The Importance of Self-Reflection and Awareness for Human Development in Hard Times

Abstract

Trauma is an inescapable part of being human, whether caused by external events or internal struggles. Self-reflection and self-awareness aid in the recovery from external trauma and heal psychosomatic wounds. We first explain different understandings of the nature of the self and mechanisms of self-reflection and self-awareness. Then we describe the role of self-reflection and awareness in ontogenetic, sociogenic, liberative, transpersonal, and spiritual models of adult development. Finally, we discuss the practice of Buddhist mindfulness, Westernized forms of mindfulness, and McMindfulness and their potential for raising the level of self-awareness, increase resilience during hard times, and heal from trauma.

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Research in Human Development
ISSN: 1542-7609 (Print) 1542-7617 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/hrhd20
The Importance of Self-Reflection and Awareness
for Human Development in Hard Times
Monika Ardelt & Sabine Grunwald
To cite this article: Monika Ardelt & Sabine Grunwald (2018): The Importance of Self-Reflection
and Awareness for Human Development in Hard Times, Research in Human Development, DOI:
10.1080/15427609.2018.1489098
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/15427609.2018.1489098
Published online: 10 Jul 2018.
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The Importance of Self-Reflection and Awareness for
Human Development in Hard Times
Monika Ardelt and Sabine Grunwald
University of Florida
Trauma is an inescapable part of being human, whether caused by external events or internal
struggles. Self-reflection and self-awareness aid in the recovery from external trauma and heal
psychosomatic wounds. We first explain different understandings of the nature of the self and
mechanisms of self-reflection and self-awareness. Then we describe the role of self-reflection and
awareness in ontogenetic, sociogenic, liberative, transpersonal, and spiritual models of adult devel-
opment. Finally, we discuss the practice of Buddhist mindfulness, Westernized forms of mindfulness,
and McMindfulness and their potential for raising the level of self-awareness, increase resilience
during hard times, and heal from trauma.
Trauma is a common and unavoidable part of human existence. Yet responses to aversive,
overwhelming experiences that pose potential long-term, destructive effects on individuals and
communities vary widely. Stanley (2016) distinguished between event-based trauma with
personal debilitating effects and developmental trauma. The latter are due to emotional neglect
in significant relationships in childhood from the absence of attunement, feeling felt, and mutual
resonance with devastating effects on individuals often spanning across generations (Bowlby,
2004; Reis, Collins, & Berscheid, 2000). According to Kessler et al. (2017), trauma exposure is
common throughout the world, averaging 3.2 traumas per capita in an investigation of lifetime
traumas of 68,894 respondents from 24 different countries. Post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD) affects about 44.7 million people in the United States (PTSD United, 2018).
Moreover, humans and the entire earth community are facing an unprecedented situation of
amplified uncertainty that involves many interconnected crises, including global climate change,
social inequity, economic instability, terrorism, social upheaval, and digital fragmented knowl-
edge (Mickey, Kelly, & Robbert, 2017).
The development of self-reflection and awareness appear to facilitate healing from trauma
and to find constructive solutions to crises (Ayduk & Kross, 2010). Awareness of self, others,
and the environment is pivotal to obtain the full range of human knowledge and actions that are
necessary to restore a crisis-ridden world (Kelly, 2017). We posit that human development
influences self-reflection capacity, awareness, and openness to self, others, and the world, and
Correspondence should be addressed to Monika Ardelt, Department of Sociology and Criminology & Law,
University of Florida, P.O. Box 117330, Gainesville, FL 32611-7330, USA. E-mail: ardelt@ufl.edu
Research in Human Development, 00: 1–13, 2018
Copyright © 2018 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 1542-7609 print / 1542-7617 online
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15427609.2018.1489098

conversely, that self-reflection and conscious awareness foster human development and personal
transformation and, ultimately, a better society.
In this article, we first describe the concept of the self and different forms of self-
reflection and self-awareness. Then we discuss the role of self-reflection in ontogenetic,
sociogenic, liberative, transpersonal, and spiritual models of adult development. The final
section introduces different forms of mindfulness that facilitate self-reflection and presents
empirical research on the emotional, cognitive, and self-relational effects of mindfulness,
particularly during hard times.
