Closed-loop model of mindfulness-based psychological regulation in competitive performance
Frontiers in Psychology April 24, 2026 Daliang Zhao
A process-based, closed-loop model of mindfulness-based psychological regulation explains how athletes maintain attentional stability and functional operation under continuous performance pressure. Drawing on sport psychology, cognitive science, and Chan Buddhism, the model establishes a hierarchical framework where attentional control serves as the proximal mechanism of performance, disrupted by mental proliferation. It integrates four functional dimensions—Meaning Construction, Process Orientation, Attention Anchoring, and Psychological Re-centering—organized across the initiation, propagation, execution, and recovery phases of proliferation. These dimensions are coordinated through a Reference Chain (Identification-Referencing-Returning) acting as a recursive control mechanism for real-time recalibration. The model shifts sport mindfulness research from outcome-based descriptions toward process-level understanding.