Mindfulness and Motivation: A Process View Using Self-Determination Theory

Abstract

Mindfulness and motivation are both highly researched topics of great consequence for individual and social wellness. Using the lens of self-determination theory, we review evidence indicating that mindfulness is differentially related to different types of motivations, playing a facilitating role for highly autonomous forms of motivation, but not for externally controlled or introjected (self-controlling) forms of motivation. A key contribution of this review is our contention that mindfulness confers a range of intra- and interindividual benefits (e.g., well-being and prosociality) in part through its relation to autonomous motivations, a claim for which we outline preliminary evidence. Finally, we discuss how future research connecting mindfulness and motivation is important for both fields of study, for applied practices in areas such as psychotherapy and business, and for enhancing understanding of the processes underlying human wellness.

Keywords

mindfulness motivation self-determination theory autonomy

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Assor

Feinberg

Kanat-Maymon

Kaplan

(2018). Reducing violence in non-controlling ways: A change program based on self-determination theory. The Journal of Experimental Education, 86(2), 195–213. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220973.2016.1277336

Brown

K. W.

Goodman

R. J.

Ryan

R. M.

Anālayo

(2016). Mindfulness enhances episodic memory performance: Evidence from a multi-method investigation. PLOS ONE, 1(4), Article e0153309. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0153309

Brown

K. W.

Goodman

R. J.

Inzlicht

(2013). Dispositional mindfulness and the attenuation of neural responses to emotional stimuli. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 8(1), 93–99. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nss004

Brown

K. W.

Ryan

R. M.

(2003). The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(4), 822–848. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.84.4.822

Brown

K. W.

Ryan

R. M.

(2015). Facilitating healthy self-regulation from within and without: A self-determination theory perspective. In Linley

Joseph

(Eds.), Positive psychology in practice (Rev. ed., pp. 139–157). Wiley.

Brown

K. W.

Ryan

R. M.

Creswell

J. D.

(2007). Mindfulness: Theoretical foundations and evidence for its salutary effects. Psychological Inquiry, 18(4), 211–237. https://doi.org/10.1080/10478400701598298

Creswell

J. D.

(2017). Mindfulness interventions. Annual Review of Psychology, 68, 491–516. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-042716-051139

Di Domenico

S. I.

Liu

Ayaz

Fournier

M. A.

(2016). Basic psychological needs and neurophysiological responsiveness to decisional conflict: An event-related potential study of integrative personality processes. Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Neuroscience, 16(5), 848–865. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13415-016-0436-1

Donald

J. N.

Atkins

P. W. B.

Parker

P. D.

Christie

A. M.

Ryan

R. M.

(2016). Daily stress and the benefits of mindfulness: Examining the daily and longitudinal relations between present-moment awareness and stress responses. Journal of Research in Personality, 65, 30–37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2016.09.002

10.

Donald

J. N.

Bradshaw

E. L.

Conigrave

J. H.

Byatt

Noetel

Parker

P. D.

Ryan

R. M.

(2021). Paths to the light and dark sides of human nature: A meta-analysis of the prosocial benefits of autonomy and the antisocial costs of control [Manuscript submitted for publication]. University of Sydney Business School.

11.

Donald

J. N.

Bradshaw

E. L.

Ryan

R. M.

Basarkod

Ciarrochi

Duineveld

J. J.

Guo

Sahdra

B. K.

(2020). Mindfulness and its association with varied types of motivation: A systematic review and meta-analysis using self-determination theory. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 46(7), 1121–1138. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/5xnyr

12.

Donald

J. N.

Sahdra

B. K.

Van Zanden

Duineveld

J. J.

Atkins

P. W.

Marshall

S. L.

Ciarrochi

(2019). Does your mindfulness benefit others? A systematic review and meta-analysis of the link between mindfulness and prosocial behaviour. British Journal of Psychology, 110(1), 101–125. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12338

13.

Fredrickson

B. L.

Arizmendi

Van Cappellen

Firestine

A. M.

Brantley

M. M.

Kim

S. L.

Brantley

Salzberg

(2019). Do contemplative moments matter? Effects of informal meditation on emotions and perceived social integration. Mindfulness, 10(9), 1915–1925. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-019-01154-2

14.

Hafenbrack

A. C.

Vohs

K. D.

(2018). Mindfulness meditation impairs task motivation but not performance. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 147, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2018.05.001

15.

