How “slacking off” sparks innovation: Evidence from a scenario experiment and a survey study on curvilinear mediation of recovery experience

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1041.2025.0135

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XU Shiyong, YANG Chunmeng, LI Chaoping, LI Hairong. (2025). How “slacking off” sparks innovation: Evidence from a scenario experiment and a survey study on curvilinear mediation of recovery experience. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 57(1), 135-151.

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URL: https://journal.psych.ac.cn/acps/EN/10.3724/SP.J.1041.2025.0135

https://journal.psych.ac.cn/acps/EN/Y2025/V57/I1/135

Figures/Tables 6

Figure 1. The theoretical model.

Figure 1. The theoretical model.

Table 1 Descriptive statistics and correlations among study variables for Study 1

Variable	Mean	SD	1	2	3	4	5	6
1. Gender	—	—
2. Age	33.29	5.58	−0.19^*
3. Education	3.99	0.51	0.12	−0.11
4. Tenure	7.22	4.67	−0.10	0.36^***	−0.04
5. Time theft	1.99	0.82	−0.01	0.07	−0.04	0.03
6. Recovery experience	4.38	1.12	−0.03	0.10	0.00	−0.03	0.62^***
7. Mindfulness	4.81	0.92	−0.06	−0.03	0.14	−0.12	0.11	0.06

Table 1 Descriptive statistics and correlations among study variables for Study 1

Variable	Mean	SD	1	2	3	4	5	6
1. Gender	—	—
2. Age	33.29	5.58	−0.19^*
3. Education	3.99	0.51	0.12	−0.11
4. Tenure	7.22	4.67	−0.10	0.36^***	−0.04
5. Time theft	1.99	0.82	−0.01	0.07	−0.04	0.03
6. Recovery experience	4.38	1.12	−0.03	0.10	0.00	−0.03	0.62^***
7. Mindfulness	4.81	0.92	−0.06	−0.03	0.14	−0.12	0.11	0.06

Figure 2. The moderating effect of mindfulness on the relationship between time theft and recovery experience for Study 1.

Figure 2. The moderating effect of mindfulness on the relationship between time theft and recovery experience for Study 1.

Table 2 Descriptive statistics and correlations among study variables for Study 2

Variable	Mean	SD	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
1. Gender	—	—
2. Age	34.91	7.66	0.01
3. Education	4.02	0.73	0.05	−0.01
4. Tenure (by Unit)	6.71	7.28	0.03	0.74^***	0.02
5. Tenure (by Position)	6.61	6.63	0.03	0.66^***	−0.03	0.70^***
6. Micro-break	3.28	0.93	0.01	0.10^*	0.07	0.07	0.06
5. Time theft	2.63	1.06	−0.11^*	−0.00	−0.00	0.03	−0.02	0.68^***
6. Mindfulness	3.64	0.61	0.06	0.03	0.03	−0.01	−0.06	−0.35^***	−0.46^***
7. Recovery experience	3.21	0.51	−0.07	−0.03	0.15^**	−0.01	−0.01	0.29^***	0.21^***	−0.12^**
10. Innovative behavior	3.60	0.79	−0.14^**	0.12^**	0.03	0.18^***	0.16^***	0.12^**	0.11^*	−0.04	0.18^***

Table 2 Descriptive statistics and correlations among study variables for Study 2

Variable	Mean	SD	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
1. Gender	—	—
2. Age	34.91	7.66	0.01
3. Education	4.02	0.73	0.05	−0.01
4. Tenure (by Unit)	6.71	7.28	0.03	0.74^***	0.02
5. Tenure (by Position)	6.61	6.63	0.03	0.66^***	−0.03	0.70^***
6. Micro-break	3.28	0.93	0.01	0.10^*	0.07	0.07	0.06
5. Time theft	2.63	1.06	−0.11^*	−0.00	−0.00	0.03	−0.02	0.68^***
6. Mindfulness	3.64	0.61	0.06	0.03	0.03	−0.01	−0.06	−0.35^***	−0.46^***
7. Recovery experience	3.21	0.51	−0.07	−0.03	0.15^**	−0.01	−0.01	0.29^***	0.21^***	−0.12^**
10. Innovative behavior	3.60	0.79	−0.14^**	0.12^**	0.03	0.18^***	0.16^***	0.12^**	0.11^*	−0.04	0.18^***

Table 3 Hierarchical linear modeling results for Study 2

Variable		Recovery experience								Innovative behavior
		Model 1		Model 2		Model 3		Model 4		Model 5		Model 6		Model 7		Model 8
				Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE
Control variables	Gender	−0.08	0.05	−0.07	0.05	−0.08	0.05	−0.09	0.05	−0.17^***	0.05	−0.16^**	0.05	−0.15^**	0.05	−0.14^**	0.05
	Age	−0.07	0.06	−0.06	0.06	−0.08	0.06	−0.10	0.06	−0.09	0.08	−0.08	0.08	−0.06	0.08	−0.08	0.08
	Education	0.13^***	0.04	0.13^***	0.04	0.13^**	0.04	0.12^**	0.04	−0.02	0.05	0.01	0.05	0.01	0.06	0.01	0.06
	Tenure (by Unit)	−0.01	0.06	−0.01	0.06	0.00	0.06	0.03	0.06	0.19^*	0.07	0.19^*	0.07	0.19^*	0.08	0.19^*	0.08
	Tenure (by Position)	0.03	0.06	0.03	0.06	0.03	0.06	0.03	0.06	0.06	0.07	0.06	0.06	0.06	0.07	0.07	0.07
	Micro-break	0.28^***	0.06	0.28^***	0.06	0.28^***	0.06	0.26^***	0.06	0.09	0.05	0.05	0.05	0.00	0.07	0.01	0.07
Independent variables	Time theft			−0.01	0.05	0.07	0.05	0.00	0.06					0.05	0.08	0.07	0.08
Independent variables	Time theft²					−0.15^**	0.05	−0.21^**	0.06					0.03	0.05	−0.025	0.07
Mediator	Recovery experience											0.14^**	0.04	0.14^**	0.05	0.14^**	0.05
moderator	Mindfulness							0.11^*	0.05							0.05	0.07
Interaction variables	Mindfulness × Time theft							0.08	0.06							−0.07	0.06
Interaction variables	Mindfulness × Time theft²							−0.29^***	0.06							−0.02	0.08
	R²	0.11		0.11		0.13		0.15		0.07		0.08		0.09		0.09

