Buddha-like Mentality Scale – Chinese Version

Description

As the internet develops, terms like “Buddha-like” (佛系), “involution” (内卷), and “lying flat” (躺平) have emerged as hot keywords in contemporary society. These terms reflect the different mindsets and coping strategies that people adopt in response to increasingly fierce competition. Unlike the continuous internal strife of “involution” and the complete surrender of “lying flat,” “Buddha-like” seems to represent a transitional state that lies between the two extremes.

Authors and Contact Email

information not available

Purpose

In 2018, the term “Buddha-like” was recognized as one of the “Top Ten Internet Buzzwords” by the National Language Resources Monitoring and Research Center. Research indicates that a Buddha-like mentality in work contexts has a significant negative impact on employee creativity, a significant positive impact on job satisfaction, and no significant correlation with work performance. Employees with a Buddha-like mentality always ensure the quality of their work is adequate but never deliver surprising results. Despite being friendly and non-contentious, individuals with this mindset are not necessarily willing to lower their quality of life, as maintaining average work performance is a prerequisite for ensuring basic quality of life.

Test Year

2018

Administration Method and Scoring

The Buddha-like Mentality Scale (BMS) is measured using a 5-point Likert scale (1 = “Strongly Disagree,” 5 = “Strongly Agree”).

Reliability and Validity

The scale includes 18 items, with a Cronbach’s α coefficient of 0.90. It consists of four dimensions:
1. 不以为意 (α = 0.81) – Indifference
2. 安于现状 (α = 0.79) – Contentment with the Status Quo
3. 友善无争 (α = 0.84) – Friendly Non-Contentiousness
4. 顺其自然 (α = 0.86) – Going with the Flow

Factors and Subscales

– 不以为意 (Indifference)
– 安于现状 (Contentment with the Status Quo)
– 友善无争 (Friendly Non-Contentiousness)
– 顺其自然 (Going with the Flow)

Keywords

Buddha-like mindset, employee creativity, job satisfaction, work performance, workplace dynamics

Items in Chinese

1. 我在同事眼中平易近人、攻击性不强、很好相处。
2. 我不会拒绝同事的请求, 是同事眼中的“老好人”。
3. 工作中, 我会避免与人发生冲突、摩擦。
4. 工作中, 与人观点不合时, 我会妥协。
5. 工作中, 我不会与他人争论对错、输赢。
6. 工作中, 我不会主动表达自己的想法或对工作提出建议。
7. 对于工作安排, 我通常是等领导分派后再去做, 即使是自己擅长的, 也不主动争取。
8. 工作目标达成后, 我不愿投入更多精力把事情做得更好。
9. 工作中, 我认为凡事尽力而为就好, 结果好坏不重要。
10. 我不会主动参与或争取竞争上岗、评优评先等机会。
11. 我不在乎升职、加薪。
12. 我会按自己想法做事而不在意他人对我的评价。
13. 对于工作中的得失、工作任务分配、绩效分配等, 我不会斤斤计较。
14. 我对公司的激励机制感到无所谓。
15. 我对目前的工作得心应手, 不愿改变现状。
16. 工作中, 我企图心不强、不会给自己设定很高的目标。
17. 对待新的工作环境, 我认为既来之则安之。
18. 我对未来的职业发展没有规划。

Items in English

1. I am approachable, non-aggressive, and easy to get along with in the eyes of my colleagues.
2. I do not refuse colleagues’ requests and am regarded as the “nice person” by them.
3. At work, I avoid conflicts and friction with others.
4. At work, when my views differ from others, I will compromise.
5. At work, I do not argue about right or wrong, winning or losing with others.
6. At work, I do not proactively express my thoughts or make suggestions.
7. Regarding work assignments, I generally wait for leaders to assign tasks and do not actively seek opportunities, even for tasks I am good at.
8. After achieving work goals, I am unwilling to invest more effort to do things better.
9. At work, I believe that doing my best is sufficient; the outcome does not matter.
10. I do not proactively participate in or seek opportunities for competition, promotions, or recognition.
11. I do not care about promotions or salary increases.
12. I do things my way and do not care about others’ opinions of me.
13. I do not nitpick about gains and losses, task allocations, or performance distributions at work.
14. I feel indifferent towards the company’s incentive mechanisms.
15. I am comfortable with my current job and do not wish to change the status quo.
16. At work, I lack ambition and do not set high goals for myself.
17. Regarding new work environments, I believe that since I’m here, I should settle in.
18. I have no plans for my future career development.

References

information not available