What is the mindful personality? Implications for physical and psychological health

Abstract

Given the paucity of research examining relationships between mindfulness and specific facets of personality, we conducted detailed analyses to explore associations between personality facets, dispositional mindfulness, and health. Overall, 781 participants completed the Five Factor Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), the Big Five Inventory-2 (BFI-2) to measure personality factors and facets, and the RAND 36-Item Health Survey 1.0 (RAND-36). As expected, BFI-2 factors and facets and FFMQ subscales, except Observing, were consistently correlated. Canonical correlations of BFI-2 facets and FFMQ subscales provided two statistically significant functions. Function 1, Self-Regulation, included FFMQ Acting with Awareness, Non-Judging, and Non-Reacting, as well as BFI-2 Negative Emotionality (Anxiety, Depression, Emotional Volatility), Conscientiousness (Productiveness, Responsibility), and Extraversion (Assertiveness, Energy). Function 2, Self-Awareness, comprised of FFMQ Describing and Observing, and all facets of Open-Mindedness. A latent profile analysis produced three latent profiles: Self-Regulation was defined by higher FFMQ subscales as well as higher Extraversion (all facets), Agreeableness (all facets), Conscientiousness (all facets), and lower Negative Emotionality (all facets); Self-Dysregulation was defined by lower scores on most FFMQ subscales, BFI-2 Extraversion facet scores, Agreeableness (Trust), Conscientiousness (Productiveness), and higher Negative Emotionality facets; and, an Average profile included midrange levels of mindfulness and personality facets. Further, there were statistically significant differences in RAND-36 physical and psychological health based on the latent profiles. The novel findings examining the facet-level relationship between personality and mindfulness contribute to prior inconclusive literature. These results presenting a nuanced understanding of the association between dispositional mindfulness and personality provide preliminary information suggesting that self-regulation can affect health.