SELF-REFLECTION, SELF-AWARENESS, AND MINDFULNESS
The concept of self has been described in a variety of ways. In sociology, the self is
considered a socially constructed mental image that arises through the process of socializa-
tion and provides individuals with a relatively stable and distinct sense of who they are
independent of context (Cooley, 1922;Mead,1934). Identities depend on the social context,
the social roles individuals play, and specific social relationships (Brook, Garcia, & Fleming,
2008; Stets & Burke, 2000), whereas the self is more cohesive and allows individuals to feel
that they are the same person across social situations, in different roles, and over time
(Damasio, 2010). Western psychology is often concerned with finding one’s“true”self,
expressed through self-coherence, self-identification (Weiss, 2015), individuation of self
(Vaughan, 2013), and self-actualization (Maslow, 1971), whereas Buddhism and other
Eastern traditions emphasize the realization of “no-self”(Bodhi, 2005).
How we perceive self in contrast to other (dualism), relation to other, in communion with
other (participatory view), or immanently as no other (nonduality) shapes beliefs, values,
perceptions, and behaviors. Deeper inquiry, reflection, contemplation, and/or meditation into
“What is self?”or “Who am I?”discloses the essence of the self, though fear, anxiety, shame,
guilt, and ignorance about what possibly could be revealed may hamper conscious efforts to turn
toward the self.
Self-reflection from the vantage points of scholarly philosophical discourse through logical
reasoning is inherently disembodied (Varela, Thompson, & Rosch, 2016). For example, Wilhelm
Wundt’s introspection, as an abstract and conceptual activity to examine internal thoughts and
feelings, emphasizes the observer, third person, distancing perspective (Costall, 2006). This
cognitive kind of self-reflection has the potential to enhance a conceptual, theoretical under-
standing of the self (e.g., “I am a compassionate and shy person”) yet might limit the possibility
for human transformation (Stanley, 2016).
In the West, abstract reflection has dominated since Descartes spawned Cartesian dualism,
ontologically separating subject and object, self and other, and self and the world of objects
out there as a pregiven (Skirry, 2008). Although there are various interpretations and models of
the self in Western psychology, most share the existence of a separate “I”entity based on
psychological structures or schemas. An individual exclusively identified with a sovereign self
is likely to feel fear or greed in response to the perception of threats by all that is other than
self, such as other people, nature, and the rest of the world (Loy, 1996). Therefore, the
development of a secure and “strong ego”is often the goal in Western psychology, defined
in terms of high self-esteem, competence in worldly functioning, and impulse control
2ARDELT AND GRUNWALD

(Welwood, 2000). Regardless of the different self-conceptions in the West (e.g., Damasio,
2010;Harré,1998;Lewis,1990), the tendency of reifying the self prevents self-transcendence
and restricts the transformation of the self.
Yet Western psychology also offers three key strategies to heal the wounded self (Mikulincer
& Shaver, 2016): (1) enhance the capacity for disidentification with self or objects; (2) decrease
attachment to self, other, and the world; and (3) enhance the flexibility to toggle seamlessly
between identification and disidentification with an open and accepting attitude (emotional
resilience and equanimity). The capacity to reflect on oneself, and therefore to disidentify with
painful or traumatic experiences, facilitates healing (Ayduk & Kross, 2010; Holmes, 1997).
Disidentification involves awareness to create some distance to one’s self-image and take an
observer (or witness) stance. This awareness of impartially observing the self is cultivated by
mindfulness meditation (Weiss, 2015). The process of disidentification involves a shift in
subject-object relation. Kegan (1982) coined the term “reperceiving,”which involves a shift in
consciousness so that what was previously subject becomes object. Reperceiving has been
identified as a key to human development across the life span. It involves disidentifying with
thoughts, emotions, and body sensations as they arise and simply being with them instead of
being defined (i.e., controlled and conditioned) by them (Shapiro, Carlson, Astin, & Freedman,
2006). Aron (1998) pointed out that the dialectical process of experiencing oneself as a subject
as well as of reflecting on oneself as an object is not exclusively an intellectual observational
function, but also an experiential, emotional, and embodied endeavor.
