Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Mindfulness: Investigating a Potential Resource for Resilience Against Workplace Ego Depletion

Lyddy, Christopher J.

Abstract Details

2016, Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, Organizational Behavior.
Mindfulness, the psychological quality of enhanced and accepting present-moment attention often cultivated via meditation, has been increasingly linked to effective individual self-regulation in organizational contexts. In particular, it may help avert ego depletion, a temporary inability to resist maladaptive impulses that undermine goal realization. Ego depletion may be particularly likely and harmful in adverse organizational environments that demand and drain self-control resources. To explore whether mindfulness practices may act as a resource helping to avert ego depletion, I conducted two studies of individuals facing workplace adversity. An interview study of 26 health system workers receiving mindfulness training revealed that their routine and extraordinary challenges, including Hurricane Sandy recovery, provoked widespread dysregulation. Within this environment, mindfulness provided a portfolio of psychological resources that helped avert ego depletion. A laboratory study of 117 college students demonstrated that mindfulness diminished ego depletion while facing the workplace challenge of negative performance feedback. Randomly assigning brief mindfulness practice prior to receiving negative feedback averted self-esteem loss and associated ego depletion. Jointly, these studies provide evidence that mindfulness confers psychological resources that mitigate ego depletion and foster self-control while facing workplace adversity. These findings have implications for understanding of self-regulation, resilience, and compassion within organizations.
John Paul Stephens (Committee Chair)
Ronald Fry (Committee Member)
Cooperrider David (Committee Member)
Heath Demaree (Committee Member)
208 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Lyddy, C. J. (2016). Mindfulness: Investigating a Potential Resource for Resilience Against Workplace Ego Depletion [Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1467983613

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Lyddy, Christopher. Mindfulness: Investigating a Potential Resource for Resilience Against Workplace Ego Depletion. 2016. Case Western Reserve University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1467983613.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Lyddy, Christopher. "Mindfulness: Investigating a Potential Resource for Resilience Against Workplace Ego Depletion." Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1467983613

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)