Pozitif psikolojinin ışığında kuluçka merkezlerinin girişimciler üzerindeki etkilerinin incelenmesi

Since the appearance of business incubators in 1960s, academic studies focused mostly on hard issues like the contribution of incubators to the financial success of start-up companies. Nevertheless, when it comes to soft issues, more needs to be studied, such as their contributions to entrepreneurs as individuals. The purpose of this research is to help close some of the gaps in the literature by focusing on the contribution of business incubators to the well-being of entrepreneurs. For that purpose, the effects of incubator services on the psychological capital (PsyCap) and life satisfaction of entrepreneurs were focused on. In line with the research aim 126 interviews were made with entrepreneurs using business incubator services via an online survey, following 9 preliminary semi-structured interviews with incubator managers. As a result of the study, positive and significant relationships were observed between using business incubator services, PsyCap, and the life satisfaction of entrepreneurs. In addition, it was found that the positive impact of incubator services on entrepreneurs' PsyCap was created mostly through networking and business support services rather than physical services. Also, PsyCap was observed to assume a partially mediating role in the relationship between the utilization of incubator services and the life satisfaction of entrepreneurs. Finally, it was observed that the link between PsyCap and life satisfaction was mostly via the hope dimension of PsyCap. With its interdisciplinary focus and significant findings, the research is expected to be considered one of the pioneering studies in its unique area of interest.