State Mindfulness, Self-Regulation, and Emotional Experience in Everyday Life

Mindfulness is associated with a host of beneficial outcomes. Increasing evidence has suggested that mindfulness may support adaptive self-regulation. The present research investigates fluctuations in state mindfulness in everyday life and links these with desire experiences and self-regulation. When high in state mindfulness, participants experienced less conflict between desires and other goals, tried to resist desires less, and enacted desires to a greater extent than when less mindful. This was accompanied by less use of self-regulatory strategies, including suppression, self-stopping, distraction, and avoidance. In addition, state mindfulness was associated with greater happiness, less guilt, and less regret after enacting desires. It is important to note that when conflict between desires and other goals was high, participants exerted as much restraint when reporting low as when reporting high state mindfulness. These findings suggest that state mindfulness goes along with wise self-regulation as opposed to strictly higher restraint: enjoying the benefits of indulgence without risking important long-term goals.