Mindfulness and Next-Generation Members of Family Firms: A Source for Sustainability

Family businesses are considered complex organizations where emotional and management challenges need to be faced. This is even more difficult when time of succession arrives and the new members are expected to engage with the business. In this study, a total of 204 university students were asked about their present and future situation regarding the family business. Mindfulness levels were also evaluated using the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale. There were no significant mindfulness level differences between students who pertained to a family business and those who did not. In the first group, however, those students who were sure about their future in the family business, and had more motivation about it, obtained higher scores on the mindfulness scale as well as being more satisfied with their social relationships. It could be concluded that certainty and motivation about their future in a family business of young family business members correlates with higher mindfulness levels and social well-being.