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The Light and the Dark of Mindful Social Capital: Right Mindfulness and Social Capital Development
Author(s) -
Burton Nicholas,
Vu Mai Chi
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
european management review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.784
H-Index - 32
eISSN - 1740-4762
pISSN - 1740-4754
DOI - 10.1111/emre.12427
Subject(s) - mindfulness , social capital , individual capital , psychology , sociology , social psychology , spirituality , conversation , public relations , economic capital , political science , human capital , economics , social science , psychotherapist , economic growth , medicine , alternative medicine , communication , pathology
Despite the literatures on spirituality and social capital development remaining largely disconnected, we address how right mindfulness encourages organizational‐level social capital. We connect the philosophical foundations of ‘right mindfulness’ to bonding and bridging social capital, and the structural, relational and cognitive dimensions of social capital. We conclude that a skilful approach to right mindfulness, coupled with organizational learning heuristics, has much to offer the conversation on social capital development, and yet its potential has not been fully recognized. Despite this promise, we draw attention to a ‘dark side’ to the co‐optation by organizations of mindfulness practices and draw some further boundary conditions. We argue that a secular interpretation of right mindfulness limits its potential in organizational contexts. We conclude with managerial implications and pathways for future research .