Driver of discontent or escape vehicle: the affective consequences of mindwandering

Kevin Brown,Raymond A. Mar,Malia F. Mason,Jonathan Smallwood

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00477

Abstract

An emerging body of evidence suggests that our penchant for entertaining thoughts that are unrelated to ongoing activities might be a detriment to our emotional wellbeing. In light of this evidence, researchers have posited that mindwandering is a cause rather than a manifestation of discontent. We review the evidence in support of this viewpoint. We then consider this evidence in a broader context—with regards to mindwandering's antecedents, respecting the observation that people frequently find pleasure in their off-task moments, and in light of the lay beliefs people hold about its causes. We report data from two studies that speak to the potential challenges of establishing a definitive causal link between mindwandering and wellbeing. First, to advance the idea that mindwandering can convey affective benefits, in spite of negative feelings about mental disengagement, we examined cortical responses in a unique individual who presents with a long history of excessive—but enjoyable—task-irrelevant thinking. Second, to explore the idea that lay beliefs about mindwandering may substantially color the affective responses people have to a mindwandering episode, we surveyed people's beliefs about mindwandering's antecedents and related them to the affective reactions people anticipated to off-task moments. Our hope is to provide a nuanced evaluation of the available evidence for the assertion that mindwandering causes unhappiness, and to provide a clear direction forward to better evaluate this possibility.

Highlights

People spend an estimated one third to one half of their waking lives mindwandering (Kane et al, 2007; Killingsworth and Gilbert, 2010)
We certainly agree mindwandering can be a source of discontent, we suggest its relationship with wellbeing may be complex
Smallwood and colleagues have documented a positive correlation between dysphoria and frequent mindwandering across a wide range of cognitive tasks, including word learning (Smallwood et al, 2003, 2004b), sustained attention (Smallwood et al, 2004a), and simple word-fragment completion (Smallwood et al, 2004b)

Summary

Introduction

People spend an estimated one third to one half of their waking lives mindwandering (Kane et al, 2007; Killingsworth and Gilbert, 2010). Smallwood and colleagues have documented a positive correlation between dysphoria and frequent mindwandering across a wide range of cognitive tasks, including word learning (Smallwood et al, 2003, 2004b), sustained attention (Smallwood et al, 2004a), and simple word-fragment completion (Smallwood et al, 2004b) In light of these associations, a key challenge researchers confront moving forward is determining the directionality of any causal relationship that might exist between mindwandering and negative affect. Smallwood and colleagues argue that negative moods diminish the amount of attention people commit to an ongoing task, giving way to task-irrelevant thoughts regarding personal concerns (Smallwood et al, 2005, 2007, 2009a,b see Power and Dalgleish, 1997; Teasdale, 1999) and past events (Smallwood and O’Connor, 2011). Does compelling evidence of the reverse causal relationship exist: How much confidence should we place in the claim that mindwandering directly diminishes feelings of well-being?

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion