In this paper, we draw from the theory of social and emotional aging to examine the mechanisms of age-related emotional exhaustion among entrepreneurs. Based on longitudinal data from a sample of 840 entrepreneurs in four European countries, our study shows that, with increasing biological age, entrepreneurs experience less emotional exhaustion due to their enhanced psychological capital and because they apply less entrepreneurial strategies which focus on the creation of new market opportunities and the development of new products and services. In addition, we highlight the still under-explored role of entrepreneurs' felt age gap by demonstrating that, among the same age-group, individuals who feel younger than their biological age gain well-being benefits because they possess higher levels of psychological capital and become less exhausted from the application of entrepreneurial strategies. In conclusion, our study offers two significant contributions to the literature on entrepreneurial well-being. First, we introduce the concept of the ‘Hebe Effect in entrepreneurship’, named after the Greek goddess of youth, which demonstrates how feeling younger than one's biological age acts as a buffer against stress and protects entrepreneurs from the strains of entrepreneurship. Second, we deepen understandings of how entrepreneurs' strategic choices evolve over their lifespan and influence their personal well-being. These insights also carry practical implications for aging societies that promote entrepreneurship across individuals' lifespans. This study addresses a critical gap in the entrepreneurship literature on aging and well-being by examining how age influences emotional exhaustion among entrepreneurs. Despite significant research conducted on aging and entrepreneurship, studies have yet to explore the interplay between biological age, subjective age, and emotional exhaustion. Furthermore, the manner in which entrepreneurs subject themselves to, and protect themselves from, emotional exhaustion across their lifespans remains severely underexplored. This lacuna is particularly striking given global trends of increased life expectancy, the burgeoning number of older individuals engaging in entrepreneurship, and the risks posed by emotional exhaustion to entrepreneurial efforts and individuals' lives, as well as the societal costs related thereto.

中文翻译：

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老龄化与企业家的情绪耗竭：创业策略、心理资本和感受到的年龄差距的作用


在本文中，我们借鉴社会和情感老化理论来研究企业家中与年龄相关的情感耗竭的机制。基于四个欧洲国家 840 名企业家样本的纵向数据，我们的研究表明，随着生物年龄的增加，企业家经历的情绪疲惫会减少，因为他们的心理资本增强，而且他们采用的专注于创造新产品的创业策略较少。市场机会以及新产品和服务的开发。此外，我们通过证明在同一年龄组中，感觉比生理年龄年轻的个人获得了幸福感，因为他们拥有更高水平的心理资本和因应用创业策略而变得不那么疲惫。总之，我们的研究对创业福祉文献做出了两项重大贡献。首先，我们介绍“创业中的赫贝效应”的概念，该效应以希腊青春女神的名字命名，它展示了感觉比自己的生理年龄年轻如何作为压力缓冲，并保护企业家免受创业压力。其次，我们加深了对企业家的战略选择如何在其一生中演变并影响他们的个人福祉的理解。这些见解对于促进个人一生创业的老龄化社会也具有实际意义。这项研究通过研究年龄如何影响企业家的情绪疲惫，解决了创业文献中关于老龄化和幸福感的一个关键空白。 尽管对老龄化和创业精神进行了大量研究，但研究尚未探索生物年龄、主观年龄和情绪疲惫之间的相互作用。此外，企业家在其一生中如何承受情感疲惫，以及如何保护自己免受情感疲惫的影响，仍然没有得到严重的探索。考虑到预期寿命延长的全球趋势、参与创业的老年人数量不断增加、情绪疲惫对创业努力和个人生活带来的风险以及与之相关的社会成本，这一缺陷尤其引人注目。