Two are better than one: Cortisol as a contingency in the association between epinephrine and self-employment

In the context of self-employment, which is characterized by risk and uncertainty, epinephrine could elicit a “fight or flight” response. However, little attention has been given to what factors could differentiate those who 'fight' (i.e. pursue self-employment) versus those who 'fly' (i.e. forgo pursuing self-employment). Moving from individual and social explanations on drivers of self-employment as an occupational choice, we propose that the association between epinephrine and self-employment could be conditional on levels of a second hormone, namely cortisol. Based on a sample of 273 individuals from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS 2) study, 2004-2006, and controlling for a wide variety of factors, epinephrine is not associated with self-employment on its own, however, it is associated with self-employment at low levels of cortisol. We are among the first to demonstrate a link between the dual influence of epinephrine and cortisol and self-employment.