Achieving triple dividend through mindfulness: More sustainable consumption, less unsustainable consumption and more life satisfaction

Abstract

The present study makes a novel attempt to demonstrate a possible relation between mindfulness, sustainable consumption pattern, unsustainable consumption pattern and life satisfaction. A survey based on self-administered questionnaires was conducted on a sample of 420 participants. The results revealed that mindfulness is positively related to green purchase intention, social conscious purchasing and frugal purchasing behavior. This suggests that mindfulness generates a sense of care for self, nature and society that reflect in their respective consumption behaviors. Fulfilling the second purpose, mindfulness displayed a negative relation with materialism. This indicates that since mindfulness generates a sense of care for nature and society, individuals with greater mindfulness are less likely to engage in unsustainable consumption patterns. Furthermore, green purchase intention, social conscious purchasing and materialism showed a relationship with life satisfaction and significantly mediated the relationship between mindfulness and satisfaction with life. Understanding the beneficial effects of mindfulness in enhancing sustainable lifestyles, reducing materialistic tendencies and consequently having a relationship with life satisfaction, imply that mindfulness can be helpful in providing ‘triple dividend’.