Self-Employment and Eudaimonic Well-Being: The Mediating Role of Problem- and Emotion-Focused Coping

An emerging body of research has documented that self-employed people are more likely to report higher levels of eudaimonic well-being (EWB; e.g., autonomy, competence, meaning) than their employed counterparts. In this paper, we examine why the self-employed perceive their lives as psychologically more fulfilling even though they face more complex and competing occupational demands that can expose them to more stressors. Specifically, we hypothesize that the self-employed are more likely to engage in problem-focused coping—productive and proactive behaviors and thoughts aimed to help them overcome challenges (e.g., planning and active coping)—and less likely to engage in emotion-focused coping—behaviors and thoughts to merely make them feel better (e.g., venting and denial)—which, in turn, can promote higher levels of EWB. Using data from Waves 2 and 3 of the National Study of Midlife in Development in the United States, we find supportive evidence for our theory. More importantly, we show that the well-being benefits from self-employment accrue almost entirely because the self-employed are more likely to use problem-focused coping as opposed to emotion-focused coping. In a series of robustness tests, including random-effects models, matching estimators, and twin and sibling fixed-effects, we further demonstrate the relevance of coping as a key explanatory mechanism in the relationship between self-employment and EWB.