Mindfulness at Work: Antecedents and Consequences of Employee Awareness and Absent-mindedness

The present study examines antecedents and consequences of two aspects of mindfulness in a work setting: employee awareness and employee absent-mindedness. Using two samples, the study found these two aspects of mindfulness to be beneficially associated with employee well-being, as measured by emotional exhaustion, job satisfaction, and psychological need satisfaction, and with job performance, as measured by task performance, organizational citizenship behaviors, and deviance. These results suggest a potentially important role of mindfulness at the workplace. The study also found that organizational constraints and organizational support predicted employee mindfulness, pointing to the important role that the organizational environment may play in facilitating or hindering mindfulness at the workplace. The results further suggest that employee awareness and absent-mindedness are different constructs that have distinct nomological networks. Implications and future directions are discussed.