Leiden University Scholarly Publications

Schmitt, A.; Prasastyoga, B. (2024)

Self-care practices and relationships with vitality and health complaints in self-employed workers

Article / Letter to editor

Self-employed workers face numerous demands, including high uncertainty, workload, and personal responsibility for business success, that have the potential to jeopardize their well-being. This study integrates aspects of the conservation of resources (COR) theory, the theory of planned behavior (TPB), and the literature on intention–behavior gaps to offer insights into how self-employed workers can influence their well-being. We propose that their intention to adopt self-care practices acts as a motivational element that links assumptions about the well-being-protecting and -enhancing effects of self-care practices to the enactment of such practices. Moreover, we investigate the role of entrepreneurial stressors as potential hindering factors in the translation of self-care practice intentions into actual behavior. In a sample of 290 self-employed workers and employing a two-wave study design with a one-month time lag, we found that frequently practicing self-care was positively...Show moreSelf-employed workers face numerous demands, including high uncertainty, workload, and personal responsibility for business success, that have the potential to jeopardize their well-being. This study integrates aspects of the conservation of resources (COR) theory, the theory of planned behavior (TPB), and the literature on intention–behavior gaps to offer insights into how self-employed workers can influence their well-being. We propose that their intention to adopt self-care practices acts as a motivational element that links assumptions about the well-being-protecting and -enhancing effects of self-care practices to the enactment of such practices. Moreover, we investigate the role of entrepreneurial stressors as potential hindering factors in the translation of self-care practice intentions into actual behavior. In a sample of 290 self-employed workers and employing a two-wave study design with a one-month time lag, we found that frequently practicing self-care was positively associated with workers’ vitality, negatively associated with mental health complaints, and unrelated to somatic health complaints. Among the various types of self-care, physical exercise was most consistently associated with well-being outcomes. Self-care intentions significantly predicted the engagement in self-care practices. Entrepreneurial stressors did not act as barriers to the adoption of self-care practices. By underscoring the utility of selfcare practices for self-employed workers’ well-being and the key role of self-care practice intentions, this study responds to the call for a research focus shift towards identifying practices that protect well-being among self-employed workers.
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All authors

Schmitt, A.; Prasastyoga, B.

Date

2024-04-29

Journal

Current Psychology

Advanced Publication

Yes

DOI

doi:10.1007/s12144-024-06014-4

Link

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12144-024-06014-4