International Journal of Sales & Marketing Management

Research and Development (IJSMMRD)

ISSN(P): 2249-6939; ISSN(E): 2249-8044
Vol. 6, Issue 5, Oct 2016, 17-26
TJPRC Pvt. Ltd

UNDERSTANDING WORK-LIFE EFFECTIVENESS IN PRACTITIONERS AND

NON-PRACTITIONERS OF MINDFULNESS
R. K. SRIVASTAVA1, ASHISH AMBASTA2 & AYUSHI KUMAR3
1
2
3

Head of the Department, SIMSREE, Mumbai University, Mumbai, India

Director, Willis Towers Watson, College SIMSREE, Department of Psychology, Mumbai, India

Manager HR, Willis Towers Watson, Amity College, Department of Psychology, Amity College, Noida, Delhi, India

ABSTRACT
Globally the dynamics of work-life effectiveness have been changing and to cater to these changes various
interventions are being researched. In order to explore more, a meditation based practiced named mindfulness has been
linked with work-life effectiveness of the employee in this study. The researcher tried to explore the quantitative nature
of the two variables in order to develop an intervention with scientific proof which will help employees to lessen their
work-life conflicts. The research was conducted on working employee (N=100) which were further divided into
practitioners (n=50) and non-practitioners (n=50). For mindfulness Freiburg mindfulness inventory developed by
Life effectiveness questionnaire-H (L.E.Q-H) developed by James T. Neill, Herbert W. Marsh & Garry E. Richards
(2003) was administered.
The findings of the study suggests a positive relationship (r=0.93) between mindfulness and work-life
effectiveness. Further, it was found that a significant difference exists in the level of mindfulness as well as the level of
work-life effectiveness in the practitioners and non-practitioners of mindfulness. Better the mindfulness, better the
work-life effectiveness.

Original Article

Walach, Buchheld, Grossman & Schmidt (2006) was administered and for assessing the level of work-life effectiveness

KEYWORDS: Mindfulness, Work-life Effectiveness, Meditation, Spirituality, Mindfulness-Based Intervention

Received: Sep 01, 2016; Accepted: Sep 23, 2016; Published: Sep 27, 2016; Paper Id.: IJSMMRDOCT20163

INTRODUCTION
The rising concerns of the present organizational scenario related to the work-life management played a
role in opting for the present research topic. For the purpose of helping the employee effectively manage their
work and life issues, the researcher tried to correlate the role of mindfulness with work and life of an employee
and how it can help in effectively managing the two.
If you let cloudy water settle, it will become clear. If you let your upset mind settle, your course will also
become clear. (From Buddhas Little Instruction Book) (Kornfield: Bantum Books, 1994). According to Buddha,
meditation is a way to transform ones mind. By engaging with a particular meditation practice you learn the
patterns and habits of your mind, and the practice offers a means to cultivate new, more positive ways of being.
With regular work and patience these nourishing, focused states of mind can deepen into profoundly peaceful and
energized states of mind. Such experiences can have a transformative effect and can lead to a new understanding
of life.

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R. K. Srivastava, Ashish Ambasta & Ayushi Kumar

