Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

submittedVersion

Publication Date

3-2022

Abstract

We examine the role of employee mindfulness in the context of highly monotonous work conditions. Integrating research on task monotony with theorizing on mindfulness, we hypothesized that mindfulness is negatively associated with the extent to which employees feel generally bored by their jobs. We further hypothesized that this lower employee boredom would relate to downstream outcomes in the form of job attitudes (job satisfaction and turnover intentions) and task performance. We examined both objective task performance quality and quantity to shed light on the complexity of the mindfulness–task performance relation, which has so far mostly been investigated using subjective supervisor ratings. In a sample of 174 blue-collar workers in a Mexican company, results showed that employee mindfulness was negatively related to boredom. Further, mindfulness was positively related to job satisfaction and negatively to turnover intentions, partly mediated through boredom. Mindfulness turned out to be a double-edged sword for task performance in monotonous jobs: Mindfulness was positively related to task performance quality but negatively related to quantity.

Keywords

boredom, mindfulness, monotonous jobs, task performance, job satisfaction

Discipline

Human Resources Management | Organizational Behavior and Theory

Research Areas

Organisational Behaviour and Human Resources

Publication

Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology

Volume

95

Issue

1

First Page

131

Last Page

154

ISSN

0963-1798

Identifier

10.1111/joop.12370

Publisher

Wiley

Embargo Period

9-29-2021

Copyright Owner and License

Authors

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1111/joop.12370

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