Self-reflection as interoception (i.e., sensing breathing, arousal, pain, fatigue, feelings, and the
like) provides insight into psychosomatic processes representing the body from within
(Cameron, 2001). To embody the lived experience of a particular moment means to viscerally
feel sensory, motor, emotional, and imaginal experiences and to explore the intricacies and
changes in bodily sensations tied to emotions and thoughts when the self comes in contact with
others and the world (Stanley, 2016). It requires a mindful presence and the ability to feel bodily
sensations triggered, for example, by sadness, despair, anxiety, compassion, happiness, or joy,
which differs from conceptual self-awareness that only engages the mind in an intellectual
thought process (Fogel, 2013).
Self-reflection that is embodied, mindful, and open to the ever-changing nature of bodily
sensations does not presume an independent self that engages in reflection. Instead, the observer
becomes one with the experience of reflection (i.e., similar to a violinist playing in an extra-
ordinary concert, a marathon runner experiencing “runner’s high,”or a meditator in a blissful
state of consciousness). Varela et al. (2016) conveyed that embodied reflection is not just a
cognitive act of focusing awareness on experience, but reflection is a form of experience itself. It
is a fully embodied state of being, characterized by the awareness and acceptance of bodily
sensations, nonattachment to self, letting go, and letting be (Loy, 2015; Sahdra, Shaver, &
Brown, 2010). In this way, embodied reflection provides a path for human transformation and
personal growth.
Self-reflection and awareness are important tools in overcoming PTSD resulting from trauma.
Bisson et al. (2007) used a meta-analysis to assess the efficacy of different psychological
treatments for chronic PTSD and discovered that trauma-focused Cognitive-Behavioral
Therapy was among the therapies that improved PTSD symptoms. This therapy teaches self-
reflection to increase awareness of distorted thinking and behavior patterns that contribute to
psychological, behavioral, and somatic problems (American Psychological Association, 2018).
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Hence, human development and trauma release require enhancement of self-reflective capacity
and awareness, which include disidentification from fixed-action cognitive patterns of interpre-
tation, reframing of perceptions (specifically negative ones associated with trauma), transforma-
tion of unconscious perceptions into conscious ones, somatic reflection capacity, body
awareness, emotional awareness, and emotional resilience (Marlock, Weiss, Young, & Soth,
2015; Stanley, 2016; Van der Kolk, 2014).
THE ROLE OF SELF-REFLECTION IN MODELS OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
Various models have articulated specific stances for self-reflection and awareness in the context
of human development. These models can be roughly divided into ontogenic, sociogenic,
liberative, transpersonal, and spiritual models of human development. Although ontogenic
models assume a maturation-driven universal path toward human development, sociogenic
models emphasize the influence of culture and social structure on individual development, and
liberative, transpersonal, and spiritual models describe forms of advanced human development
that might only be reached by a few exceptional individuals who have transcended the
constraints of biology, culture, the social environment, and the egoic self. However, self-
reflection and awareness play a pivotal role in all models of human development, although
many of the models do not specify if they refer to a cognitive or embodied form of self-reflection
or both.
ONTOGENETIC MODELS OF DEVELOPMENT
Ontogenetic models, such as Erikson’s model of psychosocial development, assume that devel-
opment follows a sequence of maturation-driven events that all individuals encounter with
advancing age. Erikson (1963) divides individuals’lives into a series of eight psychosocial
developmental crises or tasks, starting in infancy with the crisis of basic trust versus mistrust.
The successful resolution of each crisis results in a specific virtue, which aids in the resolution of
the next and all subsequent crises. By contrast, if a person cannot resolve a psychosocial crisis,
either due to an unwillingness to face a specific developmental task or due to a failure to solve
the crisis successfully, psychosocial development might be halted or fixated at an early devel-
opmental stage (Clayton, 1975). Hence, to resolve the eighth crisis of ego integrity versus
despair in old age successfully, all previous seven psychosocial developmental task have to be
mastered first. Because four of the crises occur in childhood, the quality of the relationship with
parents and other significant others is crucial in psychosocial development (Bowlby, 2004;
Mikulincer & Shaver, 2016; Reis et al., 2000).
