Entrepreneurs face intense emotions in a dynamic world and emotion regulation tendencies such as cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression can play an essential role in staying healthy and productive and building sustainable entrepreneurial careers. Emotion regulation is generally considered stable over time. However, evidence has shown that people may adjust their use of emotion regulation in a more turbulent environment. We contend that this is the case for entrepreneurs and we aim to shed light on factors that may influence entrepreneurs' use of emotion regulation over time. We contend that entrepreneurs may change their emotion regulation tendencies in response to financial hardship and enduring entrepreneurial job demands (24/7 availability, work pressure and risk taking).


A total of 125 entrepreneurs registered at a Dutch insurance company participated in a two-wave survey study with a one-year time lag (response rate = 1,9 %; attrition 73.1 %). The majority were men (64.8 %), had at least a bachelor degree 86,4 %, were solo self-employed (59.2 %), and worked in health care (28.8 %) or consultancy (24 %). Average age was 54.13 years (SD = 6.60). Study variables (Emotion regulation, financial hardship, Entrepreneurial job demands, and exhaustion) were measured with pre-existing scales.


Paired samples T-tests and structural equation modelling (SEM) showed significant changes in entrepreneurs' emotion regulation over time. SEM showed that financial hardship negatively predicted expressive suppression one year later. Being available 24/7 showed a positive relationship over time, which was suppressed by financial hardship. Risk taking and a high work load did not relate to changes in emotion regulation. Contrary to the expectations, exhaustion did not mediate these relationships.


We conclude that the turbulent entrepreneurial occupation indeed invites changes in emotion regulation. This phenomenon deserves further investigation and it should not be overlooked when investigating their role in dealing with entrepreneurial demands.