Organizational Psychology

The relevance of personal readiness for change is due to the radical transformation of the model of economic behavior of entrepreneurs in the context of restrictive measures by the state associated with the coronavirus pandemic. Purpose. The aim of the study is to understand the possibilities of small business entrepreneurs in a situation of subjective uncertainty that has arisen in connection with the coronavirus pandemic. The article describes the evolution of approaches to the study of psychological readiness. The appeal to the concept of “uncertainty” is associated with increased attention to the problems of social changes, which are subjectively experienced by small business entrepreneurs as a stream of situations. Method. The sample consisted of 229 small business entrepreneurs of Irkutsk and Irkutsk Region. Standardized methods were used to measure a person’s readiness for change, propensity to take risks and novelty. Correlation-regression analysis of the collected empirical data was applied and a model of personal readiness of small business entrepreneurs for changes was built, which uses such factors as: Passion; Resourcefulness; Optimism; Enterprise; Adaptability; Confidence; Tolerance for ambiguity. Findings. With the help of correlation-regression analysis, the strength of the connection between the factors of personal readiness for change and predictors of the propensity to novelty and readiness to take risks was established, and the contribution of predictors to the formation of the personal readiness of entrepreneurs to change in general was determined. The level of personal readiness for changes among regional male entrepreneurs is significantly higher than among women. Personal readiness of regional small business entrepreneurs for changes in conditions of uncertainty, not related to restrictive measures of restrictive measures by the state due to the coronavirus pandemic, combining with other personality traits that act as its predictors. Each of the predictors has private connections with specific parameters of readiness for change (Passion, Resourcefulness, Optimism, Enterprise, Adaptability, Confidence, Tolerance to ambiguity). At the same time, Personal readiness for change is negative with such indicators of the desire for novelty as the Ability to disinhibit and Sensitivity to routine. The value of the results. The regression model of personal readiness for change is characterized by a positive contribution of the predictor “Orientation to acquire new experience” and a negative contributor of the predictor “Manner of disinhibition”. That is, in conditions of subjective uncertainty, regional entrepreneurs confirm the acquisition of new experience, the introduction of innovations while weakening psychological barriers that limit hidden feelings and needs.