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An Experimental Test of the Mindfulness-to-Meaning Theory: Casual Pathways Between Decentering, Reappraisal, and Well-being

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Yiyi Wang at University of Toronto
Yiyi Wang
Eric Garland at University of Utah
Eric Garland
Norman Farb at University of Toronto
Norman Farb
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Abstract

Emotion regulation ideally promotes subjective well-being in addition to relieving distress. Mindfulness-to-Meaning theory (MMT) proposes that well-being interventions follow a common pathway to promote wellness using two intermediate stages: decentering from initial stress appraisals followed by positive reappraisal of life events—linking a broadened state of awareness with narrative meaning-making. A preregistered (https://osf.io/c2xzd) evaluation of the MMT compared online, 3-week adaptations of established well-being interventions in a postsecondary student sample. The study (N = 131) employed a four-arm randomized trial design, featuring (a) control, (b) mindfulness, (c) stress mindset, and (d) blended mindfulness and stress mindset training conditions. The MMT pathway accounted for change in well-being across all models, mindfulness training consistently promoted positive reappraisal despite an absence of reappraisal instructions, and an exploratory cross-lagged analysis found decentering facilitative of subsequent reappraisal. However, the stress mindset intervention failed to improve well-being relative to control, limiting capacity for causal inference; post hoc analyses, therefore, focused on the more efficacious mindfulness training conditions. The MMT accounted for change in well-being across all levels of analysis, although well-being changes were also supported by direct effects of mindfulness training and decentering, with only partial mediation through the complete MMT pathway. These findings support MMT as a process model for well-being but suggest that decentering and reappraisal only partially account for the salutary effects of well-being interventions.
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An Experimental Test of the Mindfulness-to-Meaning Theory: Casual Pathways
Between Decentering, Reappraisal, and Well-being
Yiyi Wang
1
, Eric L. Garland
2
, and Norman A. S. Farb
1, 3
1
Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga
2
Center on Mindfulness and Integrative Health Intervention Development, College of Social Work, University of Utah
3
Department of Psychological Clinical Science, University of Toronto Scarborough
Emotion regulation ideally promotes subjective well-being in addition to relieving distress. Mindfulness-to-
Meaning theory (MMT) proposes that well-being interventions follow a common pathway to promote well-
ness using two intermediate stages: decentering from initial stress appraisals followed by positive reap-
praisal of life events—linking a broadened state of awareness with narrative meaning-making. A
preregistered (https://osf.io/c2xzd) evaluation of the MMT compared online, 3-week adaptations of estab-
lished well-being interventions in a postsecondary student sample. The study (N=131) employed a four-
arm randomized trial design, featuring (a) control, (b) mindfulness, (c) stress mindset, and (d) blended mind-
fulness and stress mindset training conditions. The MMT pathway accounted forchange in well-being across
all models, mindfulness training consistently promoted positive reappraisal despite an absence of reappraisal
instructions, and an exploratory cross-lagged analysis found decentering facilitative of subsequent reap-
praisal. However, the stress mindset intervention failed to improve well-being relative to control, limiting
capacity for causal inference; post hoc analyses, therefore, focused on the more efficacious mindfulness
training conditions. The MMT accounted for change in well-being across all levels of analysis, although
well-being changes were also supported by direct effects of mindfulness training and decentering, with
only partial mediation through the complete MMT pathway. These findings support MMT as a process
model for well-being but suggest that decentering and reappraisal only partially account for the salutary
effects of well-being interventions.
Keywords: mindfulness, decentering, reappraisal, well-being, mindfulness-to-meaning theory
Supplemental materials: https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0001252.supp
Well-being has been characterized as a state of high positive affect
(PA), low negative affect, and high life satisfaction (Larsen, 2022). In
contrast to clinical accounts that enumerate dimensions of distress,
well-being is situated within a continuum anchored by languishing
and flourishing, indicating a person’s level of positive and meaningful
engagement with life (Keyes, 2007). Well-being interventions aim to
promote flourishing,yet in comparison toextensive scholarship on the
mechanisms for symptom reduction in clinical psychology (e.g.,
Abramowitz & Deacon, 2010;Gruber et al., 2021), the central mech-
anisms supporting flourishing are underspecified in the research
literature. For example, Self-Determination Theory suggests that
flourishing is characterized by levels of competence, autonomy, and
relatedness to others (Ryan et al., 2019), yet how one fosters these
adaptive qualities is less clear (Gillison et al., 2019).
Well-being promotion is supported by a new generation of candi-
date interventions, such as connecting with nature (Capaldi et al.,
2015), mindset training (Jamieson et al., 2018), positive psychology
interventions (Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009;White et al., 2019), and
contemplative approaches such as mindfulness (Gu et al., 2015)
and yoga (Breedvelt et al., 2019). Yet despite the proliferation of
This article was published Online First May 11, 2023.
Yiyi Wang https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2198-581X
Eric L. Garland is the Director of the Center on Mindfulness and Integrative
Health Intervention Development. The center provides Mindfulness-Oriented
Recovery Enhancement (MORE), mindfulness-based therapy, and cognitive
behavioral therapy in the context of research trials for no cost to research par-
ticipants; however, Eric L. Garland has received honoraria and payment for
delivering seminars, lectures, and teaching engagements (related to training cli-
nicians in MORE), including those sponsored by institutions of higher educa-
tion, government agencies, academic teaching hospitals, and medical centers.
Eric L. Garland also receives royalties from the sale of books related to MORE.
Eric L. Garland has also been a consultant and licensor to BehaVR, LLC.
Eric L. Garland received funding from NIH and Norman A.S. Farb
received funding from Canadian Natural Sciences and Engineering Council
(NSERC) Discovery.