Table 3 Hierarchical linear modeling results for Study 2

Variable		Recovery experience								Innovative behavior
		Model 1		Model 2		Model 3		Model 4		Model 5		Model 6		Model 7		Model 8
				Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE	Estimate	SE
Control variables	Gender	−0.08	0.05	−0.07	0.05	−0.08	0.05	−0.09	0.05	−0.17^***	0.05	−0.16^**	0.05	−0.15^**	0.05	−0.14^**	0.05
	Age	−0.07	0.06	−0.06	0.06	−0.08	0.06	−0.10	0.06	−0.09	0.08	−0.08	0.08	−0.06	0.08	−0.08	0.08
	Education	0.13^***	0.04	0.13^***	0.04	0.13^**	0.04	0.12^**	0.04	−0.02	0.05	0.01	0.05	0.01	0.06	0.01	0.06
	Tenure (by Unit)	−0.01	0.06	−0.01	0.06	0.00	0.06	0.03	0.06	0.19^*	0.07	0.19^*	0.07	0.19^*	0.08	0.19^*	0.08
	Tenure (by Position)	0.03	0.06	0.03	0.06	0.03	0.06	0.03	0.06	0.06	0.07	0.06	0.06	0.06	0.07	0.07	0.07
	Micro-break	0.28^***	0.06	0.28^***	0.06	0.28^***	0.06	0.26^***	0.06	0.09	0.05	0.05	0.05	0.00	0.07	0.01	0.07
Independent variables	Time theft			−0.01	0.05	0.07	0.05	0.00	0.06					0.05	0.08	0.07	0.08
Independent variables	Time theft²					−0.15^**	0.05	−0.21^**	0.06					0.03	0.05	−0.025	0.07
Mediator	Recovery experience											0.14^**	0.04	0.14^**	0.05	0.14^**	0.05
moderator	Mindfulness							0.11^*	0.05							0.05	0.07
Interaction variables	Mindfulness × Time theft							0.08	0.06							−0.07	0.06
Interaction variables	Mindfulness × Time theft²							−0.29^***	0.06							−0.02	0.08
	R²	0.11		0.11		0.13		0.15		0.07		0.08		0.09		0.09

Table 4 Instantaneous indirect effects for Study 2

Model	instantaneous indirect effect (95% CI)
Model	TT − 2 SD	TT − 1 SD	TT 0 SD	TT + 1 SD	TT + 2 SD
Main-effect model	0.05 [0.01, 0.09]	0.03 [0.01, 0.05]	0.01 [−0.003, 0.02]	−0.01 [−0.03, 0.001]	−0.03 [−0.07, −0.004]
Moderating model
Mindfulness + 1 SD	0.10 [0.03, 0.19]	0.06 [0.02, 0.10]	0.01 [−0.01, 0.02]	−0.04 [−0.08, −0.01]	−0.09 [−0.17, −0.03]
Mindfulness − 1 SD	0.01 [−0.03, 0.05]	0.001 [−0.02, 0.03]	−0.01 [−0.02, 0.01]	−0.01 [−0.04, 0.01]	−0.02 [−0.07, 0.02]
difference	0.09 [0.03, 0.18]	0.05 [0.02, 0.10]	0.01 [−0.005, 0.04]	−0.03 [−0.07, −0.001]	−0.07 [−0.14, −0.02]

Table 4 Instantaneous indirect effects for Study 2

Model	instantaneous indirect effect (95% CI)
Model	TT − 2 SD	TT − 1 SD	TT 0 SD	TT + 1 SD	TT + 2 SD
Main-effect model	0.05 [0.01, 0.09]	0.03 [0.01, 0.05]	0.01 [−0.003, 0.02]	−0.01 [−0.03, 0.001]	−0.03 [−0.07, −0.004]
Moderating model
Mindfulness + 1 SD	0.10 [0.03, 0.19]	0.06 [0.02, 0.10]	0.01 [−0.01, 0.02]	−0.04 [−0.08, −0.01]	−0.09 [−0.17, −0.03]
Mindfulness − 1 SD	0.01 [−0.03, 0.05]	0.001 [−0.02, 0.03]	−0.01 [−0.02, 0.01]	−0.01 [−0.04, 0.01]	−0.02 [−0.07, 0.02]
difference	0.09 [0.03, 0.18]	0.05 [0.02, 0.10]	0.01 [−0.005, 0.04]	−0.03 [−0.07, −0.001]	−0.07 [−0.14, −0.02]

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