During the eighth psychosocial crisis, older adults are confronted with the impermanence of
life as expressed in the loss of social roles, physical vigor, mental acuity, the nearing of death,
and a changing sense of self. To achieve ego integrity rather than succumb to despair over past
mistakes and failures, lost opportunities, the inalterability of the past, and the loss of a healthy,
vigorous, and socially important self, individuals need to reflect on and accept the totality of
their lives, which includes confrontation with unresolved previous psychosocial tasks. Even
though reflecting on one’s life is not limited to old age (Staudinger, 2001), self-reflection, life
4ARDELT AND GRUNWALD

review (Butler, 2002), and an awareness and acceptance of the changing nature of the self are
particularly important in old age to obtain a sense of wholeness. According to Xu (in press),
mindfulness practice can help older adults reach acceptance, ego integrity, and transcendence:
By observing past memories and experiences without judgment and reaction and with freshness,
openness, receptiveness, and wholeness, older people can integrate both pleasant and painful life
experiences as a whole, gaining a balanced, flexible, and integrated perspective on what they were.
Older adults who have achieved ego integrity gain the virtue of wisdom, which Erikson
(1964, p. 133) describes as “detached concern with life itself in the face of death itself.”
Integrated individuals do not cling to life but understand and accept that each life is but a
sequence in the endless flow of generations. Rather than being concerned only about themselves,
such an understanding leads to the transcendence of the individual sense of self and a concern
for the well-being of future generations.
SOCIOGENIC MODELS OF ADULT DEVELOPMENT
Sociogenic models question the premise that adult development is guided by universal devel-
opmental stages and instead emphasize multiple pathways of adult development based on the
influence of culture, social structure, and social interaction on personality, behavior, and life
chances (Dannefer, 1984). For example, according to the life-course paradigm (Elder, 1994),
adult human development does not follow a specific sequence but is affected by the culture and
subculture of a society at a specific period in history, social relationships, and the timing,
sequence, and duration of social roles that individuals inhabit, either voluntarily and “on time”
(e.g., as spouse, parent, or employee) or nonvoluntarily (e.g., being drafted into the military or
losing a spouse) and “off time”(e.g., a teenage mother or a young widow). Yet adult develop-
ment is not completely determined by social structure and the social environment but also
depends on human agency, defined as self-determined choices individuals make within the
constraints of their cultural, social, and economic boundaries. Even if “action and intentionality
are themselves organized by larger socio-historical forces”(Dannefer, 1989, p. 11) collective
action has the power to overcome social injustices to allow individuals to reach their full
potential (Dannefer, 2015). Therefore, the goal of adult development within the sociogenic
model is the elimination of social injustices, such as socioeconomic disadvantages, racism,
sexism, misogyny, homophobia, and ageism, through a process of critical social reflection and
self-reflection (Dannefer, 1996) to transcend cultural and social boundaries and expand human
agency.
LIBERATIVE MODELS OF ADULT DEVELOPMENT
According to Levenson and Crumpler’s(1996) liberative model, adult development consists of
more than maturational changes or an interaction with the social environment. Instead, it requires a
conscious commitment to personal development to liberate oneself from external and internal
conditioning. Through contemplative practices, such as mindfulness meditation and self-
reflection, greater self-knowledge and self-insight are attained that weaken conditioned constraints
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and lead to a higher (or “freer”) form of consciousness (Levenson & Aldwin, 2013). The goal is
self-transcendence in the form of inner freedom, particularly from negative conditioning (or in
Buddhist terms, “defilements”), such as fear, anxiety, shame, anger, hatred, jealously, lust, and
greed, that might have had some evolutionary advantages (Nesse & Ellsworth, 2009) but are
obstacles in achieving liberation and inner peace. Through self-reflection, self-insight, and self-
understanding, individuals obtain true mental health that is not simply characterized by the absence
of mental problems but by the elimination of self-pity and the projection of blame, better coping
abilities when confronted with adversity and stress, and greater tolerance, empathy, compassion, and
concern for the well-being of others (Allport, 1961;Jahoda,1958). Culture and the social environ-
ment provide opportunities or obstacles for adult development toward liberation. For example, it
might be easier to include meditation into one’s daily routine in a Buddhist culture, whereas people
who have two jobs to make ends meet might not possess the necessary time, energy, and motivation
to engage in mindfulness and awareness practices. Indeed, Maslow (1971) proclaimed a hierarchy
of needs, stating that self-transcendence can only be achieved after the lower-order needs of biology,
safety, social integration, self-esteem, and self-actualization have been satisfied.
