Abstract
Orientations to well-being, including personal values, motives and goals regarding one’s well-being are often related to the experience of well-being. At the same time, studies show positive effects of mindfulness on well-being. It is conceivable, that the strength of the connection between well-being orientations and experiences depend on the degree of dispositional mindfulness. To explore relationships between orientations and experiences of well-being as well as the potential moderation effect of mindfulness, two cross-sectional online studies with German-speaking participants were conducted. In Study 1 (N = 414) mindfulness moderated the relationship between life of pleasure (measured by the Orientations to Happiness Scale) and life satisfaction (β = −0.10, p = 0.017) as well as the relationship between life of meaning (β = −0.10, p = 0.028). As hypothesized, mindfulness moderated the connection between life of engagement and life satisfaction (β = −0.14, p = 0.001) as well as the negative relationship between search for meaning and life satisfaction (β = 0.15, p < 0.001). In Study 2 (N = 731) none of those effects were statistically replicated. Yet, mindfulness moderated the relationship between hedonia (measured by the Hedonic and Eudaimonic Motives for Action Questionnaire) and life satisfaction (β = −0.07, p = 0.048) as well as the relationship between search for meaning and psychological well-being (β = 0.07, p = 0.015). Overall, the results show that mindfulness has no substantial moderating effect on the well-being orientations and experiences relationship. Yet, in both studies, mindfulness and well-being orientations were consistently related to well-being experiences. This points out, that both are related to the experience of well-being, but beyond that not as interacting factors.
Highlights
Mindfulness has been of interest in clinical psychology and benefits of dispositional mindfulness and mindfulness based interventions for personal well-being have been found in non-clinical contexts with empirical research (Bajaj and Pande 2016; Wenzel et al 2015)
The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with eight mindfulness factors showed insufficient fit indices on the Comparative Fit Index (CFI) and Tucker–Lewis Index (TLI), whereas the other indices were in an acceptable range (χ2 (601) = 1279.053, p < 0.001, CFI = 0.87, TLI = 0.86, Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) [90%CI] = 0.057 [0.053, 0.061], SRMR = 0.076)
The identified effect indicated that a combination of a hedonic orientation with a high dispositional mindfulness went along with lower life satisfaction
Summary
Mindfulness has been of interest in clinical psychology and benefits of dispositional mindfulness and mindfulness based interventions for personal well-being have been found in non-clinical contexts with empirical research (Bajaj and Pande 2016; Wenzel et al 2015). The eudaimonic approach includes aspects of purpose in life, feelings of connectedness, personal growth as well as contributions to society or a higher goal (Ryff and Keyes 1995). Empirical evidence suggests that the active pursuit of well-being is empirically associated with the experience of well-being (Huta 2016a; Krasko et al 2021; Ruch et al 2010). In this regard, one question is how the relationship between striving and the experience may be influenced by other psychological factors. The moderating role of mindfulness might differ in its direction, depending on the orientation
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