Perceived stress and harmonious passion: opposing correlates of burnout in entrepreneurs

This study examines how harmonious and obsessive passion, perceived stress, and work addiction relate to burnout in entrepreneurs, using the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model, extended to personal resources, as the organizing framework.

A cross-sectional online study was conducted with 184 Hungarian entrepreneurs (23.4% women; mean age = 54.30 years, SD = 10.76). Participants completed validated Hungarian versions of the Mini Oldenburg Burnout Inventory, Passion Scale, Perceived Stress Scale, and Bergen Work Addiction Scale. After a confirmatory factor analysis of the burnout measure, a hierarchical regression entered all four focal variables together, while controlling for age, gender, and weekly working hours, and tested whether harmonious passion moderated the association between stress and burnout.

The four variables explained an additional 54% of the variance in burnout (total R ² = 0.57). Harmonious passion (β = -0.39) and perceived stress (β = 0.38) had the strongest unique associations, in opposite directions. Work addiction showed a smaller positive association (β = 0.17) that was confined to exhaustion. Obsessive passion was not uniquely related to burnout, and harmonious passion did not buffer the association between stress and burnout.

Perceived stress and harmonious passion are strong, opposing correlates of burnout in entrepreneurs, and compulsive working adds a smaller, exhaustion-specific risk. Harmonious passion behaved as an additive personal resource rather than as a buffer against stress. Because the design was cross-sectional, longitudinal studies are needed before causal conclusions can be drawn. Supporting self-chosen, flexible engagement with work and paying attention to compulsive work patterns are promising targets for programs that aim to protect entrepreneurs' wellbeing.