Adding Mindfulness to Psychological Capital: A Two Study Investigation into why Mindfulness Matters

Abstract

Luthans (2015) and colleagues note that other dimensions might provide a useful addition to the original four dimensions of psychological capital (PsyCap) (currently encompassing Hope, Efficacy, Resilience and Optimism - HERO). We tested the potential for mindfulness being an additional fifth dimension of PsyCap over two studies. Study one was a sample of 812 New Zealand professionals towards job and life satisfaction. Findings were that while the original PsyCap and mindfulness constructs separately were significant predictors, the new PsyCap measure (combining HERO and mindfulness) was a slightly stronger predictor of both job and life satisfaction outcomes, accounting for greater overall variance. This analysis supported a five-factor higher order model, which we term PsyCap-M. In study two, we used a daily design testing 222 leaders’ PsyCap-M on daily fluctuations towards positive affect and negative affect using multi-level analysis. We find the original PsyCap alone was the dominant predictor of positive affect, while mindfulness alone was the dominant predictor of negative affect (a negative influence). However, in both models the new PsyCap-M is a stronger predictor and accounts for more variance than when PsyCap and mindfulness are entered as separate constructs. Combined, this analysis provides support for PsyCap-M as a useful approach for understanding wellbeing. We conclude that mindfulness plays a role in PsyCap and advocate for the inclusion of mindfulness into the PsyCap construct.