Abstract
Drawing on interaction ritual theory, this study investigates the role of mindfulness and chit-chat at work in shaping job engagement and quiet quitting among hospitality employees in the USA. Utilizing three waves of data collection, results fully support the hypotheses, such that mindfulness enhanced job engagement, and chit-chat at work strengthened employees’ engagement with low mindfulness. Higher levels of job engagement, in turn, were linked to lower levels of quiet quitting, mediating the relationship between mindfulness and quiet quitting. Additionally, the moderating effect of chit-chat was significant, influencing how mindfulness indirectly reduced quiet quitting via job engagement. These findings underscore the importance of mindfulness and social interaction at work in fostering employee engagement and reducing quiet quitting in the hospitality industry.
•This study used a three-wave design and collected 249 valid employee responses.•Interaction ritual theory is applied as theoretical support for hypotheses.•Employee mindfulness enhances job engagement, which reduces quiet quitting.•Chit-chat at work supports employees with low mindfulness on job engagement.•A significant moderated mediation effect was found with chit-chat as the moderator.