Task complexity matters: The influence of trait mindfulness on task and safety performance of nuclear power plant operators

Highlights

• The Chinese version of Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory was firstly validated.

• The mindfulness-performance link was further investigated with 136 NPP operators.

• The presence facet was found to influence operators’ performance.

• Task complexity was found to be an important moderator of this relationship.

• The cost-benefit of being mindful was different on task/safety performance.

Abstract

People with high level of trait mindfulness are more likely to maintain an open and present-focused awareness and attention. Whereas a positive link between trait mindfulness and well-being has been established, its influence on real-world performance has not been fully addressed. In Study 1, we validated the Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory (FMI) in a Chinese sample (N = 294) and found that a two-dimensional solution (a presence factor and an acceptance factor) best fit the data. In Study 2, using this validated scale, we directly investigated the influence of trait mindfulness on task and safety performance. In a sample of 136 Chinese nuclear power plant operators, it was found that trait mindfulness interacted with task complexity to influence performance. For high-complexity-task holders (the control room operators), the presence factor was positively related to their task and safety performance; for the low-complexity-task holders (the field operators), the presence factor had no influence on safety performance but a negative influence on task performance. The acceptance factor did not have any meaningful influences. These results suggest that the benefit of being mindful outweighs its cost for complex but not simple tasks. Implications are discussed.

Introduction

Mindfulness has been defined as a present-focused awareness and attention (the presence factor) with an open attitude toward ongoing events and experiences (the acceptance factor) (Bishop et al., 2004). The former can help individuals be more aware about otherwise unnoticed external stimuli and internal processes, while the latter refers to a more tranquil mind and better emotional state (Bishop et al., 2004, Brown et al., 2007, Kohls et al., 2009).

Though most attention has been paid to the influence of mindfulness on well-being (for a review, see Brown et al., 2007), recent evidence has suggested that it has a positive influence on broader psychological functions such as sustained attention (Schmertz, Anderson, & Robins, 2009), cognitive flexibility (Moore & Malinowski, 2009), control of risk behavior (Lakey, Campbell, Brown, & Goodie, 2007) and interpersonal relationships (Dekeyser, Raes, Leijssen, Leysen, & Dewulf, 2008). Since these functions are particularly important for fulfilling tasks in an effective and safe manner, mindfulness may have a positive influence on individual performance in high risk industries such as nuclear power plants. However, research on its influence on real-world performance is still lacking (for theoretical exceptions see Dane, 2011, Weick et al., 1999). This study examines the mindfulness-performance relationship by taking the multi-dimensional nature of performance (task and safety performance) and the potential moderator (task complexity) into consideration and empirically tests it in a nuclear power plant context.

Some initial attempts have been made to link mindfulness with task performance (the speed and quality of performing prescribed tasks). For example, in a group of disabled students, mindfulness training was found to increase their academic scores by reducing social anxiety (Beauchemin, Hutchins, & Patterson, 2008). Similarly, among MBA students, it was found that trait mindfulness has a positive influence on course performance for women (Shao & Skarlicki, 2009). In these cases, the benefits of mindfulness in performance can be ascribed to the acceptance factor reducing stress.

Some recent research has suggested that the presence factor of mindfulness can promote sustained attention, cognitive flexibility, situational awareness and better metacognitive skills (Bishop et al., 2004, Moore and Malinowski, 2009, Schmertz et al., 2009). These skills are especially important for performing complex process control tasks such as driving, air traffic control, and nuclear power plant operation (Vicente, Mumaw, & Roth, 2004). In a driving simulation task, for example, training participants to focus on their present experience was found to enhance individuals’ situation awareness as measured by more accurate knowledge of vehicle and environment conditions (Kass, Van Wormer, Mikulas, Legan, & Bumgarner, 2011).

Unlike task performance which is more related to efficiency, safety performance refers to the behaviors that are the direct antecedences of accidents and injuries (Griffin & Neal, 2000). Safety compliance and safety participation are two components of safety performance. Safety compliance refers to personnel’s in-role behaviors to maintain workplace safety, such as complying with rules. Safety participation, on the other hand, refers to the extra-role proactive behaviors that workers adopt to help colleagues or the entire organization prevent workplace accidents or injuries.

Being mindful can enhance safety compliance behavior for two reasons. First, mindful individuals are more likely to avoid cognitive failures, involuntary lapses or errors which are common causes of accidents because they are more aware of the external environment and internal processes (Herndon, 2008, Reason et al., 1990). Second, as they are more concerned about the social externality of their behaviors and more capable of controlling their risky behavioral inclinations (Lakey et al., 2007), mindful people are less likely to violate certain rules or procedures intentionally, such as taking shortcuts to make the operation easier to perform(Zohar & Erev, 2007). As a result, it is likely that mindful operators will have a higher level of safety compliance.

The relationship between mindfulness and safety participation may also be positive. First, mindful people may be more aware of their coworkers’ failures and the potential risks in the system because being mindful can preclude automatic and categorical thinking, biased judgments and habitual reactions (Bishop et al., 2004, Brown et al., 2007). This provides an important precondition for safety participation. Further, mindfulness is linked to empathy, better social skills and improved interpersonal relationships (Brown et al., 2007). Caring more about their coworkers and being more willing to communicate their ideas, mindful people will be more likely to exhibit safety participation behavior and thus demonstrate more capabilities and willingness with regard to safety participation.

From the above analysis, it seems clear that being mindful can greatly improve task and safety performance. However, Dane (2011) has suggested that while paying impartial and continuous attention is beneficial for making an unbiased decision, an often-neglected fact is its time-consuming nature. Therefore, the benefit of being mindful depends on task complexity. For complex-task-holders, small errors or missing information could seriously undermine the whole performance, so the benefit of being mindful greatly outweighs the corresponding time cost. Conversely, for simple-task-holders, the benefit of being mindful will not exceed its time cost. So being mindful is more beneficial for improving complex task performance. However, this complexity-as-moderator hypothesis has not been empirically tested and has been made upon task performance only. Since efficiency is less important for the evaluation of safety performance, the negative influence of being mindful on safety performance in simple tasks may not be as strong as on task performance.

Based on these findings and analyses, we postulate that for complex task holders, being mindful could increase both task and safety performance whereas for simple task holders, it may reduce task performance but not safety performance.

To test these hypotheses, we firstly validated the Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory (FMI) in a Chinese sample (Study 1). We then conducted a field study in a nuclear power plant context (Study 2) where the task complexity between control room operators (CROs) and field operators (FOs) provides a good setting to test the moderation hypothesis. While both operators are required to do similar basic tasks such as monitoring and fault finding, the complexity is different. FOs are only responsible for monitoring and operating a few pieces of front-line equipment with limited decision freedom, whereas CROs have to monitor more than 1000 displays and have direct responsibility for maintaining the safety of the whole system (Vicente et al., 2004). This difference presents an opportunity to conduct a natural experiment to test the task-complexity-as-moderator hypothesis.