Abstract

In light of growing scholarly interest in female entrepreneurship as well as entrepreneurial well-being, the purpose of this mixed-method research was to investigate a resource-based conceptualization of female entrepreneurs’ well-being stemming from family support and the mechanisms and potential constraints of this relationship. I argued that instrumental and emotional resources deriving from family support would trigger a resource-gain spiral leading female entrepreneurs to acquire greater psychological resilience and, ultimately, to experience both increased hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. To test this theoretical framework, quantitative and qualitative data was collected from two North-American samples, including 152 women entrepreneurs participating in an online survey and six female entrepreneurs partaking in individual interviews, respectively. The combined results suggest that family support and resilience – under certain boundary conditions – are valuable resources for these women and their eudaimonic well-being in particular. This research contributes to the existing literature on female entrepreneurship by responding to scholarly calls for more comprehensive investigations into the diverse facets of entrepreneurial well-being and underscores the relevance of eudaimonic well-being as an outcome variable in entrepreneurship research. This research also highlights the practical importance of further enabling access to critical resources for female entrepreneurs – within the family and beyond.