Individual and organizational antecedents of trait mindfulness

ABSTRACT

Previous research on the antecedents of mindfulness is scarce. This study examines the individual and contextual antecedents, specifically ethical climate and goal orientation, of trait mindfulness. Data for this study came from 302 white-collar employees working in Istanbul who completed cross-sectional questionnaires on ethical climate, goal orientation, and mindfulness. First, it was found that caring climate, which refers to organizations that consider the wellness of its workforce, positively predicted employees’ trait mindfulness. Second, goal orientation was significantly associated with trait mindfulness. Mastery and performance-approach orientations both predicted positively to trait mindfulness with mastery orientation the strongest predictor. In contrast, a performance-avoidance orientation predicted negatively to trait mindfulness. As a caring climate predicts to employees’ mindfulness, it is recommended that organizations create a workplace where employees perceive themselves as family members, with an emphasis on teamwork, participation, and intrinsic motivation.

KEYWORDS:

• Mindfulness
• goal orientation
• ethical climate

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Notes on contributors

Yaprak Kalafatoğlu

Yaprak Kalafatoğlu has a Ph.D in Organizational Behavior and is currently a lecturer in Marmara University Department of Business Administration. Her research interests include positive psychology, organizational behavior, and business ethics. She has publications about mindfulness, organizational justice, cultural intelligence, and pro-environmental behavior.

Tülay Turgut

Tülay Turgut has a Ph.D in Organizational Behavior and is currently a professor in Marmara University, Department of Business Administration. Her areas of research interest include organizational behavior and positive psychology. She has publications about the concepts of work values, work engagement, achievement goal orientations, mindfulness, and person-organization fit.