Psychological resilience of dairy farmers, life satisfaction, and the moderating role of age; Is there a link?

Abstract

Psychological resilience, life satisfaction, and the moderating role of age in their relationship have been largely overlooked in the literature that discusses business resilience, particularly in small-scale farming in developing countries like Indonesia. This research has the purpose to fill a research gap by exploring the influence of farmers' psychological resilience on life satisfaction. It employs cross-sectional data, observing 210 dairy farmers in Indonesia who have been in their business for a minimum of 10 years. The data is subsequently tested for validity and reliability and analyzed using a quantitative multivariate approach, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), with smartPLS software. The research demonstrates that psychological resilience has a positive influence on farmers' life satisfaction. Additionally, age has also been proven to moderate psychological resilience and life satisfaction. Based on these outcomes, we recommend that all stakeholders pay attention to formulating policies that support the enhancement of farmers' psychological resilience in facing uncertainties, such as endemic disasters like Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) and Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD). The implications of these result can provide insights for stakeholders to enhance business resilience from intangible aspects, such as the psychology of farmers, which has been shown to impact life satisfaction, and the moderating role of age in this relationship. Thus, it is expected that entrepreneurs can establish a sustainable dairy cattle business amidst an increasingly uncertain business landscape in the future.