Can a short meditation in the evening change our understanding of others at work the next day and thereby improve an actor’s performance and motivation?
To answer this question, a research group—which includes our vivamind Managing Director, Prof. Stefan Diestel—is investigating the spillover effects of a brief evening meditation on performance in the next role, in-role performance, and work engagement, while examining perspective-taking as an explanatory mechanism. Sixty-four participants from various sectors in Germany took part in our practical field experiment over 10 days, receiving a 7-minute mindfulness intervention on 5 days and an active control intervention on the other days. Our results supported a positive effect of the mindfulness intervention on perspective-taking the following day, while the control intervention showed no effect. In turn, we measured the predicted day-specific performance in the secondary role, in-role performance, and work engagement. The mindfulness intervention had significant indirect effects on all outcomes through perspective-taking. These findings help illustrate how an evening meditation improves our understanding of others at work and enhances performance and motivation. They also help employees make an informed decision about whether they would like to meditate in the evening.
More https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2027-36689-001