Longitudinal study reveals that interpersonal conflict drives opportunity-cost fear in student venture teams, highlighting the psychological burden of misaligned collaboration.
Key Points
To examine the longitudinal development of opportunity-cost fear and assess how student perceptions of team alignment and conflict influence this anxiety during venture projects.
Conducted a longitudinal investigation using three matched survey waves across project milestones among entrepreneurship students (N=74).
Assessed student-level appraisals of venture team alignment, interpersonal conflict, and project quality using frameworks from appraisal theory and entrepreneurial emotion.
Opportunity-cost fear increased significantly over the venture project lifecycle, with the primary escalation occurring between Time 1 and Time 2.
Rising perceived team conflict between Time 2 and Time 3 was associated with significantly higher opportunity-cost fear at Time 3.
Improvements in perceived team alignment between Time 2 and Time 3 were associated with reduced final opportunity-cost fear in baseline specifications.