The key role of cognitive fusion linking mindfulness and personality: a cross-sectional study.
Daniel Heppt, Niklas Bergmann, Ingmar Conell, Inge Hahne, Eric Hahn, Thi Minh Tam Ta, Kerem Böge
Scientific Reports September 23, 2025 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-18324-z (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Cross-sectional study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 779 |
| Population | International meditators |
| Intervention | Meditation |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Cognitive fusion Personality traits Psychological flexibility |
| Key findings | Mindfulness mediated the relationship between meditation experience and all five personality traits, with the strongest effect on reducing neuroticism, and cognitive fusion fully mediated the association with conscientiousness and extraversion. |
Abstract
The present article explores the relationship between mindfulness meditation and personality. Based on a substantial body of research, mindfulness has been shown to have significant associations with personality. Recent research suggests that mindfulness meditation may influence personality traits in accordance with the Five Factor Personality Model. To examine this, we investigated whether mindfulness mediates the relationship between meditation experience and personality in an international, cross-sectional sample of N = 779 meditators (mean meditation experience = 6.4 years, 69.8% female). Additionally, the mechanism of how mindfulness and personality are associated remains largely unclear. We therefore assessed whether cognitive fusion, a measure of psychological flexibility, functions as a mediator between both constructs. Our analyses indicate that mindfulness serves as a significant mediator for all five personality traits, supporting the hypothesis that mindfulness meditation may contribute to changes in personality traits, particularly by reducing neuroticism. As the mediated effect was strongest for neuroticism, this underscores the potential of mindfulness meditation to possibly have an influence on mental wellbeing. Cognitive fusion significantly mediated the effect of mindfulness on neuroticism (β = - 0.40, 95% CI [-.45, -.34]) and agreeableness (β = 0.17, 95% CI [0.10, 0.24]), while fully mediating the association with conscientiousness (β = 0.17, 95% CI [0.10, 0.25]). These results suggest that enhanced cognitive flexibility accounts for a significant proportion of mindfulness's impact on personality. Our results further revealed a previously unidentified pathway wherein cognitive fusion fully mediated the relationship between mindfulness and extraversion (β = 0.19, 95% CI [0.11, 0.27]), a trait typically displaying a weak association with mindfulness. These findings suggest cognitive fusion's central role in linking mindfulness and personality and offer a promising foundation for future explorations in this field.
Comparable studies
Other cross-sectional and survey studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Construct Validity of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire in Meditating and Nonmeditating Samples Experienced meditators and nonmeditating comparison groups | 2008 | Cross-sectional study | |
| Neural Correlates of Dispositional Mindfulness During Affect Labeling Adult participants | 2007 | Observational cross-sectional | n = 27 |
| Assessing mindfulness in children and adolescents: Development and validation of the Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM). School-aged children and adolescents | 2011 | Cross-sectional validation study | n = 1,413 |
| Mindfulness and self-compassion as predictors of psychological wellbeing in long-term meditators and matched nonmeditators Experienced meditators and demographically matched nonmeditators | 2012 | Cross-sectional study | n = 152 |
| Mechanisms of Action in the Inverse Relationship Between Mindfulness and Psychological Distress Undergraduates | 2008 | Cross-sectional, correlational |
Citations in the library
Cites 11
- How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective Perspectives on Psychological Science October 14, 2011
- Mindfulness, psychological flexibility and their relationship with psychopathology in persons with schizophrenia-spectrum-disorders and healthy controls - A multicenter cross-sectional study. Psychiatry Research December 1, 2023
- Trends and Developments in Mindfulness Research over 55 Years: A Bibliometric Analysis of Publications Indexed in Web of Science Mindfulness July 16, 2021
- Unpleasant meditation-related experiences in regular meditators: Prevalence, predictors, and conceptual considerations PLoS One May 9, 2019
- Mindfulness self-help interventions for symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress: Review and meta-analysis February 12, 2018
and 6 more in the library