An Investigation on the Relationship of Informal Mindfulness Exercises on State Mindfulness and Well-being

Abstract

In this study, the researcher and his colleagues both developed and executed an informal mindfulness exercise for seven days. The aim of the study was to investigate, if an informal mindfulness exercise has a positive effect on the participants’ state mindfulness and well-being and if the participants were more affected when they are older. Informal mindfulness exercises are easy to implement into daily life and are cost-efficient as well. The study was internet-based with a sample of 137 participants, who were randomly allocated to the informal mindfulness condition or the control condition. Analysis of the data was conducted with a mixed ANOVA design and did not support the expectations of the researcher. The informal mindfulness exercise did not significantly increase either levels of state-mindfulness or well-being in the participants. A general significant effect over time from pre-assessment to post-assessment was found for state mindfulness (p= 0.001 and well-being (p= 0.0) in both the mindfulness condition and the control condition. In the present studies various limitations like a directive formulation of the recruitment text, attrition bias, selection bias, a rather short testing time and an unbalanced sample were found. For further investigation on the effects of state-mindfulness and well-being it is recommended to overcome these limitations.