TRANSPERSONAL MODELS OF ADULT DEVELOPMENT
Similar to the ultimate goal of liberative models, the goal of transpersonal models of develop-
ment is self-transcendence, but the focus is primarily on the transcendence and transformation of
the self beyond the ordinary ego (Grof, 2008; Hartelius, Rothe, & Roy, 2013), specifically on
experiences, processes, and events where the normal, ordinary self is altered by feelings of
connection to a larger, more meaningful reality (Daniels, 2005). This may include feelings of
deeper connection with other people, humankind in general, life, the planet, or nature (Walsh &
Vaughan, 1993). Daniels (2013) described three vectors in transpersonal self-development. The
first is the descending path of individuation into the realm of the unconscious and dynamic
ground of being turning inward (domain of psychology). The second is the ascending path
toward wisdom where the ego is perceived as the “lower”self and transcendence is toward union
with the Higher Self (capital S), the Divine perceived as Higher Mind (“Superconscious”)
(domain of religion). The third is the extending path through participation in the mystery of
life enacting (i.e., bringing forth) key virtues of compassion, love, and generosity (domain of
humanism). This path focuses on the extension of the self, implying expansion of the boundaries
of moral, ethical, and spiritual concerns outward. The purely self-centered stance is enlarged to
encompass other people and global, political, economic, and ecological systems toward the
cosmic dimension. All three paths increase self-awareness. Often trauma, a crisis, or existential
needs are motivators and triggers to descend into the inner self, ascend toward wisdom and
union with the Higher Self, or extend the self into social/cosmic worlds.
SPIRITUAL MODELS OF ADULT HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
Although many spiritual models of adult human development exist, we use Buddhism as an
illustration. In Buddhism, the spiritual realization of Buddha Nature (Sanskrit, tathāgatagarbha)
is paramount, and emotional and moral virtues, such as the six Great Perfections (Sanskrit,
6ARDELT AND GRUNWALD

pāramitā)—generosity, discipline, patience, joyful endeavor (diligence), meditative concentra-
tion, and insight or wisdom awareness—are cultivated to bring forth loving-kindness (Sanskrit,
maitrī) and equanimity (Sanskrit, upekṣā) (Esposito, Fasching, & Lewis, 2015). According to
Buddhist teachings, attachment to the I/self, a subject looking out at an external world, creates
suffering because the true nature of self and the world is considered formless, ever changing, and
impermanent (Loy, 1997; Ray, 2008). Attachment to an isolated, individualized, and substantive
I/self that is in reality always changing causes suffering, particularly when this I/self grows old,
gets sick, and ultimately dies. Through mindfulness meditation, embodied self-reflection, and
self-awareness, the true nature of the self as a process rather than a substance can be realized
(Gowans, 2003). Self-inquiry, awareness, and mindfulness meditation practices are viewed as
critically important on the path of becoming fully human (Ray, 2008).
No-self corresponds to the emptiness of self in Buddhism, where the self is considered empty
of a substantive existence (Van Gordon, Shonin, & Griffiths, 2017). The concept of no-self is
intrinsically interwoven with the concept of nonattachment (Shonin, Van Gordon, & Griffiths,
2014). Nonattachment to self, intrinsic states, and the external world results in psychological
flexibility, emotional equanimity, quick recovery from upsets, and a general sense of ease.
Nonattachment has the subjective quality of not being stuck or fixated on images, ideas,
concepts, or sensory objects, and not feeling an internal pressure to acquire, hold, avoid, or
change (Sahdra et al., 2010). In Buddhist psychology, liberation is found through letting go of a
rigid self and mental fixations to simply let be (McLeod, 2007).
