Religiosity and resilience in entrepreneurship: uncovering the underlying mechanism through the lens of spiritual capital

Purpose Drawing on the resilience theory and espousing the spiritual capital approach, the purpose of this study is to assess the indirect effect of religiosity on entrepreneurs’ psychological resilience through the intervening roles of coping with failure, perseverance, locus of control and optimism. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts a quantitative design and gathers data from 125 entrepreneurs in Oman through questionnaires. A structural equation modelling approach is used to test the hypotheses. Findings The study finds that entrepreneurs’ religiosity influences resilience indirectly through coping with failure, perseverance and locus of control. Surprisingly, optimism played a trivial role in this dynamic. Originality/value It has been well acknowledged that religiosity provides a pool of resources crucial to entrepreneurs’ survival and success. However, despite this intuitive link, the mechanism whereby religiosity enhances entrepreneurial resilience remains misunderstood. This is problematic as entrepreneurs’ psychological resilience is an important attribute for survival, especially during challenging times. Hence, this study advances the current understanding of the religiosity-resilience nexus by uncovering its underlying mechanism.