The data were preregistered at: https://osf.io/c2xzd
Yiyi Wang served as lead for data curation, formal analysis, investiga-
tion, methodology, and project administration. Eric L. Garland served in a
supporting role for funding acquisition, writing–original draft, and writ-
ing–review and editing. Norman A. S. Farb served as lead for funding
acquisition, supervision, and contributed equally to formal analysis and
methodology. Yiyi Wang, Eric L. Garland, and Norman A. S. Farb con-
tributed to conceptualization equally. Yiyi Wang, Eric L. Garland, and
Norman A. S. Farb contributed to writing–original draft, writing–review
and editing, and visualization equally.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Yiyi Wang,
Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga, 3359
Mississauga Road, Mississauga, ON L5L 1C6, Canada. Email: yiyiw
.wang@mail.utoronto.ca
Emotion
© 2023 American Psychological Association 2023, Vol. 23, No. 8, 2243–2258
ISSN: 1528-3542 https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0001252
2243
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.
... This shift may proposedly have a positive influence on well-being (Shapiro et al., 2006). Moreover, decentering has been found to aid in maintaining well-being during adversity (Bernstein et al., 2015;Wang et al., 2023). Thus, decentering may act as an intermediate outcome that could potentially influence more distal mental health outcomes. ...
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  • Jun 2024
  • Mindfulness
Objectives The primary objective of this study was to investigate the feasibility assessed by reach and dose of an organizational-level workplace-adapted mindfulness-based intervention (MBI). Secondarily, potential changes in mental health and organizational outcomes were evaluated. Method Using a quasi-experimental design without a control group, the study included four small- and medium-sized private companies. A three-step MBI was delivered live online via Zoom. Feasibility was assessed using data on reach (number of participants) and dose (number of sessions attended). Data on mental health and organizational outcomes were collected at baseline and 3- and 12-month follow-up and analyzed using mixed-effects linear regression for continuous variables, and mixed-effects logistic regression for dichotomous variables. Results In total, 278 (75.54%) employees and managers participated in an introductory session, and 169 (45.92%) signed up for a workplace-adapted 10-week MBSR course, while 3 (75.00%) companies participated in an implementation workshop. Among MBSR-participants, the median dosage was 9/10 sessions in three companies, and 8/10 in one company. Only small statistically non-significant changes were seen in mental health outcomes, such as tendencies to decreased perceived stress and increased well-being at 3-month follow-up. However, these tendencies were not sustained at 12-month follow-up. Yet, a positive impact was seen on respondents’ ability to decenter, and thus observe one’s thoughts and feelings, at both 3- and 12-month follow-up. Organizational impact at 3-month follow-up varied across outcome measures, with a statistically significant reduced likelihood of occasionally experiencing negative acts. However, at 12-month follow-up, this reduction was no longer statistically significant, and measures of social capital and psychological safety had generally decreased. Conclusions This workplace MBI is deemed feasible. However, the potential impacts on mental health and organizational outcomes remain unclear. Preregistration This study is registered at ISRCTN Registry (ISRCTN93567471).
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... This can also lead to a more compassionate and accepting selfrelationship, which is a cornerstone of psychological well-being (Good et al., 2016). Furthermore, mindfulness has been shown to enhance emotional regulation through reappraisal techniques (Wenzel et al., 2023); individuals learn to observe their emotions without becoming overwhelmed by them, allowing for greater emotional stability and resilience in the face of stressors (Wang et al., 2023). All in all, these factors contribute to an increased frequency of positive affect (i.e. ...
Socio-cognitive mindfulness is a well-being booster: a serial mediation model to test the mindfulness reappraisal hypothesis with managers
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Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between mindfulness and two types of well-being, namely subjective and psychological well-being, particularly in a managerial context. The mindfulness-to-meaning theory (MMT) suggests that the practice of mindfulness might lead individuals to reevaluate and find greater meaning in their experiences, ultimately contributing to increased well-being. Accordingly, we argue that mindfulness boosts well-being because it may potentially lead managers to reappraise what surrounds them, making them experience more frequent positive affect. Design/methodology/approach A two-wave survey with a two-week interval was used to gather quantitative data. An overall sample of 1,260 managers with and without experience with mindfulness took part in the study. Findings Structural equation modeling showed that mindfulness had a direct and positive relationship with both subjective and psychological well-being. Furthermore, both processes – positive reappraisal and positive affect – mediated the path from mindfulness to both forms of well-being. Practical implications The findings emphasize the importance of creating training strategies that develop managers’ ability to positively reappraise daily events and occurrences, which may trigger more frequently positive affective experiences. Therefore, promoting mindfulness training at the workplace may develop mindful employees, especially by working on specific strategies, such as positive reappraisal, which may be a promising empirical-based strategy to enhance well-being. Originality/value This study adds knowledge about how mindfulness can contribute to well-being and contributes to expanding the mindfulness-to-meaning theory by adding positive affective experiences as an additional mechanism in the relationship between mindfulness and well-being. Specifically, it demonstrates that the practice of mindfulness helps managers to positively reappraise their surroundings, which results in more frequent experiences of positive affect.
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... Our findings support this notion, indicating that mindfulness may prompt new appraisals in situations that typically elicit stress or threat responses. In contrast to other studies empirically testing this theoretical framework in nonclinical samples using well-being as an outcome [34,117], we demonstrate that these assumptions can also be confirmed in a clinical sample when predicting longitudinal changes in depression. Additionally, we found that while trait-like variation in acceptance relates to mindfulness and both depression and anxiety symptoms, longitudinal increases in acceptance specifically mediated changes in depressive symptoms [85]. ...
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... In turn, such positive reappraisals are believed to reduce negative emotional reactivity to stressful life events. The MMT has been supported by numerous empirical studies [89][90][91][92]. ...
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