Langer (2000) defined mindfulness as a flexible state of mind in which we are actively engaged in the present,
noticing new things and sensitive to context is rooted in the theories and research.
Jon Kabat-Zinn (1994) defined mindfulness as paying attention in a particular way; On purpose, in the present
moment, and nonjudgmentally. First of all, the focus of mindfulness is on purpose. Mindfulness involves a conscious
direction of our awareness. The Purposefulness is one of the greatest aspects of mindfulness. Having the purpose of
staying with our experience, whether thats the breath, or a particular emotion, or something as simple as eating, means that
we are reactively shaping the mind.
One of the biggest problems that organizations face is employee stress. It has been rooted to be as one of the
primary problems on the organizational front. Stress cause a lot of other psychological issues like anxiety, depression,
negativity, over-thinking, judging nature and many more, a mindfulness practitioner may be vigorously able to deal with
these issues. (CHIESA AND SERRETTI, 2009)
This stress ultimately leads to some disturbing consequences which disturbs the balance between the professional
and personal life on an employee. It is important to find an effective way of managing work and life of an individual.
As the name implies, work-life effectiveness is considered to be a state of balance between an individuals professional life
and his/her personal life. The expression work-life has a lot of features and means diverse things to various people and
groups; however, the actual meaning of the phrase depends on the context in which it is being used. The concept of worklife effectiveness is based on the impression that paid professional and personal life should be viewed less as rival priorities
rather than as harmonizing elements of a complete life.
Work life effectiveness means to be effectively able to handle numerous responsibilities at work, at home, and in
various other aspects of life. It is an issue that is important both to the organizations and to employees. In the current
economic scenario, organisations are hard pressed for higher productivity and need employees with improved work-life
effectiveness as an employee with better work-life effectiveness will contribute more meaningfully towards the
organisational growth and success (Naithani, 2010). This issue has come to the fore due to multitude of changes in the
work place, in employee demographics and in the family sphere.
In order to help the employees, this study tries to establish a new intervention to better able to manage their
work-life with the help of practicing mindfulness. The objectives of the present study were to find out the effects of
mindfulness on the work-life effectiveness of the people who are presently working in the corporate sector in Indian
companies. The first objective was to study the relationship between mindfulness and work-life effectiveness. The second
objective was to understand the difference between level of mindfulness in practitioners and non-practitioners of
mindfulness. And the final objective of the study was to understand the difference between the level of work-life
effectiveness in practitioners and non-practitioners of mindfulness.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Berkel et al (2011) according to this research it was found that individuals who are more dynamically involved in
the mindfulness based practices have better work engagement at the workplace. It was also concluded that these
individuals have better self-regulation capacities, have better engagement capacities and have better coping abilities with
regard to the families.

Impact Factor (JCC): 5.9231

NAAS Rating: 3.13

Understanding Work-Life Effectiveness in Practitioners and Non-Practitioners of Mindfulness

19

Dane and Brummel (2013) did a research to inspect workplace mindfulness- the extent to which employees are
mindful at the workplace. It was hypothesised that in a vibrant work setting, workplace mindfulness is directly proportional
to job performance and inversely proportional to turnover intention and that these relationships report for variance outside
the effects of a concept occupying a parallel conceptual space called work engagement. It was found that a positive
relationship was there between job performance and workplace mindfulness that holds true even with work engagement.
A negative relationship was found between workplace mindfulness and turnover intention.
Glomb et al (2011) did a study to check the effects of mindfulness-based practices in the workplace on employee
outcome enhancement. It was proved that mindfulness-based practices improved the self-regulation of thoughts, emotions
and behaviours, which are all linked to the performance as well as employee well-being in the workplace. It was also
concluded that mindfulness helps in enhancing social relationships in the workplace as well as makes the employee more
resilient to face the challenges and ultimately increase task performance.
The effects of mindfulness have been widely studied worldwide. Similar findings were depicted in a study done
by OConnor and his colleagues (2012) suggested that practitioners scored significantly higher on conscientiousness,
agreeableness, compassionate altruism and openness to experience. As can be seen by many studies, there are various
differences which occur while practicing meditation be it any kind of meditation. Similar differences have been studied in
the present study in which the level of mindfulness of practitioners and non-practitioners is differentiated. The results also
suggest that there are significant differences in the level of mindfulness of practitioners and non-practitioners.
The brain functioning of grim practitioners is extremely altered from that of non-practitioners in ways that
advocate an increased capacity to concentrate and to deal with emotions. Neuro-imaging researches tried to find the neural
alterations produced by mindfulness practices by investigating the brain activation of proficient or extremely skilled
mindfulness practitioners (Hlzel et al., 2007) or by contrasting activation in proficient practitioners to less practised or
non-practitioners (Brefczynski-Lewis et al., 2007; Jha et al., 2007; Manna et al., 2010).

METHODS
Objectives of the Study

To study the relationship between mindfulness and work-life effectiveness.

To understand the difference between level of mindfulness in practitioners and non-practitioners of mindfulness.

To understand the difference between the level of work-life effectiveness in practitioners and non-practitioners of
mindfulness.

HYPOTHESES OF THE STUDY

A positive relationship will exist between mindfulness and work-life effectiveness.

There will be a significant difference in the level of mindfulness in practitioners and non-practitioners of
mindfulness.

There will be a significant difference in the level of work-life effectiveness in practitioners and non-practitioners
of mindfulness.

