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Attribution theory deals with how individuals infer causality between events and has been used to explain various social psychological phenomena such as achievement, sex stereotyping, and the impact of reward on behavior. But the direct application of the theory to entrepreneurship has been made only recently. The present study tests for the existence of a self-serving attribution bias among entrepreneurs when they enumerate the factors that contribute to or impede their business success as well as for the presence of an actor-observer attribution bias. Three samples are compared. Two are samples of entrepreneurs: one of independent pharmacists and the other a broadly based sample of business owners. A third sample is of experts. The presence of a self-serving attribution bias is shown in the two business owners' samples. In addition, clear differences are shown between the entrepreneurs and the experts, confirming the expectation of an actor-observer attribution bias.

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BackgroundKorea has experienced diverse kind of disasters these days. Among them the 2015 middle eastern respiratory syndrome (MERS) outbreak imposed great psychological stress on almost all Korean citizens. Following the MERS outbreak, government is reviewing overall infectious disease management system and prioritizing the establishment of mental health service systems for infectious disease. This study makes suggestions for implementing disaster-related mental health service systems by analyzing the example of Gyeonggi Province, which proactively intervened with residents’ psychological problems caused by the large-scale outbreak of an infectious disease.Case descriptionMental health service system for MERS victims had the following two parts: a mental health service for people who had been placed in quarantine and a service provided to families of patients who had died or recovered patients. The government of Gyeonggi province, public health centers, regional and local Community Mental Health Centers and the National Center for Crisis Mental Health Management participated in this service system. Among 1221 Gyeonggi people placed in quarantine and who experienced psychological and emotional difficulties, 350 required continuing services; 124 of this group received continuing services. That is, 35 % of people who required psychological intervention received contact from service providers and received the required services.ConclusionsThis study reflects a proactive monitoring system for thousands of people placed under quarantine for the first time in Korea. It is significant that the service utilization rate by a proactive manner, that is the professionals administering it actively approached and contacted people with problems rather than passively providing information was much higher than other general mental health situation in Korea. The core value of public mental health services is adequate public accessibility; it is therefore essential for governments to strengthen their professional competence and establish effective systems. These criteria should also be applied to psychological problems caused by disastrous infectious disease outbreaks.

This study investigates three important issues in a family business: (1) Whether there is a significant difference, relative to their goals and attitudes, between owners of businesses with family participation and owners of businesses without family participation; (2) whether owners of businesses with family participation perceive higher levels of business‐family conflict than owners of businesses without family participation; and (3) whether owners of businesses with family participation view business‐family conflict as a significant impediment to their business performance. We conducted a survey of 231 small business owners in midsize cities in the northeastern and midwestern United States. Of the total sample, 118 are businesses in which two or more family members are employed. This study examines both the reported conflict and the positives of family‐member involvement. The findings indicate that there is no overall difference in business‐related goals between the two groups, but that owners of businesses with family participation do experience significantly more business‐family conflict. The study also concludes that this conflict is generally well managed and does not interfere with business objectives. In fact, the authors conclude that owners of businesses with family participation see the involvement of family members as a positive. Managerial implications and research suggestions are also discussed.