Measuring stress in entrepreneurs: are existing occupational stress scales relevant?

Although occupational stress has been signalled as an important issue for entrepreneurs, there has been little research on the unique obstacles faced by this group. Much of what we know about occupational stress has come from research on salaried workers with pre-defined jobs in large organisations. The sources of stress that are relevant for salaried workers may be less relevant for self-employed workers. In the current research, entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs completed and provided feedback on the relevance of three leading occupational stress scales. Results indicated that many scale items were 'irrelevant' to entrepreneurs. Furthermore, there were several entrepreneurial stressors that were not captured by the scales. The findings confirm the need for a new scale to capture sources of stress that are salient to entrepreneurs.