Dispositional mindfulness and the attenuation of neural responses to emotional stimuli

Brown, Kirk Warren; Goodman, Robert J.; Inzlicht, Michael

doi:10.1093/scan/nss004

Cited by 213 publications

(226 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Brown, Goodman, and Inzlicht (2013) suggest that dispositional mindfulness plays a role in moderating early affective processing. In Study 3 we found a positive correlation between mindfulness and NFC and a negative correlation between mindfulness and NFA.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the Attitudinal Consequences of Being Mindful

Haddock

Foad

Windsor-Shellard

et al. 2017

Pers Soc Psychol Bull

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A series of studies examined whether mindfulness is associated with the experience of attitudinal ambivalence. Studies 1A and 1B found that mindful individuals expressed greater comfort holding ambivalent views and reported feeling ambivalent less often.More mindful individuals also responded more positively to feelings of uncertainty (as assessed in Study 1B). Study 2 replicated these effects and demonstrated that mindful individuals had lower objective and subjective ambivalence across a range of attitude objects, but did not differ in attitude valence, extremity, positivity/negativity, strength, or the need to evaluate. Study 3 showed that the link between greater ambivalence and negative affect was buffered by mindfulness, such that there was no link between the amount of ambivalence and negative affect among more mindful individuals. The results are discussed with respect to the benefits of mindfulness in relation to ambivalence and affect. KEYWORDS: MINDFULNESS, ATTITUDES, AMBIVALENCE Mindfulness and ambivalence 3On the attitudinal consequences of being mindful: Links between mindfulness and attitude ambivalenceWe routinely experience mixed reactions to objects in our environment. At a recent coffee shop visit, the lead author was presented with a free sample of cake. He was tornwhile he likes cake, he knows that such an indulgence is unhealthy. He quietly deliberated before giving the cake to his friend. Of course, people frequently experience ambivalent reactions over more substantial objects, including their racial attitudes, their opinions about important social issues, and their own self-esteem (e.g., Haddock & Gebauer, 2011; van Harreveld, van der Plight, & de Liver, 2009b). Furthermore, the experience of ambivalence is usually associated with negative affect (DeMarree, Wheeler, Briñol, & Petty, 2014;Petty, Briñol, & Johnson, 2012;Rydell, McConnell, & Mackie, 2008). In this paper, we consider links between ambivalence and the construct of mindfulness. Specifically, we address whether individual differences in mindfulness are associated with individuals' comfort about holding ambivalent views, how frequently they report ambivalence, and whether mindfulness buffers the link between the experience of ambivalence and negative affect. Integrating Ambivalence and MindfulnessAmbivalence refers to the extent to which an individual has mixed views about an object. The experience of ambivalence is typically associated with negative affect that individuals are motivated to reduce (Petty et al., 2012;Rydell et al., 2008), similar to how dissonance is postulated to invoke arousal (Festinger, 1957). In one interesting study regarding the ambivalence-negative affect link, van Harreveld, Rutjens, Rotteveel, Nordgren, and vanderPligt (2009a) had participants read a message that contained either Mindfulness and ambivalence 4 univalent or ambivalent information. For ambivalence-induced participants, higher skin conductance was found when participants subsequently made a choice about the topic.Mindfulness i...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the Attitudinal Consequences of Being Mindful

Haddock

Foad

Windsor-Shellard

et al. 2017

Pers Soc Psychol Bull

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“…Mindfulness has been operationalized using various methods, with mindfulness variously being measured as a disposition (Brown, Goodman, & Inzlicht, 2013;Creswell, Way, Eisenberger, & Lieberman, 2007), as an acquired skill (Farb et al, 2007;Jha et al, 2007;, or as a psychological state promoted by brief, targeted inductions (Erisman & Roemer, 2010;Larson et al, 2013). One strength of the present study was that our manipulations uniquely allowed us to differentiate between the influences of different forms of present-moment awareness more easily than could be managed by correlational approaches.…”

Section: Limitations and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mindful awareness of feelings increases neural performance monitoring

