How can entrepreneurial obstacles improve entrepreneurs’ psychological well-being? The role of emotional ambivalence

Entrepreneurial obstacles present both threats to survival and opportunities for learning. By integrating the double-edged nature of obstacles into the evaluative space model of emotion, this study examines the effects of entrepreneurial obstacles on entrepreneurs' emotional ambivalence and their psychological well-being. Through survey among 324 new ventures in China, we find that although entrepreneurial obstacle is directly detrimental to psychological well-being, it can also trigger entrepreneurs' emotional ambivalence which has a U-shaped relationship with psychological well-being. Moreover, demand uncertainty increases entrepreneurs' ambivalent emotional response to entrepreneurial obstacles. This study identifies a self-healing path between entrepreneurial obstacles and entrepreneurs' psychological well-being.