Can Mindfulness Be Too Much of a Good Thing? The Value of a Middle Way

Mindfulness-related processes, including mindful attention, emotion regulation, and meditation practice, may not be universally beneficial. Instead, they can follow an inverted U-shaped trajectory where their typically positive effects turn negative under certain conditions, such as excessive or misapplied practice. This review synthesizes evidence of non-monotonicity, boundary conditions, and negative effects across these processes. The authors propose a research agenda to investigate mindfulness as a non-monotonic phenomenon, which could explain the mix of positive, null, and negative effects observed in studies and help maximize the efficacy of mindfulness-based interventions.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Previous research has found that very few, if any, psychological or physiological processes are universally beneficial. Instead, positive phenomena tend to follow a non-monotonic or inverted U-shaped trajectory where their typically positive effects eventually turn negative. This review investigates mindfulness-related processes for signs of non-monotonicity. A number of mindfulness-related processes—including, mindful attention (observing awareness, interoception), mindfulness qualities, mindful emotion regulation (prefrontal control, decentering, exposure, acceptance), and meditation practice—show signs of non-monotonicity, boundary conditions, or negative effects under certain conditions. A research agenda that investigates the possibility of mindfulness as non-monotonic may be able to provide an explanatory framework for the mix of positive, null and negative effects that could maximize the efficacy of mindfulness-based interventions.