Saunders

Rodrigo

Inzlicht

2015

Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci

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Mindfulness has been associated with enhanced performance monitoring; however, little is known about the processes driving this apparent neurocognitive benefit. Here, we tested whether focusing present-moment awareness toward the nonjudgmental experience of emotion facilitates rapid neural responses to negative performance outcomes (i.e., mistakes). In particular, we compared whether directing present-moment awareness toward emotions or thoughts would enhance the neurophysiological correlates of performance monitoring: the error-related negativity (ERN) and the error positivity (Pe). Participants were randomly assigned to either a thought-focused or an emotion-focused group, and first they completed a preinduction go/no-go task. Subsequently, the groups followed inductions that promoted mindful attention toward either thoughts or emotions, before completing a final postinduction go/no-go session. The results indicated that emotion-focused participants demonstrated higher neural sensitivity to errors in the time course of the ERN, whereas focusing on thoughts had no effect on performance monitoring. In contrast, neither induction procedure altered the amplitude of the later Pe component. Although our manipulations also induced changes in behavior, the ERN effects remained significant after controlling for performance. Thus, our results suggest that mindfulness meditation boosts early neural performance monitoring (ERN amplitude), specifically through meditation's influence on affective processing.

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“…In particular, this physiological dysregulation may serve as an indicator of a reduced capacity to monitor and therefore predict, one's environment. According to Brown and Ryan (2003), individuals naturally exhibit differences in the propensity to be engaged with, and responsive to, their surroundings; this personal disposition is referred to as mindfulness (Brown, Goodman, & Inzlicht, 2012), and it has been associated with increased sympathetic arousal (Lumma, Kok, & Singer, 2015), as well as greater self‐regulation (Short, Mazmanian, Oinonen, & Mushquash, 2016). Notably, Krzeczkowski, Robb, and Good (2017) found that individuals with a history of concussion who endorsed greater trait mindfulness presented with fewer postconcussive symptoms.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physiological underarousal as a mechanism of aggressive behavior in university athletes with a history of concussion

2018

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IntroductionResearch has indicated that athletes who engage in high‐risk athletic activities, such as football and hockey, have riskier personalities than their low‐risk and nonathlete counterparts (Ahmadi et al., 2011, Procedia Soc Behav Sci, 30 and 247–251; Zuckerman, 1983, Biological bases of sensation seeking, impulsivity, and anxiety, Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc Inc.). For instance, increased sensation‐seeking and aggression are common in high‐risk athletes, rendering these individuals more likely to sustain a subsequent injury, such as concussion. Elevated levels of certain personality traits, including impulsivity and aggression, have also been observed after concussion (Goswami et al., 2016, Brain Struct Funct, 221 and 1911–1925). The purpose of this study therefore was to determine whether aggressive behavior in university athletes may be accounted for, in part, by a history of concussion, rather than exclusively athletic status.MethodsUsing a quasi‐experimental design, 66 university students (n = 18 nonathletes, n = 24 low‐risk athletes, n = 24 high‐risk athletes) with (n = 27) and without a history of concussion (n = 39) completed the Buss & Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ; Buss & Perry, 1992, J Pers Soc Psychol, 63 and 452) and provided electrodermal activation (EDA) as an index of physiological arousal.ResultsIt was found that decreased physiological arousal among students with a history of concussion was associated with greater endorsement of physical aggression. Moreover, athletic status did not account for this pattern of aggression, as athletes and nonathletes did not differ in terms of self‐reported aggressive tendencies.ConclusionsPhysiological compromise after concussive injury may act as an independent mechanism of aggressive behavior in athletes beyond factors, such as athletic status.

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Dispositional mindfulness and the attenuation of neural responses to emotional stimuli

Cited by 213 publications

References 40 publications

On the Attitudinal Consequences of Being Mindful

On the Attitudinal Consequences of Being Mindful

Mindful awareness of feelings increases neural performance monitoring

Physiological underarousal as a mechanism of aggressive behavior in university athletes with a history of concussion

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