Article: The truth about bricolage, dispositional optimism, and psychological wellbeing in entrepreneurship: evidence from a systematic review Journal: World Review of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development (WREMSD) 2025 Vol.21 No.5 pp.20 - 44 Abstract: While entrepreneurship offers personal fulfilment, autonomy and financial growth, it also poses significant psychological wellbeing challenges. Despite growing interest in this area, existing literature lacks an integrated analysis of how entrepreneurial bricolage and dispositional optimism jointly influence entrepreneurs' psychological wellbeing. This study employed Paul and Criado's (2020) systematic literature review protocol, drawing on articles from Journal Storage (JSTOR) and Scopus to develop an integrated research model. A review of 11 relevant studies revealed that entrepreneurial bricolage enables entrepreneurs to optimise limited resources, fostering job satisfaction and positive affect. Dispositional optimism enhances coping abilities, contributing to positive affect, job satisfaction and life satisfaction. By bringing together these underexplored yet impactful constructs, this study proposes an exploratory integrated research model that represents an initial step toward linking the behavioural (bricolage) and cognitive-affective (optimism) dimensions of entrepreneurial practice within a holistic framework. Inderscience Publishers - linking academia, business and industry through research

Title: The truth about bricolage, dispositional optimism, and psychological wellbeing in entrepreneurship: evidence from a systematic review

Authors: Farah Al Saeed; Abdulrahman Alaskar; Samuel Ebie

Addresses: School of Business Management, Kuwait Technical College, Abu Halifa, Al Ahmadi Governorate, Kuwait ' School of Business Management, Kuwait Technical College, Abu Halifa, Al Ahmadi Governorate, Kuwait ' School of Management, Swansea University, Swansea, Wales, UK

Abstract: While entrepreneurship offers personal fulfilment, autonomy and financial growth, it also poses significant psychological wellbeing challenges. Despite growing interest in this area, existing literature lacks an integrated analysis of how entrepreneurial bricolage and dispositional optimism jointly influence entrepreneurs' psychological wellbeing. This study employed Paul and Criado's (2020) systematic literature review protocol, drawing on articles from Journal Storage (JSTOR) and Scopus to develop an integrated research model. A review of 11 relevant studies revealed that entrepreneurial bricolage enables entrepreneurs to optimise limited resources, fostering job satisfaction and positive affect. Dispositional optimism enhances coping abilities, contributing to positive affect, job satisfaction and life satisfaction. By bringing together these underexplored yet impactful constructs, this study proposes an exploratory integrated research model that represents an initial step toward linking the behavioural (bricolage) and cognitive-affective (optimism) dimensions of entrepreneurial practice within a holistic framework.

Keywords: entrepreneurial bricolage; dispositional optimism; life satisfaction; entrepreneurial psychological wellbeing; positive affect; job satisfaction; life satisfaction; fear of failure; entrepreneurial stress; exploratory integrated research models; uncertain environments; systematic review.

DOI: 10.1504/WREMSD.2025.150397

World Review of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development, 2025 Vol.21 No.5, pp.20 - 44

Received: 15 Jun 2025
Accepted: 14 Oct 2025
Published online: 12 Dec 2025 *

Title: The truth about bricolage, dispositional optimism, and psychological wellbeing in entrepreneurship: evidence from a systematic review

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