The effect of mindfulness, deliberate mind wandering, and spontaneous mind wandering on employee creativity: The mediating roles of grit and creative process engagement

Abstract

Creativity always stands as an important factor across numerous fields. It is not exclusively defined by great, monumental inventions, but can also manifest as solutions and problem-solving approaches that appear in daily life, especially in the workplace context. This study specifically investigates how cognitive and psychological factors affect employee creativity, including mindfulness, deliberate mind wandering, and spontaneous mind wandering. Furthermore, the research also evaluates the mediating roles of grit and creative process engagement. This study conducted a survey with 335 employees working at organizations and companies in Ho Chi Minh City, and the collected data was then processed using SPSS 20 and SmartPLS 3 software. The results reveal direct effects of mindfulness on grit and creative process engagement, a direct effect of deliberate mind wandering on creative process engagement, and direct effects of grit and creative process engagement on employee creativity. Consequently, the mediating role of grit between mindfulness and employee creativity was explored. In addition, the indirect effects of mindfulness, and deliberate mind wandering on employee creativity were also found through creative process engagement. Based on these findings, the study offered theoretical contributions, as well as managerial implications for fostering employee creativity.