Toward a coping-in-combination approach: The benefits of combining coping strategies for purpose in life of the self-employed

The self-employment coping literature typically treats coping strategies separately. In contrast to this approach, we introduce a control perspective to examine the effects of combining coping strategies on a highly salient well-being outcome for the self-employed: purpose in life. Drawing on the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) dataset (N = 693), moderation analysis reveals that persistence and positive reappraisal mitigate the negative effect of lowering aspirations on purpose in life. In robustness tests, we find consistent results across similar well-being indicators. Our evidence highlights the need to study specific coping strategies in tandem and provides a more nuanced perspective on the differential effects of both primary (i.e., persistence) and secondary (i.e., positive reappraisal and lowering aspirations) coping strategies.