Calls in the entrepreneurship literature have advocated theory development and empirical studies exploring fear of failure. Often viewed as an inhibitory factor towards entrepreneurial activity, contemporary research has suggested that fear of failure can also motivate entrepreneurial activity. To explore this issue, we draw on Protection Motivation Theory to conceptualise and operationalise fear of failure. We find support for the notion that fear of failure prompts the adoption of entrepreneurial strategies, provided the entrepreneur believes they have the ability to act entrepreneurially, and that by so doing, their financial situation will improve. Our approach extends the literature on fear of failure in an entrepreneurship context by disentangling cognitive and behavioural aspects focusing not only on threat appraisals, but also on how entrepreneurs cope with them.

在企业家精神文献中，提倡理论发展和实证研究以探索对失败的恐惧。通常被认为是抑制企业家活动的因素，当代研究表明，对失败的恐惧也会激发企业家的活动。为了探讨这个问题，我们借鉴了保护动机理论来概念化和实施对失败的恐惧。我们发现支持以下观念的想法：对失败的恐惧会促使人们采用创业策略，只要创业者相信他们有能力采取创业行动，并且这样做，他们的财务状况将会改善。我们的方法通过解开认知和行为方面，不仅关注威胁评估，还扩展了关于企业家精神背景下对失败的恐惧的文献。