Stay Mindful and Carry on: Mindfulness Neutralizes COVID-19 Stressors on Work Engagement via Sleep Duration

Xue Zheng (First Author), Yizhen Lu (Participant Author), Jingxian Yao (Participant Author), Theodore Charles Masters-Waage (Participant Author), Noriko Tan (Participant Author), Jayanth Narayanan (Participant Author)

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal

25 Citations (Web of Science)
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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 languageEnglish
JournalFrontiers in Psychology
Volume11
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020

Corresponding author email

jayanth.narayanan@nus.edu.sg

Project name

Ministry of Education, Singapore

Project sponsor

Other

Project No.

T1 17/2019/115

Keywords

  • COVID-19 stressors
  • employee sleep
  • mindfulness
  • organizational behavior
  • work engagement

Indexed by

  • Scopus
  • SSCI

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