Dispositional optimism and business recovery during a pandemic.
A large literature at the crossroads of biology and cognitive psychology has shown that individuals hold generally positive expectations about future events. Despite this evidence, to date it remains unclear whether optimism has positive or negative implications for entrepreneurial activities. We ex...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2022-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0269707 |
| _version_ | 1811294766269202432 |
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| author | Mario Amore Orsola Garofalo Victor Martin-Sanchez |
| author_facet | Mario Amore Orsola Garofalo Victor Martin-Sanchez |
| author_sort | Mario Amore |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | A large literature at the crossroads of biology and cognitive psychology has shown that individuals hold generally positive expectations about future events. Despite this evidence, to date it remains unclear whether optimism has positive or negative implications for entrepreneurial activities. We examine this question in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, which provides a unique way to study the role of optimism on the (in)ability of firms to overcome exogenous shocks. Using a large-scale longitudinal survey covering 1,632 UK firms, we find that entrepreneurs who score high on optimism were more likely to innovate and make organizational changes to their firms during the Covid-19 outbreak. Moreover, optimistic entrepreneurs experienced higher revenue growth during the pandemic. Collectively, our study sheds light on one of the psychological factors explaining why some firms can prosper and some others struggle in the wake of an external shock. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T05:22:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ca861638e4544f7d8e8467e55df50ee9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T05:22:19Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-ca861638e4544f7d8e8467e55df50ee92022-12-22T03:00:42ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032022-01-01176e026970710.1371/journal.pone.0269707Dispositional optimism and business recovery during a pandemic.Mario AmoreOrsola GarofaloVictor Martin-SanchezA large literature at the crossroads of biology and cognitive psychology has shown that individuals hold generally positive expectations about future events. Despite this evidence, to date it remains unclear whether optimism has positive or negative implications for entrepreneurial activities. We examine this question in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, which provides a unique way to study the role of optimism on the (in)ability of firms to overcome exogenous shocks. Using a large-scale longitudinal survey covering 1,632 UK firms, we find that entrepreneurs who score high on optimism were more likely to innovate and make organizational changes to their firms during the Covid-19 outbreak. Moreover, optimistic entrepreneurs experienced higher revenue growth during the pandemic. Collectively, our study sheds light on one of the psychological factors explaining why some firms can prosper and some others struggle in the wake of an external shock.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0269707 |
| spellingShingle | Mario Amore Orsola Garofalo Victor Martin-Sanchez Dispositional optimism and business recovery during a pandemic. PLoS ONE |
| title | Dispositional optimism and business recovery during a pandemic. |
| title_full | Dispositional optimism and business recovery during a pandemic. |
| title_fullStr | Dispositional optimism and business recovery during a pandemic. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Dispositional optimism and business recovery during a pandemic. |
| title_short | Dispositional optimism and business recovery during a pandemic. |
| title_sort | dispositional optimism and business recovery during a pandemic |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0269707 |
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