Presenting mindfulness meditation as a 'scientifically proven tool' rather than a 'sacred Buddhist practice' can enhance its therapeutic benefits. College students who received a secular-primed mindfulness intervention reported greater increases in happiness compared to those who received a sacred-primed version, though both mindfulness conditions reduced depression, anxiety, stress, and negative affect while boosting positive affect and optimism relative to a control group. The findings suggest that how mindfulness is framed influences its effectiveness for specific outcomes.
A brief, single-use mindful body scan practice did not reduce risk-taking behavior more than a mind-wandering control exercise in a laboratory setting. In a randomized trial with 153 undergraduate students, no significant interaction of condition by time was found on state mindfulness or risk-taking scores, though main effects of time emerged for both variables. A small, significant correlation between change in state mindfulness and change in risk-taking was observed for the full sample, but in the opposite direction than expected. The findings suggest that a brief body scan may not differentially affect risk-taking compared to mind-wandering.