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R. K. Srivastava, Ashish Ambasta & Ayushi Kumar

SAMPLE
A total of 100 employees were asked to fill out the two forms, one related to mindfulness and one related to
work-life effectiveness. The sample of 100 was divided in terms of employee who practiced mindfulness and employees
who did not practice mindfulness. Since the effect of mindfulness was to be studied in the study, the division of
practitioners and non- practitioners was made.
The sample was randomly selected which was conveniently available to the researcher. No organization as well as
no department was targeted as such. Hence, it was a random convenient sample.

Figure 1

TOOLS
Life Effectiveness Questionnaire (Version H)
The questionnaire was developed by Neill, JT, Marsh, HW, Richards, GE in the year 2003 and was published by
University of Western Sydney. The questionnaire has 11 dimensions based on which the questions are devised
(time management, social competence, achievement motivation, intellectual flexibility, self-discipline, productive
teamwork, task leadership, emotional control, active initiative, self confidence and hardiness resourcefulness)
Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory
The FMI is a useful, valid and reliable questionnaire for measuring mindfulness. It is most suitable in generalized
contexts, where knowledge of the Buddhist background of mindfulness cannot be expected. The 14 items cover all aspects
of mindfulness. The purpose of this inventory is to characterize your experience of mindfulness.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS
The descriptive statistics used to conduct the data analysis comprised of computing the means for all the raw
scores and their standard deviations. For further computations, inferential statistics like correlation to find out the
relationship between mindfulness and work-life effectiveness was used and to compute the significant differences,
students t test was used.
Procedure
The administration of the tests was done personally. The researcher went to various organizations and requested
employees to fill out the forms. The forms were handed over to the employees and they were asked to fill out the forms as
fast and as truthfully as they can. No time limit was given. A brief conversation before starting the questionnaire was held
Impact Factor (JCC): 5.9231

NAAS Rating: 3.13

Understanding Work-Life Effectiveness in Practitioners and Non-Practitioners of Mindfulness

21

in order to make the employees comfortable. The informed consent regarding the confidentiality of the test results was
taken. They were assured that the results are only for the completion of the masters thesis of the researcher. Once the
employees were comfortable the questionnaires were handed over to them and they were asked to fill it out. After the
participants were done, they were shown gratitude.

RESULTS
Table 1(a): Showing Pearsons Correlation between
Mindfulness and Work-life Effectiveness
Variables
Correlation
Mindfulness & Work-Life Effectiveness
0.93**
**Correlation is significant at 0.01 level (2-tailed)
This table depicts that the correlation between mindfulness and work-life effectiveness came out to be 0.93 at 0.01
significance level.

Figure 2(a): Depicts the Relationship of Mindfulness and Work-life Effectiveness

The graph depicts that as the mindfulness of an employee increases, the employee is better able to manage his/her
work and life. Since, the correlation is positive, mindfulness is directly proportional to work-life effectiveness.
Table 1(b): Shows Significant Difference in Level of
Mindfulness of Practitioners and Non-practitioners
Mindfulness

Mean

Practitioners
Non-practitioners

50
50

46.84
22.80

Std.
Deviation
6.94
8.48

Mean
Difference
24.04
24.04

df

15.52

98

The mean difference came out to be 24.04 on the level of mindfulness for practitioners and non-practitioners with
t value as 15.52 and df as 98 which suggests that there is a significant difference between their means.

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R. K. Srivastava, Ashish Ambasta & Ayushi Kumar

Figure 2(b): Depicts the Significant difference in Means in the Level of

Mindfulness of Practitioners and Non-practitioners
As per the graph, the difference between the means of practitioners and non-practitioners for the level of
mindfulness turned out to be 24.04 suggesting a significant difference.
Table 1(c): Shows Significant difference in Level of Work-life Effectiveness in
Practitioners and Non-practitioners of Mindfulness
Work-life
Effectiveness
Practitioners
Non-practitioners

Mean

50
50

146.06
66.68

Std.
Deviation
24.81
35.73

Mean
Difference
79.38
79.38

df

12.90

98

The mean difference came out to be 79.38 on the level of work-life effectiveness for practitioners and non
practitioners of mindfulness with t value as 12.90 and df as 98 which suggests that there is a significant difference between
their means.

