Enhancing employee resilience through Eastern spirituality and Western scientific mindfulness

Employee resilience is closely linked to well-being, happiness, and workplace performance. Many studies have suggested a connection between mindfulness and employee resilience. However, a notable distinction arises between Eastern spiritual mindfulness and Western scientific mindfulness, prompting an investigation into the specific elements of each perspective that contribute to supporting employee resilience. This study aims to clarify whether Eastern mindfulness, characterized by awareness and attention, or Western mindfulness, characterized by qualities like novelty seeking, novelty producing, and engagement, exerts a more apparent influence on enhancing employee resilience. Furthermore, it seeks to explore any correlation between Eastern spiritual mindfulness and Western scientific mindfulness. This research employs a mixed-method approach utilizing critical incident analysis to gain profound insights of mindfulness perspectives. Furthermore, it applies structural equation modeling to rigorously examine the relationship between mindfulness and employee resilience. The findings reveal a positive association between Eastern and Western mindfulness. Surprisingly, while Eastern mindfulness does not directly impact on employee resilience positively, Western mindfulness demonstrates a favorable effect on employee resilience. Moreover, Western mindfulness emerges as a mediator in the relationship between Eastern mindfulness and employee resilience. This study contributes to both theoretical and practical realm of knowledge. Additionally, it acknowledges its limitations and offers recommendations for future research.