Improving Mental Well-Being and Productivity of Small-Medium Entrepreneurs in Fragile, Conflict and Violence Affected Areas : Can Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Training Help?
This literature review summarizes the link between psychological well-being and entrepreneurial outcomes for small and medium-size enterprises in fragile, conflict, and violence–affected contexts. It identifies potentially promising, scalable psych...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2018
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/341821529589958666/Improving-mental-well-being-and-productivity-of-small-medium-entrepreneurs-in-fragile-conflict-and-violence-affected-areas-can-cognitive-behavioral-therapy-trainings-help http://hdl.handle.net/10986/29942 |
| Summary: | This literature review summarizes the
link between psychological well-being and entrepreneurial
outcomes for small and medium-size enterprises in fragile,
conflict, and violence–affected contexts. It identifies
potentially promising, scalable psychosocial training
interventions, based on cognitive-behavioral therapy
approaches, that can be adapted and implemented to improve
psychological health at the individual level, that could
lead to better business performance at the firm level. The
findings from the literature of cognitive psychology and
small business economics suggest that small and medium-size
enterprise entrepreneurs, without diversified capital,
stable sources of income, or delegation opportunities, tend
to suffer from more stress and anxiety compared with their
peers in salaried jobs or in larger firms. Chronic stress is
found to deplete their psychological resources, erode their
motivating role within the firm, and result in
counterproductive work behavior. The combination of regular
business-related entrepreneurial stressors with the
uncertainties of a fragile, conflict, and violence–specific
environment—natural disasters, conflict, migration, and/or
exposure to trauma—can amplify poorer psychological outcomes
and hamper business performance. Utilization of
cognitive-behavioral therapy approaches to mitigate stress
and build psychological capital appears promising. Although
such curricula have been tried and tested for other target
groups at scale, such an intervention has not yet been
applied for at-risk entrepreneurs. Given that small and
medium-size enterprises are important drivers of income in
fragile, conflict, and violence–affected contexts, future
research might benefit from evaluating whether the effects
of cognitive-behavioral therapy–based training interventions
can be replicated for these new target groups and,
importantly, whether the interventions can lead to better
behavioral outcomes and business performance over time. |
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