and found that more severe national lockdowns enhanced firm-level adversity for entrepreneurs and diminished their wellbeing. Moreover, entrepreneurs who combined opportunity agility with planning agility experienced higher wellbeing but planning agility alone lowered wellbeing. Entrepreneur agility offers a new agentic perspective to research on entrepreneur wellbeing.

Hygiene and social distancing as distinct public health related behaviours among university students during the COVID-19 pandemic

Prevailing research on individuals' compliance with public health related behaviours during the COVID-19 pandemic tends to study composite measures of multiple types of behaviours, without distinguishing between different types of behaviours. However, measures taken by governments involve adjustments concerning a range of different daily behaviours. In this study, we seek to explain students' public health related compliance behaviours during the COVID-19 pandemic by examining the underlying components of such behaviours. Subsequently, we investigate how these components relate to individual attitudes towards public health measures, descriptive norms among friends and family, and key demographics. We surveyed 7,403 university students in ten countries regarding these behaviours. Principal Components Analysis reveals that compliance related to hygiene (hand washing, coughing behaviours) is uniformly distinct from compliance related to social distancing behaviours. Regression analyses predicting Social Distancing and Hygiene lead to differences in explained variance and type of predictors. Our study shows that treating public health compliance as a sole construct obfuscates the dimensionality of compliance behaviours, which risks poorer prediction of individuals' compliance behaviours and problems in generating valid public health recommendations. Affecting these distinct behaviours may require different types of interventions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

The role of impulsivity and delay discounting in student compliance with COVID-19 protective measures.

During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, governments set recommendations and restrictions that have given rise to new situations that require residents to deliberate and respond nonautomatically. For highly impulsive individuals, dealing with these situations may be harder, as they tend to deliberate less about the consequences of their behaviors. In this study, we investigate the relationship between impulsivity and delay discounting on the one hand and compliance with COVID-19 restrictions on the other hand. We distinguish between compliance with social distancing measures and compliance with hygiene measures. Regression analyses of an international sample of 6759 students from seven European countries reveal that the self-reported personality construct of impulsivity is negatively related to both types of compliance behavior. However, and unexpectedly, we also find a weak positive association between the discount rate-as measured by a behavioral task-and compliance. Our study highlights the importance of individual differences in impulsivity in regard to compliance with public health measures during a pandemic.