Are Mindful Employees Less Stressed at Work? The Impact of Mindfulness on Perceived Workplace Stress and the Moderating Role of Social Support
Alexia-Ana Alexandrescu
Studia Doctoralia November 28, 2025 DOI: 10.47040/sdpsych.v16/2.187 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Cross-sectional study Longitudinal Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 182 |
| Population | Employees |
| Measures | Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory, Social Provisions Scale, Work Stress Questionnaire |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | Mindfulness and social support each negatively predicted stress, and social support moderated the mindfulness–stress relationship, suggesting that higher mindfulness and social support are associated with lower stress. |
Abstract
The present study aimed to investigate whether the role trait mindfulness (the general tendency to be present) decreases the stress level, where social support moderates this relationship. Stress has harmful effects on mental and physical health as well as productivity at work, being one of the main triggers for these problems. At the same time, mindfulness can mitigate these effects. However, few studies have tested the moderating role of social support and the empirical role of the awareness trait in this process. A sample of 182 employees participated in this cross-sectional study by completing a research questionnaire consisting of the Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory, the Social Provisions Scale, and the Work Stress Questionnaire. It was observed that mindfulness and social support are significant negative predictors of stress, indicating that higher levels of the two variables predict lower stress levels. At the same time, social support was found to moderate the relationship between mindfulness and stress. These results emphasize the importance of integrating mindfulness programs alongside strategies to improve social support in the workplace. Future research should use a longitudinal design to observe the relationship between these long-term variables and the use of a possible mediating variable..
Comparable studies
Other cross-sectional and survey studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Construct Validity of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire in Meditating and Nonmeditating Samples Experienced meditators and nonmeditating comparison groups | 2008 | Cross-sectional study | |
| Neural Correlates of Dispositional Mindfulness During Affect Labeling Adult participants | 2007 | Observational cross-sectional | n = 27 |
| Assessing mindfulness in children and adolescents: Development and validation of the Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM). School-aged children and adolescents | 2011 | Cross-sectional validation study | n = 1,413 |
| Mindfulness and self-compassion as predictors of psychological wellbeing in long-term meditators and matched nonmeditators Experienced meditators and demographically matched nonmeditators | 2012 | Cross-sectional study | n = 152 |
| Mechanisms of Action in the Inverse Relationship Between Mindfulness and Psychological Distress Undergraduates | 2008 | Cross-sectional, correlational |