Poster Presentation 6th World Congress on Positive Psychology 2019

Thriving In The Face Of Incivility And The Buffering Role Of Mindfulness (#581)

Zen Goh 1 , Helen De Cieri 1 , Nathan Eva 1 , Gavin Jack 1 , Kohyar Kiazad 1
  1. Monash Business School, Monash University, Caulfield, VICTORIA, Australia

The Socially Embedded Model of thriving posits that thriving at work, a positive psychological state characterized by a sense of vitality and learning, is highly influenced by the positive aspects of one’s social contextual features at work. We extend this model by examining the impact of negative workplace social interactions, and how being mindful can attenuate those effects. Bridging Affect Work Events Theory and Conservation of Resources theory, we hypothesize that the unpleasant experience of incivility depletes emotional resources and promotes disengagement, leading to reduced thriving. However, being mindful reduces one’s reaction to incivility, and thus protects one from burnout. We hypothesized and tested a moderated mediation model using a two-wave study, separated by 5 days, with a sample of 177 working adults, linking incivility (a low-level form of deviance that violates workplace norms for respect) and thriving at work through burnout. Results support the mediating mechanisms of emotional exhaustion and disengagement and the moderating effect of mindfulness on both mediators, but do not support a moderated mediation model.