Relationships between mindfulness, self-control, and psychological functioning

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether dispositional mindfulness (the tendency to be mindful in general daily life) accounts for variance in psychological symptoms and wellbeing after accounting for the influence of dispositional self-control (the tendency to be self-disciplined, reliable, hardworking, etc.). A large sample of undergraduate students (N = 280) completed self-report measures of mindfulness, self control, psychological wellbeing, and general psychological distress (depression and anxiety, and stress). As expected, both mindfulness and self-control were positively correlated with wellbeing and negatively correlated with general distress. Mindfulness was found to account for significant variance in psychological wellbeing and general distress after accounting for self-control. In addition, mindfulness was a significant moderator of the relationship between self-control and psychological symptoms. Results show that although self-control predicts significant variance in psychological health, mindfulness predicts incremental variance, suggesting that a mindful approach to ongoing experience can contribute to mental health in persons who are highly self-disciplined and hardworking.

Introduction

Dispositional self control has been described as the ability to regulate or override one’s thoughts, emotions, and action tendencies in order to behave consistently with goals, requirements, rules, or standards, even when feeling a strong urge or inclination to do something else (Baumeister, Galliot, DeWall, & Oaten, 2006). People who are high in dispositional self-control tend to be disciplined, reliable, and hardworking. The general capacity for self control is associated with numerous forms of adaptive functioning, including academic achievement, self-esteem, interpersonal skills, satisfying relationships, secure attachment, and positive emotions; and negatively associated with symptoms such as anxiety, depression, binge eating, and alcohol abuse (Tangney, Baumeister, & Boone, 2004).

Mindfulness is a way of paying attention to what is taking place in the present moment (Kabat-Zinn, 1982). It includes observation or awareness of internal and external experiences in a nonjudgmental, accepting, and open way. Although mindfulness can be cultivated through meditation and behavioral skills training (see Keng, Smoski, & Robins, 2011, for a review), mindfulness has also been conceptualized as a trait-like or dispositional characteristic that varies naturally in the general population, even without mindfulness training (Brown & Ryan, 2003). Many studies have shown that the self-reported tendency to be mindful in daily life is positively correlated with psychological health and wellbeing and negatively correlated with psychological symptoms and distress.

The benefits of mindfulness are often conceptualized in terms of self-regulation or self-control. The attention and awareness that are central to mindfulness are also believed to be essential for detecting discrepancies between current states or levels of functioning; recognition of such discrepancies, in turn, prompts behavior intended to reduce the discrepancies (Brown et al., 2007, Feltman et al., 2009). People who are high in dispositional mindfulness also tend to observe their thoughts and feelings without reacting to them in maladaptive ways and therefore are better able to behave constructively even when unpleasant thoughts and feelings are present (Hayes, Strosahl, & Wilson, 1999).

Recent research shows that mindfulness and self control, when conceptualized as dispositional variables and measured with self-report instruments, are strongly correlated with each other (Fetterman, Robinson, Ode, & Gordon, 2010) as well as with adaptive functioning. However, mindfulness and self-control have rarely been examined in a single study, and it is not clear whether they account for distinct or overlapping variance in psychological symptoms and wellbeing. Masicampo and Baumeister (2007) suggested that the benefits of mindfulness might be entirely attributable to self-control and argued that the incremental validity of mindfulness over self-control in predicting adaptive functioning has not been established.

The primary objective of the present study, therefore, was to investigate whether dispositional mindfulness (the tendency to be mindful in general daily life) accounts for variance in psychological symptoms and wellbeing after accounting for the influence of self-control (the tendency to be self-disciplined, hardworking, reliable, etc.). If the benefits of mindfulness are attributable to the higher levels of self-control associated with attention and awareness, then dispositional mindfulness should not predict significant variance in psychological health after accounting for self control. On the other hand, commonly used measures of mindfulness and self control (described later) appear to have distinct content, suggesting that they may account for independent variance in psychological health; this possibility has not previously been investigated.

We also reasoned that, if mindfulness and self-control account for independent variance in adaptive functioning, then mindfulness might be a moderator of the relationship between self control and psychological adjustment. People who are high in self control but low in mindfulness might be disciplined and hardworking but lacking in the accepting and nonjudgmental qualities central to mindfulness. This combination of characteristics might contribute to lower wellbeing despite high goal achievement. In contrast, people who are high in both self control and mindfulness might be disciplined and hardworking but also less judgmental and reactive to their internal experiences, and therefore better adjusted.

In accordance with this reasoning, we tested three hypotheses. The first was that mindfulness would be positively correlated with self control and that both mindfulness and self control would be positively correlated with wellbeing and negatively correlated with psychological symptoms. The second hypothesis was that mindfulness would account for significant variance in psychological wellbeing and symptoms after accounting for self control. The third hypothesis was that mindfulness would moderate the relationship between self control and psychological health.