Are state mindfulness and state work engagement related during the workday?

How state mindfulness affects mobile phones usage while walking: A daily diary study in China

INTRODUCTION

Pedestrians are a particularly vulnerable group of road users. Mobile phone usage while walking (MPUWW) is a significant contributor to pedestrians' involvement in road crashes and associated injuries. The current study aims to explore the effect of state mindfulness on daily MPUWW via phone dependence (at the within-person level), and the moderating role of risk perception (at the between-person level) in the phone dependence-MPUWW relationship.

METHOD

We utilized a fine-grained method, the daily diary methodology (DDM) to explore the aforementioned model. A total of 88 Chinese college students participated in a consecutive 12-day study, yielding 632 daily data. Unconflated multilevel modeling was used to analyze the data.

RESULTS

After trait mindfulness being controlled, state mindfulness has a negative impact on MPUWW via phone dependence at the daily level. Furthermore, risk perception as an individual difference variable moderates the relationship between phone dependence and MPUWW, in which a weaker effect observed in individuals with higher levels of risk perception.

CONCLUSIONS

State mindfulness can decrease the frequency of daily MPUWW by reducing phone dependence, and risk perception is a crucial factor in mitigating the negative effects of phone dependence on MPUWW.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

To lower MPUWW and thereby minimize the risk of road crashes and associated injuries, it is beneficial to foster present-moment awareness of individuals, encourage individuals to use mobile phones in a balanced and sensible manner, and integrate the enhancement of risk perception into road safety education.

Congruence in leaders-subordinates’ mindfulness and knowledge hiding: The role of emotional exhaustion and gender similarity

Many scholars have focused on understanding ways of how to suppress knowledge hiding by employees. Existing studies have demonstrated that mindfulness could effectively inhibit employees’ knowledge hiding. This study aims to investigate the impact of leader–subordinate mindfulness congruence on subordinate knowledge hiding and its internal mechanisms. Based on the role theory, we collected 169 leadership data and 368 employee data at three time-points through collecting questionnaire of matching leaders and subordinates. In addition, we used polynomial regression and response surface analysis to validate our research hypotheses. The results demonstrated that: (i) Compared with the “high leader–high subordinate” mindfulness congruence condition, subordinates in the “low leader–low subordinate” mindfulness congruence condition were more likely to exhibit knowledge hiding. (ii) Compared with the “low leader–high subordinate” mindfulness incongruence, subordinates under the “high leader–low subordinate” mindfulness incongruence are more likely to exhibit knowledge hiding. (iii) The more incongruent the mindfulness between the leader and the subordinate is, the more likely an employee is to exhibit knowledge hiding. (iv) Emotional exhaustion mediated the correlation between leader–subordinate mindfulness congruence and knowledge hiding. (v) When the gender of the leader and the subordinate is different, the impact of mindfulness congruence on the inhibition of emotional exhaustion is stronger. This study provides a new perspective for researching the impact of mindfulness on individual behavior and provides a new idea for the research related to inhibiting knowledge hiding.

Mindfulness Practice and Job Performance in Social Workers: Mediation Effect of Work Engagement

Despite a rapid increase in the work force over the last decade, the social work labor force is still suffering through high amounts of stress and burnout that could negatively affect work engagement and job performance in China. A potential solution worth exploring, however, is the practice of mindfulness, a concept based on expanding one's awareness to target focus without judgement. Using 537 social workers from street-level social work service stations in Guangzhou, China, this paper examines the relation between mindfulness practice and job performance, and whether work engagement mediated the relation through the application of the job demand and resources theory. The findings indicate that that mindfulness practice directly increases work engagement (Beta = 0.33) and has an indirect effect on job performance (Beta = 0.21) through its effect on work engagement that fully mediated the relation between mindfulness practice and job performance. In contrast to formal mindful practices (Beta = 0.13), informal mindful practices (Beta = 0.22) encompass a broader impact on employee performance. The findings suggest that mindfulness practice can effectively be used in workspaces to enhance engagement and performance of social workers in China.

Factorial validity and invariance analysis of the five items version of Mindful Awareness Attention Scale in older adults

Objective: Mindfulness or the full attention state is a factor that contributes to the successful process of aging. This study aims to evaluate the evidence of validity, on the basis of the internal structure, convergent and discriminant validity, reliability and factorial invariance across gender, for the five items Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS-5) within a sample of older adults.Methods: The participants were 323 Peruvian older adults, consisting of 160 women and 163 men, whose average ages were 68.58 (S.D = 7.23) and 68.91 years (S.D = 7.12), respectively. In addition to the MAAS-5, the Satisfaction with Life Scale and the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 were administered.Results: The Confirmatory Factor Analysis indicates that the one-factor structure of the MAAS-5 presents adequate fit for the total sample (χ² = 11.24, df = 5, χ²/df = 2.25, CFI = .99, RMSEA = .06 [90%CI: .01, .11]; and SRMR = .025), as well as for the sub-samples of men and women. This one-factor solution presents adequate internal consistency (ω = 80 [95%CI: .76 - .82]) and it is invariant across gender. Regarding convergent validity, high scores in the MAAS are associated with a greater satisfaction with life (r = .88, p< .01 [95%CI: .85, .95]) and less depression (r = -.56, p< .01 [95%CI: -.48, -.77]) in older adults.Conclusions: The preliminary results back the use of the MAAS-5 as a self-report measure of mindfulness that has an adequate unifactorial structure that is reliable and invariant across gender for measuring the full attention state in elderly Peruvians.