BUDDHIST MINDFULNESS, SECULAR MINDFULNESS, AND MCMINDFULNESS:
DEFINITIONS, ASSESSMENTS, AND EMPIRICAL FINDINGS
Self-reflection, awareness, and mindfulness meditation are closely aligned. Mindfulness medita-
tion aids in self-reflection, and awareness is common to many definitions of mindfulness from
ancient Wisdom traditions to modern Western psychology (Bodhi, 2011; MacDonald, Walsh, &
Shapiro, 2013; Quaglia, Brown, Lindsay, Creswell, & Goodman, 2015). As Weiss (2015)
pointed out, awareness involves heightened sensitivity of sensory, fully embodied present
moment experience. The cultivation of mindfulness meditation in different classic Buddhist
traditions has been “translated”into secular forms of mindfulness training in Western psychol-
ogy (Quaglia et al., 2015), such as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (Kabat-Zinn, 2003), and
utilized in various therapeutic programs.
Empirical studies have used a variety of quantitative methods to assess the emotional,
cognitive, and self-relational effects of mindfulness. Several mindfulness scales have been
developed, including the prominent 15-item Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) by
Baer, Smith, Hopkins, Krietemeyer, and Toney (2006), which assesses nonreactivity, observing,
acting with awareness, describing, and non-judging; the 15-item Mindful Attention Awareness
Scale (MAAS) by Brown and Ryan (2003); and the 12-item Cognitive and Affective
Mindfulness Scale (CAMS-R) by Feldman, Hayes, Kumar, Greeson, and Laurenceau (2007),
which measures attention, awareness, present-focus, and acceptance/nonjudgment of thoughts
and feelings. The 30-item Nonattachment Scale (NAS) by Sahdra et al. (2010) assesses feelings
and perceptions of I and other, self-reflection, openness, and self-acceptance. The 11-item
decentering factor of the Experiences Questionnaire by Fresco et al. (2007) was designed to
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measure the ability to observe one’s thoughts and feelings as temporary events in the mind, as
opposed to expressions of the self. The 16-item Self-Other Four Immeasurable (SOFI) scale by
Kraus and Sears (2009) measures four qualities of Buddhist teachings: acceptance toward self
and others, loving kindness, compassion, and joy. Mindfulness scales have been found to be
positively correlated with subjective and psychological well-being, mental health, perspective
taking ability, emotional intelligence, emotion regulation, acceptance, self-compassion, auton-
omy, self-actualization, and generosity and inversely with emotional and physical ill-being and
materialism (Baer et al., 2006; Brown & Ryan, 2003; Feldman et al., 2007; Fresco et al., 2007;
Kraus & Sears, 2009; Sahdra et al., 2010). In addition, mindfulness (Beaumont, 2011) and
meditation experiences (Williams, Mangelsdorf, Kontra, Nusbaum, & Hoeckner, 2016) were
positively related to three-dimensional wisdom, consisting of cognitive, reflective, and compas-
sionate dimensions (Ardelt, 2003). Meditation was also positively associated with self-
transcendence, assessed by the Adult Self-Transcendence Inventory (Levenson, Jennings,
Aldwin, & Shiraishi, 2005).
Neuroscience-based studies using brain imaging technology have associated neural corre-
lates, such as cortical thickness and gray matter density, with mindfulness meditation (Hölzel
et al., 2008; Lazar et al., 2005; Luders, Toga, Lepore, & Gaser, 2009), whereas electroence-
phalogram (EEG) studies that have measured the electrical activity of neurons in form of
wavebands in meditators suggest that during meditation, brain and heart activities become
more coordinated whereas functional interdependence between brain regions is reduced and
that cognitive restructuring and learning take place (Fell, Axmacher, & Haupt, 2010;Gao
et al., 2016; Lehmann et al., 2012). Other empirical studies have used qualitative methods to
assess the effects and experiences of meditation. For example, Chen, Qi, Hood, and Watson
(2011) studied the phenomenological structure of mystical experience among Chinese Pure
Land and Chan Buddhist monks and nuns, whereas Pagis (2010) used qualitative interviews
with Vipassana meditation practitioners to analyze the Buddhist constructs of dissatisfaction,
impermanence, and no-self in the form of embodied experiences.