Hodgins

H. S.

Knee

C. R.

(2002). The integrating self and conscious experience. In Deci

E. L.

Ryan

R. M.

(Eds.), Handbook of self-determination research (pp. 87–100). University of Rochester Press.

16.

Howard

J. L.

Bureau

Guay

Chong

J. X. Y.

Ryan

R. M.

(2021). Student motivation and associated outcomes: A meta-analysis from self-determination theory. Perspectives on Psychological Science. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691620966789

17.

Howard

J. L.

Gagné

Bureau

J. S.

(2017). Testing a continuum structure of self-determined motivation: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 143(12), 1346–1377. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000125

18.

Joussemet

Vitaro

Barker

E. D.

Coté

Nagin

Zoccolillo

Tremblay

R. E.

(2008). Controlling parenting and physical aggression during elementary school. Child Development, 79(2), 411–425. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.01133.x

19.

Kabat-Zinn

(2003). Mindfulness-based interventions in context: Past, present, and future. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 10(2), 144–156. https://doi.org/10.1093/clipsy.bpg016

20.

Levesque

Brown

K. W.

(2007). Mindfulness as a moderator of the effect of implicit motivational self-concept on day-to-day behavioral motivation. Motivation and Emotion, 31(4), 284–299. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-007-9075-8

21.

Ludwig

V. U.

Brown

K. W.

Brewer

J. A.

(2020). Self-regulation without force: Can awareness leverage reward to drive behavior change? Perspectives on Psychological Science, 15(6), 1382–1399. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691620931460

22.

Martela

Ryan

R. M.

(2016). The benefits of benevolence: Basic psychological needs, beneficence, and the enhancement of well-being. Journal of Personality, 84(6), 750–764. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12215

23.

Niemiec

C. P.

Brown

K. W.

Kashdan

T. B.

Cozzolino

P. J.

Breen

W. E.

Levesque-Bristol

Ryan

R. M.

(2010). Being present in the face of existential threat: The role of trait mindfulness in reducing defensive responses to mortality salience. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 99(2), 344–365. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019388

24.

Nilsson

Kazemi

(2016). Reconciling and thematizing definitions of mindfulness: The big five of mindfulness. Review of General Psychology, 20(2), 183–193. https://doi.org/10.1037/gpr0000074

25.

Roth

Vansteenkiste

Ryan

R. M.

(2019). Integrative emotion regulation: Process and development from a self-determination theory perspective. Development and Psychopathology, 31(3), 945–956. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579419000403

26.

Ryan

R. M.

Connell

J. P.

(1989). Perceived locus of causality and internalization: Examining reasons for acting in two domains. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57(5), 749–761. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.57.5.749

27.

Ryan

R. M.

Curren

R. R.

Deci

E. L.

(2013). What humans need: Flourishing in Aristotelian philosophy and self-determination theory. In Waterman

A. S.

(Ed.), The best within us: Positive psychology perspectives on eudaimonic functioning (pp. 57–75). American Psychological Association.

28.

Ryan

R. M.

Deci

E. L.

(2017). Self-determination theory: Basic psychological needs in motivation, development, and wellness. Guilford Press. https://doi.org/10.1521/978.14625/28806

29.

Ryan

R. M.

Rigby

C. S.

(2015). Did the Buddha have a self?: No-self, self, and mindfulness in Buddhist thought and Western psychologies. In Brown

K. W.

Creswell

J. D.

Ryan

R. M.

(Eds.), Handbook of mindfulness: Theory, research, and practice (pp. 245–265). Guilford Press.

30.

Schultz

P. P.

Ryan

R. M.

(2019). Cognitive and affective benefits of a mindful state in response to and in anticipation of pain. Mindfulness, 10(4), 657–669. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-018-1013-1

31.

Shannon

Hanna

Leavey

Haughey

Neill

Breslin

(2020). The association between mindfulness and mental health outcomes in athletes: Testing the mediating role of autonomy satisfaction as a core psychological need. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/1612197X.2020.1717578

32.

Vansteenkiste

Ryan

R. M.

Soenens

(2020). Basic psychological need theory: Advancements, critical themes, and future directions. Motivation and Emotion, 44(1), 1–31. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-019-09818-1

33.

Weinstein

Brown

K. W.

Ryan

R. M.

(2009). A multi-method examination of the effects of mindfulness on stress attribution, coping, and emotional well-being. Journal of Research in Personality, 43(3), 374–385. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2008.12.008