Abstract
Mindfulness has shown beneficial relationships with well-being and self-regulation. We aim to improve the understanding of the effects of between- and within-person differences in mindfulness when dealing with situations of motivational conflict. For this purpose, we conducted an experience sampling study with 56 university students who replied to a total of N = 1889 short questionnaires, which they received via their smartphones over a period of eight consecutive days. In addition to a state mindfulness questionnaire with the facets presence and non-judgment (focusing attention on the experience of the current action and a momentary non-judgmental stance towards these, respectively), the participants received questions about their current affective well-being and perceived intensity of want or should conflict experiences. Multi-level analyses revealed that want conflicts were predicted by both state mindfulness facets, even after momentary affect was controlled. In addition, to be non-judgmental (as a trait), and having momentary presence (as a state), related to lower intensity of should conflicts. The results suggest that being mindful might be a particularly beneficial way of dealing with daily motivational conflicts, which is an essential and frequent task of self-regulation.
Highlights
Mindfulness has shown beneficial relationships with well-being and self-regulation
One important task of self-regulation is the management of motivational conflicts (Emmons et al 1993; Grund and Fries 2012), and several studies have demonstrated that the experience of frequent and intense goal conflicts is associated with greater psychological distress (Gray et al 2017)
Because some students do not study in September and go on vacation, and “learning vs. leisure conflicts” are the most common experienced conflicts among university students, an inclusion criterion was that the participants planned to work on an important study task during the experience sampling period to ensure that motivational conflicts were likely to occur
Summary
Mindfulness has shown beneficial relationships with well-being and self-regulation. We aim to improve the understanding of the effects of between- and within-person differences in mindfulness when dealing with situations of motivational conflict. Intensive longitudinal methods (Bolger and Laurenceau 2013), such as experience sampling, make it possible to investigate mindfulness, affect, and motivational conflicts as variables, that vary across daily situations, and depend on the person with his or her specific characteristics. Presence entails attention on immediate experience (Bishop et al 2004) and nonjudgment a non-evaluative stance and composure toward these mental events. These terms are ambiguous: Presence does not imply that mindfulness excludes conscious recollection or future planning (Dreyfus 2013; Heidenreich and Michalak 2004; Rapgay and Bystrisky 2009). The non-judgment facet should not be understood as cognitively accepting or actively approving of everything (Sauer et al 2011), but rather a way to gain more flexibility in reacting toward the feelings the contact with the outside world triggers in individuals (Sauer et al 2011a)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
