Another benefit of mindfulness: Ethical behaviour

Öz

Severe ethical lapses have damaged the reputation of established corporations in the last decade worldwide. This study aims to investigate the relationship between mindfulness and ethical behaviour. Mindfulness refers to being here and now. Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory was translated into Turkish and used for measuring mindfulness. Ethical Behaviour was assessed with Ethical Behaviour Rating Scale. Data were gathered from 250 white collar employees working in İstanbul. Results indicate that mindfulness has significant relationships with ethical behaviour. This study provides a unique theoretical contribution by examining the link between mindfulness and ethical behaviour among white collar employees. Since mindfulness is a skill, cultivating employee’s mindfulness through training programs is among the practical suggestions.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Mindfulness,Ethical Behaviour,Acceptance,Awareness,Moral life

Kaynakça

1. Allen, T. D., & Kiburz, K. M. (2012). Trait mindfulness and work-family balance among working parents: The mediating effects of vitality and sleep quality. Journal of Vocational Behaviour, 80, 372-379.
2. Baumeister, R. F., & Exline, J. J. (1999). Virtue, personality and social relations: Self-control as the moral muscle. Journal of Personality, 67, 1165-1194.
3. Baumeister R. F., & Heatherton T. F. (1996). Self-regulation failure: An overview. Psychological Inquiry, 7, 1–15.
4. Baumeister, R. F., Heatherton, T. F., & Tice, D. M. (1994). Losing control: How and why people fail at self-regulation. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
5. Baumeister, R. F., & Vohs, K. (2007). Self-regulation, ego depletion, and motivation. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 1, 1–14.
6. Bishop, S. R., Lau, M., Shapiro, S., Carlson, L., Anderson, N. D., Segal, Z. V., Abbey, S., Speca, M., Velting, D., & Devins, G.(2004). Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 11(3), 230-241.
7. Blasi, A. (1980). Bridging moral cognition and moral action: A critical review of literature. Psychological Bulletin, 88, 1-45.
8. Brown, K. W., & Ryan, R. M. (2003).The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role of psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 822-848.