Figure 2(c): Depicts the Significant difference in Means in the Level of Work-life
Effectiveness of Practitioners and Non-practitioners of Mindfulness
As per the graph, the difference between the means of practitioners and non-practitioners for the level of work-life
effectiveness turned out to be 79.38 suggesting a significant difference.
Impact Factor (JCC): 5.9231

NAAS Rating: 3.13

Understanding Work-Life Effectiveness in Practitioners and Non-Practitioners of Mindfulness

23

DISCUSSIONS
The aim of the present study is to examine how mindfulness makes a difference in the lives of practitioners and
non-practitioners in terms of work-life effectiveness. To fulfil the aim of the present study, three objectives and three
hypotheses were formulated.
A sample of 100 employee was selected among various organizations (N=100), out of which the sample was
divided into employees who practice mindfulness meditation (N=50) and those employees who do not practice
mindfulness meditation (N=50). A single administration of both the questionnaires Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory
(FMI) and Life Effectiveness Questionnaire-H (L.E.Q-H) was done in order to obtain the scores for both the variables so
that a comparison can be done. Permission was taken from the company head and every individual in the study. Forms
were given only when all research participants willingly accepted to fill them. Every participant was required to sign the
consent form in order to participate. The signed consent forms were collected and questionnaires were administered on all
the 100 participants.
There are majorly three objectives of the present study. The first is to predict the kind of relationship between
mindfulness and work-life effectiveness. The second objective was to understand the difference between level of
mindfulness among the practitioners and non-practitioners of mindfulness. And, the final objective of the study was to
understand the difference between the level of work-life effectiveness among the practitioners and non-practitioners of
mindfulness.
As per the first formulated hypothesis which states that a positive relationship will exist between mindfulness and
work-life effectiveness. To prove this hypothesis, Pearsons correlation was calculated to observe the kind of relationship
mindfulness and work-life effectiveness has. The correlation scores have been shown in Table 1(a). The mean value of
mindfulness came out to be 34.84 and that for work-life effectiveness came out to be 106.34. Correlation value for
mindfulness and work-life effectiveness came out to be 0.93 at 0.01 level of significance. This means that as the level of
mindfulness increases in an employee, his effectiveness in work-life will so increase. It is strong relationship since the
correlation value (r=0.93) is quite close to 1. The same has been depicted in Figure 2 (a).
A negative work environment will affect the personal life of an employee and similarly a negative personal life
will affect the productivity of an employee at the workplace. Hence, in order to strike a balance, as a way out, practicing
mindfulness will help the employee to turn his/her negativity into positivity. Mindfulness has been in theory and
empirically linked with psychological health (S.-L. Keng et al, 2011).
No researches in the past have specifically showed the effect of mindfulness on work-life effectiveness across
constructs. This creates the dispute of choosing an apt meditation practice that is theoretically correlated with the
presumption of work-life effectiveness. Additionally, in work-life effectiveness context, past researches are non-existent
that uses scientific design and proper statistical computations to empirically test the outcome of mindfulness as an
intervention in terms of work-life effectiveness. Hence more research in this area is highly recommended.
This brings the second formulated hypothesis which states that there will be a significant difference in the level of
mindfulness in practitioners and non-practitioners of mindfulness. To prove this hypothesis, students t test was applied to
the raw scores that came out. The t-value came out to be 15.52 at 0.01 significance level. The mean for practitioners came
out to be 46.84 and mean for non-practitioners came out to be 22.80, which lead to a high mean difference of 24.04.
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R. K. Srivastava, Ashish Ambasta & Ayushi Kumar

