The bright and dark sides of employee mindfulness: Leadership style and employee well‐being

Abstract In this study, we use a social information processing perspective to propose that employee mindfulness will boost the positive relationship between transformational leadership and employee well‐being and will amplify the negative relationship between abusive supervision and employee well‐being. We found, using a time‐lagged survey of 246 employees (controlling for baseline well‐being), that employee mindfulness strengthened the positive relationship between transformational leadership and psychological well‐being. Furthermore, employee mindfulness intensified the relationship between abusive supervision and employee psychological well‐being. This study shows the benefits of employee mindfulness in certain contexts and reveals one potential dark side of mindfulness at work. We conclude with a general discussion of this study and outline future directions for research.