9. Brown, K. W., Ryan, R. M., & Creswell, J. D. (2007). Mindfulness: Theoretical foundations and evidence for its salutary effects. Psychological Inquiry, 18(4), 211-237.
10. Buchheld, N., Grossman, P., & Walach, H. (2001). Measuring mindfulness in insight meditation and meditation - based psychotherapy: The development of Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory (FMI). Journal for Meditation and Meditation Research, 1, 11-34.
11. Carver, C. S., & Scheier, M. F. (1982). Control theory: A useful conceptual framework for personality-social, clinical, and health psychology. Psychological Bulletin, 92(1), 111-135. DOI: 10.1037/0033-2909.92.1.111
12. Chiu R. K. (2003). Ethical judgment and whistleblowing intention: examining the moderating role of locus of control. Journal of Business Ethics, 43, 65–74.
13. Cova, F., Deonna, J., & Sander, D. (2015). Introduction: moral emotions. Topoi, 34, 397-400.
14. Haidt, J. (2003). The moral emotions. In Davidson J. R. Scherer, K. R., Goldsmith, H. H. (Eds). Handbook of Affective Sciences. Oxford University Press, Oxford
15. Hill, G., & Swanson, H. L. (1985). Construct validity and reliability of the ethical behaviour scale. Educational and Pscyhological Measurement, 45, 285-292.
16. Hogan, R. (1973). Moral conduct and moral character: A psychological perspective. Psychological Bulletin, 79, 217-232.
17. Hollis-Walker, L., & Colosimo, K. (2011). Mindfulness, self-compassion and happiness in non-mediators: A theoretical and empirical examination. Personality and Individual Differences, 50, 222-227.
18. Hülsheger, U. R., Alberts, H. J. E. M., Feinholdt, A., & Lang, J. W. B. (2013). Benefits of mindfulness at work: The role of mindfulness in emotion regulation, emotional exhaustion, and job satisfaction. Journal of Applied Psychology, 98, 310-325.
19. Hülsheger, U. R., Lang, J. W. B., Depenbrock, F., Fehrmann, C., Zijlstra, F., & Alberts, H. J. E. M. (2014). The power of presence: The role of mindfulness at work for daily levels and change trajectories of psychological detachment and sleep quality. Journal of Applied Psychology, 99, 1113-1128.
20. Hyland, T. (2015). On the contemporary applications of mindfulness: some implications for education. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 49(2). Jankowski, T., & Holas, P. (2014). Metacognitive model of mindfulness. Consciousness and Cognition, 28, 64-80.
21. Kabat-Zinn, J. (1990). Full catastrophe living: Using the wisdom of your body and mind to face stress, pain and illness. New York: Delacorte. Kabat-Zinn, J. (2005). Coming to our senses: Healing ourselves and the world through mindfulness. New York: Hyperion.
22. Kapıkıran, N. A. (2007). Üniversite öğrencilerinde ahlaki davranışın empatik eğilim ve kendini ayarlama açısından incelenmesi. Türk Psikolojik Danışma ve Rehberlik Dergisi, 3(28).
23. Kohlberg, L. (1981). The philosophy of moral development: Moral stages and the idea of justice. San Francisco: Harper & Row.
24. Lakey, C. E., Campbell, W. K., Brown, K. W., & Woodie, A. S. (2007). Dispositional mindfulness as a predictor of the severity of gambling outcomes. Personality and Individual Differences, 43, 1698-1710.
25. Mead, N. L., Baumeister, R. F., Gino, F., Schweitzer, M. E., & Ariely, D. (2009). Too tired to tell the truth: Self-control resource depletion and dishonesty. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45, 594-597.
26. Pan, Y., & Sparks, J. R. (2012). Predictors, consequence, and measurement of ethical judgments: Review and meta-analysis. Journal of Business Research, 65, 84-91.
27. Reb, J., Narayanan, J., & Ho, Z. W. (2015). Mindfulness at work: Antecedents and consequences of employee awareness and absent-mindedness. Mindfulness, 6(1), 111-122.
28. Ruedy, N. E., & Schweitzer, M. E. (2010). In the moment: The effect of mindfulness on ethical decision making. Journal of Business Ethics, 95(1), 73-87.
29. Ryan, R. M., Huta, V., & Deci, E. L. (2008). Living well: A self-determination theory perspective on Eudaimonia. Journal of Happiness Studies, 9, 139-170. Schanker, S. (2016). Self-reg: Self-regulation vs self-control. Retrieved in 22/04/2017 from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/self-reg/201607/self-reg-self-regulation-vs-self-control.
30. Shapiro, S. L, Jazaieri, H., & Goldin, P. R. (2012): Mindfulness-based stress reduction effects on moral reasoning and decision making. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 1-12, DOI:10.1080/17439760.2012.723732.
31. Swaidan Z., Vitell S. J., & Rawwas M.Y.A. (2003). Consumer ethics: determinants of ethical beliefs of African Americans. Journal of Business Ethics, 46, 175–86.
32. Teasdale, J. D., Segal Z., & Williams J. M. G. (1995). How does cognitive therapy prevent depressive relapse and why should attentional control (mindfulness) training help. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 33, 25–39.
33. Troyer, J. A. (2011). Level of consciousness: Reframing our understanding of individual differences in learning. International Conference on Education and Educational Psychology, 12, 290-299.
34. Vallabh, P., & Singhal, M. (2014). Buddhism and decision-making at individual, group and organizational levels. Journal of Management Development, 33, 8-9.
35. Walach, H., Buchheld, N., Buttenmuller, V., Kleinknecht, N., & Schmidt, S. (2006). Measuring mindfulness-The Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory (FMI). Personality and Individual Differences, 40, 1543–1555
36. Williams, M., & Kabat-Zinn, J. (2011). Mindfulness: Diverse perspectives on its meanings, origins and multiple applications at the intersection of science and dharma. Contemporary Buddhism, 12(1), 1-18.
37. Wittmann M., Peter J., Gutina O., Otten S., Kohls N., Meissner K. (2014). Individual differences in self-attributed mindfulness levels are related to the experience of time and cognitive self-control. Personality and Individual Differences 64 41–45 10.1016/j.paid.2014.02.011.
38. Yam, K. C., Chen, X. P., & Reynolds, S. J. (2014). Ego depletion and its paradoxical effects on ethical decision making. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 124, 204-214.
39. Zeidan, F., Johnson, S. K., Diamond, B. J., David, Z., & Goolkasian, P. (2010). Mindfulness Meditation Improved Cognition: Evidence of Brief Mental Training. Consciousness and Cognition, 19, 597-605.
40. Zhang, J., & Wu, C. (2014). The influence of dispositional mindfulness on safety behaviours: A dual process perspective. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 70, 24-32.