This depicts that the level of mindfulness is much higher in practitioners when compared to the level of mindfulness of
non-practitioners.
The effects of mindfulness have been widely studied worldwide. Similar findings were depicted in a study done
by OConnor and his colleagues (2012) suggested that practitioners scored significantly higher on conscientiousness,
agreeableness, compassionate altruism and openness to experience. As can be seen by many studies, there are various
differences which occur while practicing meditation be it any kind of meditation. Similar differences have been studied in
the present study in which the level of mindfulness of practitioners and non-practitioners is differentiated. The results also
suggest that there are significant differences in the level of mindfulness of practitioners and non-practitioners.
The brain functioning of grim practitioners is extremely altered from that of non-practitioners in ways that
advocate an increased capacity to concentrate and to deal with emotions. Neuro-imaging researches tried to find the neural
alterations produced by mindfulness practices by investigating the brain activation of proficient or extremely skilled
mindfulness practitioners (Hlzel et al., 2007) or by contrasting activation in proficient practitioners to less practised or
non-practitioners (Brefczynski-Lewis et al., 2007; Jha et al., 2007; Manna et al., 2010).
Researches on Transcendental Meditation recommend that it may perhaps promote maturation as assessed by
measures of ego, ethical and cognitive development, intellect, educational achievement, self-actualization and states of
awareness.
The third formulated hypothesis states that there will be a significant difference in the level of work-life
effectiveness in practitioners and non-practitioners of mindfulness. To prove this hypothesis, students t test was applied to
the raw scores that came out. The t-value came out to be 12.90 at 0.01 significance level. The mean for practitioners came
out to be 146.06 and mean for non-practitioners came out to be 66.68, which lead to a high mean difference of 79.3.
This depicts that the level of work-life effectiveness is much higher in practitioners of mindfulness when compared to the
work-life effectiveness of non-practitioners of mindfulness.
In the present scenario of the corporate world, the employees are finding it hard to effectively manage their work
and life problems. It is becoming challenging for the employees to strike a proper balance and effectively manage the roles
and responsibilities of work as well as family. Hence, the researcher thought about an intervention (i.e Mindfulness) which
might be helpful in making the employee calm, composed and more attentive and sensitive towards the demands and needs
of others.
Constantly practicing mindfulness can help in improving depression levels and promotes the secretion of
serotonin coupled with monoamine oxidase (enzyme that helps in breaking neurotransmitters and cortisol). An extensive
review of literature suggests how mindfulness can help clinical patients without hampering their physiological conditions.
Meditation interventions can be widely used with clients suffering from depression, anxiety and stress specially.
Weick and Sutcliffe (2006) have noticed that when individuals get to be more aware of their work, they build up a
capability for wise decisioning and thus perform better. The normal practice of insight meditation should empower
insightful activity. General practice helps the psyche get to be all the more capable regarding having the capacity to watch
diversions and, by watching them, let them go. Since, mindfulness helps people in becoming more aware and attentive
towards the present moment, the practitioners seems to have a better work-life effectiveness.

Impact Factor (JCC): 5.9231

NAAS Rating: 3.13

Understanding Work-Life Effectiveness in Practitioners and Non-Practitioners of Mindfulness

25

Another area where mindfulness meditation has demonstrated to have solid advantages in the work environment is
concentration and focus. A recent report with scientists from Harvard, MIT, and Massachusetts General Hospital found that
after an eight-week MBSR program, members would have be having better regulation of alpha rhythms, a brain wave that
filters out distractions ( Catherine, 2011). A prior study found that as meagre as twenty minutes a day for four days brought
about a capability to maintain focus. (F. Zeidan, S. K. Johnson, et al, 2010).

CONCLUSIONS
As per the results, it was found that practicing mindfulness can better the work and life of an individual, however
by an extensive review of literature no direct research has linked mindfulness and work-life effectiveness. Hence, much
more extensive research is required. Mindfulness based interventions can reduce the stress in employees life so it can
prove to be an asset for the organization. The review of literature suggests a change in the neural functioning of the brain of
those who regularly practice meditation, a similar neuromapping can be done for the practitioners of mindfulness and the
changes can be extensively studied specially in the working employees. An extensive study using the same parameters can
be done by dividing the departments and taking employee from each department for the same genre of organizations.
On comparing the level of mindfulness and work-life effectiveness in the practitioners and non-practitioners of
mindfulness, it was found that the higher the level of mindfulness in a person, the better work-life effectiveness he/she has.
All three formulated hypothesis were found to be true according to the results. Hence, a positive relationship was observed
between mindfulness and work-life effectiveness.
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Berkel JV, Proper KL, Boot CRL, Bongers MP, Beek AJ. (2011) Mindful Vitality in Practice: an intervention to improve the
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Brefczynski-Lewis, J. A., Lutz, A., Schaefer, H. S., Levinson, D. B., & Davidson, R. J.,(2007) Neural correlates of attentional
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Chiesa, A. &Serretti, A. (2011). Mindfulness based cognitive therapy for psychiatric disorders: A systematic review and metaanalysis. Psychiatry Research, 187(3), 44.

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Keng, S. L., Smoski, M. J., & Robins, C. J. (2012) Effects of mindfulness on psychological health: A review of empirical
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10. Langer, E. J. (2000). Mindful learning. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 9, 220-223. doi:10.1111/14678721.00099
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Impact Factor (JCC): 5.9231

NAAS Rating: 3.13