Davidson (2010) and Davidson and Kaszniak (2015) addressed several key methodological
and conceptual issues in the empirical study of mindfulness. Mindfulness can be investigated in
reference to either states or traits and as an independent variable that is manipulated in an
experimental trial (Brown & Ryan, 2003). Evidence-based research on secular mindfulness has
demonstrated positive associations with stress-reduction, well-being and health, emotion regula-
tion, cognitive appraisal, and social relationships (Goyal et al., 2014; Greeson, 2009; Hempel,
Shekelle, Taylor, Marshall, & Solloway, 2014; Khoury et al., 2013; MacDonald et al., 2013).
However, most research has been largely disconnected from any spiritual or religious context.
Despite research progress, secularizing the term mindfulness has raised serious concern in
Buddhist communities (Blacker, Boyce, Winston, & Goodman, 2015). Ng and Purser (2015) and
Purser and Ng (2015) critiqued commodified forms of Buddhist mindfulness as McMindfulness,
which is a watered-down version of traditional mindfulness that has been decontextualized from its
religious/spiritual roots and ethics. For instance, mindfulness applied in the military to train
soldiers and treat PTSD is decontextualizing mindfulness from its ethical roots of no harm,
universal loving kindness, and compassion for all beings as articulated in Buddhist ethics
(Purser, 2014). The merging of the ancient tradition of mindfulness meditation and Western
psychotherapy (e.g., Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy) has raised concerns and at the
same time opened opportunities for new integrated therapeutic healing modalities (Fennell &
8ARDELT AND GRUNWALD

Segal, 2011; Welwood, 1999). In terms of the depth of self-reflection capacity, McMindfulness
and secular mindfulness may help to set the seed and shift habitual reactivity and mindless
behavior but might lack the deeper exploration of subjective knowing connected to Buddhist
beliefs and ethics. According to Wilson (2014), the secularized form of mindfulness becomes a
label for supposedly enlightened consumption to spend money and promise healing yet bypasses
the real practice of deep attention, profound awareness, and insights stemming from reflections
onto self. Although mindfulness is practiced in secular and nonsecular forms, its relationship to
self-reflection differs widely. Carrette and King (2005) contrasted the Revolutionary Spiritualities,
focused on deep self-reflection through mindfulness meditation, liberation of self, and social
connectedness, with Reformist Spiritualities, Individualist/Consumerist Spiritualities, and
Capitalist Spiritualities. For example, the Reformist Spiritualities legitimize ethically oriented
spiritual business enterprises (e.g., in the Quaker tradition), whereas Individualist/Consumerist
Spiritualities go one step further and use capitalist approaches and marketing (e.g., Mega
Churches, U.S. tele-evangelism), and Capitalist Spiritualities adopt a corporate orientation of
profit for its own sake that is spiritually detraditionalized. The three latter types of spiritualities
tend to promulgate individualistic orientations, reinforcing the commodification of life and
spiritual/religious domains, while distancing themselves from lived experience, which is in direct
opposition to the Buddhist view.
FINAL REMARKS
All models of adult human development are about overcoming crises and obstacles. These might
take the form of maturational crises in ontogenetic stage models, social injustices in sociogenic
models, external and internal conditioning in liberative models, or the transcendence of the self-
centered ego in transpersonal and spiritual models of development. In the end, the goal of self-
reflection and awareness in all models of adult development is fulfillment and well-being for
oneself, others, and society at large and the achievement of true mental health that includes
cognitive, emotional, and social well-being (Jahoda, 1958). Embodied self-awareness provides
the most integrative lens, emphasizing the lived experience and social body and mind that is
coupled to the environment. The practice of self-reflection and mindfulness enhances awareness
to moment-to-moment experiences, which augments problem-solving capacity, increases resi-
lience during hard times, and aids in the recovery from trauma (Ayduk & Kross, 2010).
ORCID
Monika Ardelt http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4313-8742
Sabine Grunwald http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9023-1720
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