HOW MINDFULNESS ENHANCES INNOVATIVE WORK BEHAVIOR AMONG HEALTHCARE EMPLOYEES IN PAKISTAN: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF THRIVING AT WORK AND THE MODERATING ROLE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL EMPOWERMENT

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of mindfulness on innovative work behavior among healthcare employees in Pakistan, while examining the mediating role of thriving at work and the moderating role of psychological empowerment. Drawing on the Socially Embedded Model of Thriving at work and the Broaden-and-Build Theory of positive emotions, the study proposes a moderated mediation framework to explain how individual psychological resources translate into innovative outcomes in high-stress healthcare settings. The nature of the study is quantitative, cross-sectional, while data collected from healthcare professionals working in public and private hospitals in Peshawar, Pakistan.  Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was employed to test the hypothesized relationships. The results reveal that mindfulness has a significant positive effect on IWB, both directly and indirectly through thriving at work. Thriving at work characterized by vitality and continuous learning was found to partially mediate this association, indicating that mindful employees are more likely to experience psychological growth, which in turn fosters innovation. Furthermore, psychological empowerment significantly moderates the relationship between thriving at work and innovative work behavior, such that the relationship is stronger when employees perceive higher levels of autonomy, competence, and impact. The findings also confirm a significant moderated mediation effect, suggesting that the indirect influence of mindfulness on innovative work behavior via thriving is contingent upon the level of psychological empowerment. This study contributes to the literature by integrating mindfulness, thriving, and empowerment into a unified framework and extending their application to the healthcare sector in a developing country context. Practically, the findings highlight the importance of fostering mindfulness, promoting employee thriving, and enhancing empowerment to stimulate innovation and improve healthcare service delivery.