Abstract
We examine whether mindfulness can neutralize the negative impact of COVID-19 stressors on employees' sleep duration and work engagement. In Study 1, we conducted a field experiment in Wuhan, China during the lockdown between February 20, 2020, and March 2, 2020, in which we induced state mindfulness by randomly assigning participants to either a daily mindfulness practice or a daily mind-wandering practice. Results showed that the sleep duration of participants in the mindfulness condition, compared with the control condition, was less impacted by COVID-19 stressors (i.e., the increase of infections in the community). In Study 2, in a 10-day daily diary study in the United Kingdom between June 8, 2020, and June 19, 2020, we replicate our results from Study 1 using a subjective measure of COVID-19 stressors and a daily measure of state mindfulness. In addition, we find that mindfulness buffers the negative effect of COVID-19 stressors on work engagement mediated by sleep duration. As the COVID-19 pandemic is ongoing and the number of reported cases continues to rise globally, our findings suggest that mindfulness is an evidence-based practice that can effectively neutralize the negative effect of COVID-19 stressors on sleep and work outcomes. The findings of the present study contribute to the employee stress and well-being literature as well as the emerging organizational research on mindfulness.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Frontiers in Psychology |
Volume | 11 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2020 |
Corresponding author email
jayanth.narayanan@nus.edu.sgProject name
Ministry of Education, SingaporeProject sponsor
OtherProject No.
T1 17/2019/115Keywords
- COVID-19 stressors
- employee sleep
- mindfulness
- organizational behavior
- work engagement
Indexed by
- Scopus
- SSCI
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Zheng, X., Lu, Y., Yao, J., Masters-Waage, T. C., Tan, N., & Narayanan, J. (2020). Stay Mindful and Carry on: Mindfulness Neutralizes COVID-19 Stressors on Work Engagement via Sleep Duration. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.610156