Mindfulness in the workplace

Abstract

Mindfulness, or attention to and awareness of the present, has attracted increasing attention in organizational research. Three studies were conducted to understand the nature of mindfulness at trait-, team-, and state-level in organizational settings, respectively. Study 1 reveals how trait mindfulness and trait self-control jointly yet distinctively influence employees' response to coworker ostracism through a cognitive appraisal perspective beyond the self-regulation perspective. Study 2 aggregates mindfulness to the team level and examines the conflicting processes through which a group of mindful or less mindful members work together under a highly or lowly interdependent teamwork condition. Study 3 explores whether and how state mindfulness influences newcomers' state approach/avoidance motivation, daily socialization behaviors, and state adaptation outcomes. This dissertation also offers an overview of mindfulness research in social psychology and organization studies (Chapter 1), and a comprehensive discussion of potential directions of mindfulness research in organizational settings (Chapter 5). Keywords: mindfulness, cognitive appraisal, unconscious thought, approach/avoidance motivation, newcomer adaptation, team, daily diary

Date of Award	2017
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology