A processual understanding of fear of failure: Insights from small-business entrepreneurs affected by a crisis
通过对57位法国酒店业小企业主在新冠危机期间的深度访谈，研究揭示了失败恐惧在认知、情绪和行为维度上的动态演变过程，并分析了个人、组织和环境因素如何塑造这一过程。
Despite increasing calls for a process-oriented perspective on entrepreneurial emotions, research on fear of failure (FoF) remains largely grounded in linear models that overlook its dynamic and idiosyncratic nature. This study addresses this gap by examining how small-business entrepreneurs experience FoF as an evolving process. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 57 French entrepreneurs in the hospitality sector during the COVID-19 crisis and interpreted through the lens of appraisal theory, this study offers two key contributions. First, it provides a processual understanding of FoF by revealing the dynamics that occur before (sources), during (manifestations), and after (consequences) FoF across cognitive, emotional, and behavioral dimensions. Second, the study shows how the FoF process is shaped by individual, organizational, and environmental contingencies. These findings contribute to the limited process-based literature on FoF and emphasize fear’s constructive potential through learning.