Social Interactions at Work: Can a More Forgiving Attitude Explain the Association Between a Growth Mindset and Employee Job Satisfaction?

Abstract

Job satisfaction has been broadly studied in work and organizational contexts. Its contribution to employees’ health and well-being is indisputable. However, the ways employees’ mindsets are associated with job satisfaction have yet to be discovered. A growth mindset has been found to be significantly associated with great number of work-related outcomes. Taking that into account, this study examines whether the is an association between growth mindset and job satisfaction, and whether this association is mediated by more positive attitudes toward forgiveness. For this purpose, a cross-sectional study was conducted measuring job satisfaction, growth mindset and attitudes toward forgiveness. Results from this survey (N = 188) neither provide evidence that growth mindset is associated with employees’ attitudes toward forgiveness and job satisfaction, nor that attitudes toward forgiveness mediate the association between employees’ job satisfaction and a growth mindset. Nevertheless, this study has implications regarding how growth mindset, forgiveness, and job satisfaction may be more efficiently measured in future research.