This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Starting a business might do more than change your career. Turns out, it could change how long you live.
New research suggests entrepreneurs have a surprising longevity advantage, but there's a catch: It depends on why they started. A study published in the Journal of Business Venturing and co-authored by Missouri University of Science and Technology researcher Dr. Hanqing Fang, associate professor of business and information technology in the Dennis and Janet Jaggi School of Business, suggests there may be a connection between entrepreneurship and longevity.
The study looked at data on over 27,500 Americans older than 50 and found that those with entrepreneurial experience had about a 10% lower risk of death than those who worked in traditional jobs. However, the findings suggest that simply owning a business is most likely not the deciding factor: It's the reason a person becomes an entrepreneur that seems to make a big difference. "The life span advantage is concentrated among people who chose entrepreneurship when they had other options," Fang says.
"The question to ask yourself is not whether to become an entrepreneur, but why." The study suggests that entrepreneurship can provide people with more control over their work, freedom and a sense of ownership over their careers. However, those benefits may be harder to realize when financial pressures or limited alternatives drive the decision. "If the role gives you autonomy, control and purpose, our findings are encouraging," Fang says.
"If you are entering because nothing else is available, go in with realistic expectations and take stress management seriously." Fang says the timing surprised him most: Current entrepreneurs showed better physical health, but the mental health advantage showed up most clearly among people whose entrepreneurial experiences were in the past. "The psychological resources seem to outlast the job itself," Fang says. Fang says the benefits often attributed to entrepreneurship point to control over one's own work, which is not exclusive to business owners.
If purpose and control help explain the connection between entrepreneurship and longevity, those qualities could be incorporated more fully into traditional companies if employers give employees more autonomy over the projects they manage. "The benefit we found may well apply to employees who experience their work as something they direct, rather than something that happens to them," Fang says. For Fang, the connection comes down to two important factors.
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