Sustaining dual-role performance: the regulatory function of psychological capital in hybrid entrepreneurship

Purpose This study examines how psychological capital (PsyCap) – comprising hope, self-efficacy, resilience and optimism – functions as a dynamic regulatory resource for hybrid entrepreneurs (HEs) who simultaneously engage in paid employment and entrepreneurial ventures, addressing the gap in understanding how internal psychological resources enable them to navigate dual-role demands. Design/methodology/approach This conceptual paper develops a theoretical framework through systematic literature integration, drawing on conservation of resources theory, broaden-and-build theory and boundary management literature to propose a dual-role PsyCap mechanism. Four propositions are developed, each specifying how a PsyCap dimension is enriched or depleted as it crosses between the employment and venture roles. Findings The study proposes that PsyCap operates through a dual-role mechanism in which events and outcomes in one role change the psychological resources available for the other, producing either productive enrichment or costly depletion. Hope's effectiveness depends on attentional bandwidth and goal competition between roles; self-efficacy is built separately within each role through mastery experience but the comparison between the two self-efficacies, and the entrepreneur's general psychological state, cross role boundaries; resilience functions as a shared reserve that is built by surviving adversity in either role and depleted when adversity exceeds recovery capacity and optimism sustains commitment to an uncertain dual-role path but becomes maladaptive when it stops responding to evidence accumulating from either role. Originality/value This research is the first to conceptualize PsyCap as a dynamic regulatory resource in hybrid entrepreneurship, shifting the focus from external resource acquisition to internal psychological capacities. The dual-role mechanism reveals when and how psychological resources enable entrepreneurs to manage dual-role strain while achieving positive venture outcomes. By introducing a typology of HEs and specifying, for each PsyCap dimension, the distinct cross-role mechanisms through which it enriches or depletes performance, this paper offers a novel perspective on the psychological underpinnings of hybrid entrepreneurship.