Meditate to Create: How mindfulness reduces competition-induced pressure to stimulate creativity

Even though past work has shown that mindfulness can reduce stress and enhance work-related outcomes, it remains unclear whether mindfulness is at odds with or complementary to other typical aspects of the modern work environment, such as competition. We propose that mindfulness and competition can function in a complementary way to stimulate creativity. Building on mindful self-regulation and creativity theory, we hypothesize that mindfulness can reduce the pressure employees experience when they have to compete against one another, which in turn, stimulates creativity. We tested our moderated mediation model in two studies. Evidence converged to demonstrate that a short mindfulness induction can reduce the pressure experienced in competitive situations. Furthermore, mindfulness allays the pressure-inducing effects of competition and allows creativity to flourish. These studies provide a theoretically-grounded explanation for a complementary relationship between competition and mindfulness and contribute...