Mindfulness is Associated with Better Self-Esteem and Self-Efficacy
By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.
“Given the role of mindfulness in increasing self-efficacy and reducing early maladaptive schemas, mindfulness training interventions are recommended to be used for reducing the destructive effects of early maladaptive schemas and increasing self-efficacy.” – Zohreh Hosseinzadeh
Mindfulness training has been shown to increase psychological well-being and happiness and help to relieve mental illness. A number of mechanisms of how mindfulness produces these benefits have been proposed. Many of the proposed mechanisms involve self-relate processes which require “one to evaluate or judge some feature in relation to one’s perceptual image or mental concept of oneself,” such as self-efficacy, self-esteem, and self-regulation. There is a need for more research on the relationships of mindfulness with self-esteem and self-efficacy.
In today’s Research News article “The Mindful Self: Exploring Mindfulness in Relation with Self-esteem and Self-efficacy in Indian Population.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8808471/ ) Chandna and colleagues recruited young adults, 20-40 years of age and middle adults, 40-65 years of age. They completed online measures of mindfulness, self-esteem, and self-efficacy.
They found that the higher the levels of mindfulness the higher the levels of self-esteem, and self-efficacy. They found that women were significantly higher in acting with awareness and observing facets of mindfulness, while middle adults were significantly higher in nonjudging of inner experience than young adults. These findings replicate previous findings that mindfulness is positively related with self-esteem and self-efficacy.
Mindful people have better self concepts.
“The good news about self-esteem is that it’s possible to improve with the right tools and an effort to change. And with a newfound sense of self-worth, we have the ability to become centered and confident in our true self.” – Team Calm
CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies
This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Twitter @MindfulResearch
Study Summary
Chandna, S., Sharma, P., & Moosath, H. (2022). The Mindful Self: Exploring Mindfulness in Relation with Self-esteem and Self-efficacy in Indian Population. Psychological studies, 1–12. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12646-021-00636-5
Abstract
The aim of the current study was to evaluate and compare the relationship of mindfulness with self-efficacy and self-esteem. The study has also investigated the difference in mindfulness levels across five dimensions: observing, describing, acting with awareness, non-judging of inner experiences and non-reactivity to inner experience between males and females and between young adults and middle-aged adults who belong to the Indian population. There was a total of 146 participants (F = 80, M = 66), 84 in the young adult group (20–40 years) and 62 participants in the middle adult group (41–65 years). Pearson correlation showed statistically significant (p < 0.01) moderate positive correlation between all the five dimensions of mindfulness and self-esteem; while self-efficacy had significant (p < 0.01) moderate positive correlation with all the dimensions of mindfulness except for non-judging of inner experiences. Multiple linear regression (MLR) with self-esteem as outcome variable showed model fitness of 51% (p < 0.01) with acting with awareness, non-reactivity to inner experience, non-judging of inner experiences and describing as predictive variables. With self-efficacy as outcome variable, MLR showed model fitness of 40% (p < 0.01) with non-reactivity to inner experiences, acting with awareness, observing and describing as predicting variables. Females were found to be significantly higher in acting with awareness and observing dimensions of mindfulness compared to males. Middle adults were found to be significantly higher only in the non-judging of inner experiences dimension as compared to early adults. Importance of mindfulness in improving self-concept has been established in western world. The present study, by exploring the relationship between mindfulness and self-variables in Indian population, highlights the probable positive outcomes of mindfulness enhancing techniques on self-esteem and self-efficacy of individuals, and therefore on the quality of life.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8808471/