Effects of a Mindfulness-Based Intervention on Mindfulness, Self-Compassion, and Achievement Goal Orientations in Teacher Education
Esma Nur Gözütok, Ahmet Serhat Gözütok
Uluslararası Türk Eğitim Bilimleri Dergisi November 29, 2025 DOI: 10.46778/goputeb.1772648 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Quasi-experimental Randomized Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Prospective teachers |
| Intervention | Mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) |
| Duration | 8-week intervention |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Intervention counseling Test biology Control management Goal orientation Randomized controlled trial Goal setting Applied psychology Clinical psychology Developmental psychology Repeated measures design Academic achievement Metacognition Analysis of covariance Perceived control Teacher education Medical education Affect linguistics |
| Key findings | The MBI group showed significant gains in mindfulness, self-compassion, and mastery-approach goal orientation relative to the control group. |
Abstract
Mindfulness is increasingly recognized in education as an evidence-based approach to strengthening teachers’ self-regulatory functioning and overall well-being. This quasi-experimental study examined the effects of an 8-week mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) on perceived mindfulness, self-compassion, and achievement goal orientations among prospective teachers. Participants were assigned to an intervention or control group, and the measurement instruments were administered at pretest and posttest. The ANCOVA tests showed significant gains in mindfulness and self-compassion for the MBI group relative to the control group, alongside increases in mastery-approach goal orientation. In contrast, the intervention had no considerable effects on mastery-avoidance or performance-avoidance goals, and was associated with a decrease in performance-approach goals. Taken together, the findings suggest that integrating MBIs into teacher-education programs may strengthen personal resources and motivational orientations. Future randomized trials with larger samples and follow-up are needed to test durability and mechanisms of the intervention effect. By integrating perspectives on self-compassion and achievement motivation, this study extends prior mindfulness research in teacher education, advancing the understanding of how mindfulness-based approaches may enhance adaptive personal and motivational capacities among prospective teachers.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Cancer patients (clinical intervention study) | 2003 | Mixed methods: scale development, correlational, quasi-experimental, laboratory, experience-sampling, and clinical intervention study | |
| Loving-kindness meditation increases social connectedness. | 2008 | Controlled laboratory experiment | |
| Mindfulness and mind-wandering: Finding convergence through opposing constructs. | 2012 | Two studies: correlational study and experimental study | |
| Mental Training Enhances Attentional Stability: Neural and Behavioral Evidence | 2009 | Experimental study | |
| Mindfulness meditation and substance use in an incarcerated population. Incarcerated population | 2006 | Quasi-experimental with treatment-as-usual control condition |
Citations in the library
Cites 30
- The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 2003
- Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. Clinical Psychology Science and Practice 2004
- Mechanisms of mindfulness Journal of Clinical Psychology December 29, 2005
- Mindfulness: Theoretical Foundations and Evidence for its Salutary Effects Psychological Inquiry October 19, 2007
- How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective Perspectives on Psychological Science October 14, 2011
and 25 more in the library