Does Self-Employment Increase Stress? A Co-Twin Control Analysis of Finnish and US Twins
Souitaris, V. ORCID: 0000-0002-7889-0010, Nicolaou, N., Waters, J. , Shepherd, D. & Hashem, N. (2025).
Does Self-Employment Increase Stress? A Co-Twin Control Analysis of Finnish and US Twins.
Journal of Business Venturing,
Abstract
Entrepreneurs enjoy autonomy and work on projects they are passionate about, which may improve their mental well-being and reduce stress. At the same time, they face several potential stressors, including long working hours. Empirical evidence on whether those who engage in self-employment experience greater stress than those who do not is mixed, which could reflect the failure to consider self-selection into entrepreneurial careers. In this paper, we re-examine the relationship between self-employment and stress, over and above the self-selection bias of individuals’ predispositions, using two separate studies of monozygotic twins. In the first study (monozygotic twins from Finland), stress is reported as a perceptual measure. In the second study (monozygotic twins from the United States), we measure cortisol as a physiological indicator of stress. In both studies, we show a positive association between self-employment and stress (both perceived and physiological) above and beyond the impact of genetic and rearing factors. We also show that long working hours mediate the relationship between self-employment and stress.
Publication Type: | Article |
---|---|
Additional Information: | © 2025. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ |
Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HG Finance |
Departments: | Bayes Business School Bayes Business School > Faculty of Management |
SWORD Depositor: |
![Stress Paper accepted version .pdf [thumbnail of Stress Paper accepted version .pdf]](https://openaccess.city.ac.uk/style/images/fileicons/text.png)
This document is not freely accessible due to copyright restrictions.
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives.
To request a copy, please use the button below.
Request a copyExport
Downloads
Downloads per month over past year