Stay Mindful and Carry on: Mindfulness Neutralizes COVID-19 Stressors on Work Engagement via Sleep Duration

We examine whether mindfulness can neutralize the negative impact of COVID-19 stressors on employees' sleep duration and work engagement. In Study 1, we conducted a field experiment in Wuhan, China during the lockdown between February 20, 2020, and March 2, 2020, in which we induced state mindfulness by randomly assigning participants to either a daily mindfulness practice or a daily mind-wandering practice. Results showed that the sleep duration of participants in the mindfulness condition, compared with the control condition, was less impacted by COVID-19 stressors (i.e., the increase of infections in the community). In Study 2, in a 10-day daily diary study in the United Kingdom between June 8, 2020, and June 19, 2020, we replicate our results from Study 1 using a subjective measure of COVID-19 stressors and a daily measure of state mindfulness. In addition, we find that mindfulness buffers the negative effect of COVID-19 stressors on work engagement mediated by sleep duration. As the COVID-19 pandemic is ongoing and the number of reported cases continues to rise globally, our findings suggest that mindfulness is an evidence-based practice that can effectively neutralize the negative effect of COVID-19 stressors on sleep and work outcomes. The findings of the present study contribute to the employee stress and well-being literature as well as the emerging organizational research on mindfulness.

All's well that ends well!? Moderating effects of goal progress on the relation between challenge and hindrance appraisal and well-being

Purpose

Drawing from both the transactional theory of stress and the conservation of resources theory, this paper sets out to investigate the role of demand-specific challenge and hindrance appraisal of emotional demands, as well as time pressure and perceived goal progress within the challenge–hindrance framework.

Design/methodology/approach

For this research, 91 employees provided daily diary data for one working week. Focusing on within-persons effects, multilevel moderated mediation models using multilevel path analyses were applied.

Findings

Both emotional demands and time pressure exert positive effects on work engagement when people expect resource gain (challenge appraisal), independent of actual resource gain (achievement). Furthermore, results show that goal progress buffers negative effects of perceived blocked resource gain (hindrance appraisal) on both emotional and motivational well-being.

Originality/value

This research proposes an extension and refinement of the challenge–hindrance stressor framework to explain health-impairing and motivational processes of emotional demands and time pressure, combining reasoning from both appraisal and resource theory perspectives. The study identifies demand-specific challenge and hindrance appraisals as mediators linking demands to emotional and motivational well-being, emphasizing the influence of goal progress as a resource on these relations.

Problem solving and affect as mechanisms linking daily mindfulness to task performance and job satisfaction

This study investigated the daily relationships between mindfulness and job satisfaction via affect and mindfulness and task performance via problem solving confidence. Participants were 57 full-time and part-time employees who completed a baseline survey and five daily diary entries. Data were analysed using multilevel modelling. On days when they experienced greater mindfulness, employees also experienced (a) greater daily job satisfaction via high-activation positive affect (but not low-activation positive affect nor negative affect) and (b) greater daily self-reported task performance via problem solving confidence. Our findings suggest that high-activation positive affect and problem solving confidence may be important daily mechanisms of mindfulness at work. Growing evidence links mindfulness to work-related outcomes; however, limited research has investigated the mechanisms involved. The present study is one of the first to collect empirical observations regarding how state mindfulness operates at work on a daily basis, providing support for both affective and cognitive pathways. Advances in this area can underpin a robust theoretical framework to guide the implementation of daily mindfulness practice and interventions targeting specific work-related outcomes.

Mindfulness as a Protective Factor for Dissatisfaction in HCWs: The Moderating Role of Mindful Attention between Climate Stress and Job Satisfaction

With the aim of investigating the possible moderating effect of job control and dispositional mindfulness between different sources of organizational stress and job satisfaction, a correlational study was designed involving health care workers (HCWs). The following questionnaires were administered and completed by 237 HCWs: (1) Occupational Stress Indicator (OSI), to measure the sources of stress at work (managerial role, climate power, climate structure, internal relationships), and job satisfaction; (2) Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) to assess the individual’s level of attention to what is taking place in the present; (3) Job Control Scale (JCS) to assess the perceived control at work. Hierarchical regression analyses were used to test the hypothesized relationships between variables; the results showed that, between the different sources of stress, the organizational climate dimension was negatively associated with job satisfaction; moreover, mindfulness attention moderated the relationship between climate stress and job satisfaction; unexpectedly, the interaction between job control and the organizational climate dimension was not significant in affecting job satisfaction. This study can provide useful information for Human Resources Management (HRM) practices regarding job and mental control interventions and empowerment, and possibly offer a new interpretation of the role of attention to what is happening in the present moment and autonomy between climate stressors and occupational satisfaction.

Mindfulness in organizations (part 1): a critical literature review

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the growing science and application of mindfulness as an intervention within organizations.

Design/methodology/approach

This is the first in a pair of papers exploring the science and application of mindfulness in organizations. The first section of the paper provides a brief review of the research into mindfulness and its perceived benefits from a health perspective. In the second section, the author considers the neurobiological mechanisms behind mindfulness meditation, before finally considering the organizational research and the limitations of mindfulness at work research.

Findings

The paper notes that while there has been considerable research into health outcomes, organizational mindfulness research is still developing a comprehensive case for the wide-scale application of mindfulness.

Research limitations/implications

The paper calls for greater research into organizational mindfulness interventions through collaborations between organizations and consultants.

Practical implications

The paper calls for organizations to adopt an evidence-led approach to using mindfulness and evaluate its impact on employees and organizational performance.

Originality/value

The paper provides a starting point for trainers and organizational development professionals to take stock and consider how mindfulness can be employed as a tool for the benefit of organizations.