Connecting international business with psychology: A conceptualisation of fear of failure in international opportunity evaluation.

Entrepreneurs internationalising their small and medium-sized enterprises face liabilities of foreignness and outsidership, where heightened uncertainty and risk critically shape decision-making. While international business research has extensively examined strategic dimensions of internationalisation, the emotional foundations of this process remain underdeveloped. Drawing on psychology, international business and entrepreneurship literature, this conceptual paper introduces fear of failure as a multidimensional construct encompassing emotional, cognitive, behavioural, and socially embedded dimensions that shape how entrepreneurs evaluate international opportunities. We develop a theory-driven conceptual framework that explains how fear of failure operates under conditions of internationalisation through four interrelated mechanisms: intensifying negative emotional responses, fostering risk-averse cognition and decision delay, heightening sensitivity to perceived contingencies through dynamic cognitive-emotional-behavioural interactions, and amplifying concerns about social judgement shaped by cultural and institutional contexts. By integrating these mechanisms, the paper advances a more nuanced understanding of how entrepreneurs evaluate international opportunity. This study leverages the lens of fear of failure from psychology to advance international business and entrepreneurship research by conceptualising international opportunity evaluation as psychologically grounded, emotional and socially embedded processes. It also offers implications for managerial practice by highlighting how entrepreneurs can better interpret fear of failure during internationalisation decision-making.