Relationships between mindfulness, self-control, and psychological functioning Stephanie L. Bowlin a,⇑ , Ruth A. Baer b,1 a University of Kansas, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, Department of Psychology, Fraser Hall, 1415 Jayhawk Blvd., Room 426, Lawrence, KS 66045-7556, United States b Department of Psychology, 115 Kastle Hall, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0044, United States article info Article history: Received 20 June 2011 Received in revised form 22 October 2011 Accepted 29 October 2011 Available online 26 November 2011 Keywords: Mindfulness Self-control Psychological wellbeing General distress Moderation abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate whether dispositional mindfulness (the tendency to be mindful in general daily life) accounts for variance in psychological symptoms and wellbeing after accounting for the influence of dispositional self-control (the tendency to be self-disciplined, reliable, hardworking, etc.). A large sample of undergraduate students (N = 280) completed self-report measures of mindfulness, self control, psychological wellbeing, and general psychological distress (depression and anxiety, and stress). As expected, both mindfulness and self-control were positively correlated with well- being and negatively correlated with general distress. Mindfulness was found to account for significant variance in psychological wellbeing and general distress after accounting for self-control. In addition, mindfulness was a significant moderator of the relationship between self-control and psychological symptoms. Results show that although self-control predicts significant variance in psychological health, mindfulness predicts incremental variance, suggesting that a mindful approach to ongoing experience can contribute to mental health in persons who are highly self-disciplined and hardworking. Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Dispositional self control has been described as the ability to regulate or override one’s thoughts, emotions, and action tenden- cies in order to behave consistently with goals, requirements, rules, or standards, even when feeling a strong urge or inclination to do something else (Baumeister, Galliot, DeWall, & Oaten, 2006). Peo- ple who are high in dispositional self-control tend to be disci- plined, reliable, and hardworking. The general capacity for self control is associated with numerous forms of adaptive functioning, including academic achievement, self-esteem, interpersonal skills, satisfying relationships, secure attachment, and positive emotions; and negatively associated with symptoms such as anxiety, depres- sion, binge eating, and alcohol abuse (Tangney, Baumeister, & Boone, 2004). Mindfulness is a way of paying attention to what is taking place in the present moment (Kabat-Zinn, 1982). It includes observation or awareness of internal and external experiences in a nonjudgmental, accepting, and open way. Although mindfulness can be cultivated through meditation and behavioral skills training (see Keng, Smoski, & Robins, 2011, for a review), mindfulness has also been conceptual- ized as a trait-like or dispositional characteristic that varies natu- rally in the general population, even without mindfulness training (Brown & Ryan, 2003). Many studies have shown that the self-re- ported tendency to be mindful in daily life is positively correlated with psychological health and wellbeing and negatively correlated with psychological symptoms and distress. The benefits of mindfulness are often conceptualized in terms of self-regulation or self-control. The attention and awareness that are central to mindfulness are also believed to be essential for detecting discrepancies between current states or levels of func- tioning; recognition of such discrepancies, in turn, prompts behav- ior intended to reduce the discrepancies (Brown, Ryan, & Creswell, 2007; Feltman, Robinson, & Ode, 2009). People who are high in dis- positional mindfulness also tend to observe their thoughts and feelings without reacting to them in maladaptive ways and there- fore are better able to behave constructively even when unpleasant thoughts and feelings are present (Hayes, Strosahl, & Wilson, 1999). Recent research shows that mindfulness and self control, when conceptualized as dispositional variables and measured with self- report instruments, are strongly correlated with each other (Fetterman, Robinson, Ode, & Gordon, 2010) as well as with adap- tive functioning. However, mindfulness and self-control have rarely been examined in a single study, and it is not clear whether they account for distinct or overlapping variance in psychological symptoms and wellbeing. Masicampo and Baumeister (2007) sug- gested that the benefits of mindfulness might be entirely attribut- able to self-control and argued that the incremental validity of mindfulness over self-control in predicting adaptive functioning has not been established. 0191-8869/$ - see front matter Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2011.10.050 ⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 785 864 4131; fax: +1 785 864 5696. E-mail addresses: lynnebowlin@gmail.com (S.L. Bowlin), rbaer@email.uky.edu (R.A. Baer). 1 Tel.: +1 859 257 6841; fax: +1 859 323 1979. Personality and Individual Differences 52 (2012) 411–415 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Personality and Individual Differences journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/paid