Moral Development at the Workplace through Buddhist Mindfulness Meditation: A Grounded Theory Study

Abstract

This study aims to examine how Buddhist mindfulness meditation influences the ethical temperament of its practitioner at the workplace. By adopting a constructivist grounded theory approach, we found six elements of Buddhist mindfulness meditation and three mechanisms underlying the ethical temperament of the participants at the workplace. Our findings suggest that Buddhist mindfulness meditation helps practitioners pursue a spiritual purpose guided by moral principles. Moreover, it helps them to overcome temptations and pressures against moral actions and makes them sensitive to the wellbeing of others. This study advances the literature of Buddhist principles and workplace ethics by identifying the mechanism of ethical behavior at the workplace influenced by mindfulness meditation.