Thesis

Are marathon runners the better entrepreneurs? The Influence of Leisure Activities on Entrepreneurial Success & Well-Being

Entrepreneurship is closely associated with long working hours and strong ties to the company. Is there any time left for leisure at all? And how does (not) having free time affect entrepreneurs? In this thesis, we would like to analyze the leisure activities of entrepreneurs and their impact on entrepreneurial success as well as well-being. This can be elaborated by literature research and/or interviews and questionnaires.

Introductory literature:
• Sonnentag, Sabine; Venz, Laura; Casper, Anne (2017): Advances in recovery research: What have we learned? What should be done next? In Journal of occupational health psychology 22 (3), pp. 365–380. DOI: 10.1037/ocp0000079.
• Weinberger, Eva; Wach, Dominika; Stephan, Ute; Wegge, Jürgen (2018): Having a creative day: Understanding entrepreneurs’ daily idea generation through a recovery lens. In Journal of Business Venturing 33 (1), pp. 1–19. DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusvent.2017.09.001.
• Kelly, Ciara M.; Strauss, Karoline; Arnold, John; Stride, Chris (2020): The relationship between leisure activities and psychological resources that support a sustainable career: The role of leisure seriousness and work-leisure similarity. In Journal of Vocational Behavior 117, p. 103340. DOI: 10.1016/j.jvb.2019.103340.
• Kelly, John R. (2019): Leisure Identities and Interactions: Routledge.

An excerpt of your most important tasks during the thesis:
• Definition of the research question
• Independent literature research
• Evaluation and discussion of the results

What is in it for you?
• a scientifically relevant thesis at the intersection of entrepreneurship and (social) psychology
• Supervision by a doctoral student with a similar research focus

Keywords: Entrepreneurship, leisure, hobbies, work-life, Startup, social psychology, psychology