Framing the mind: media, metaphors, and mindfulness
James Meaden
Frontiers in Social Psychology January 12, 2026 DOI: 10.3389/frsps.2025.1621640 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key points | Argues that mindfulness is strongly influenced by environments, including media environments, and that container-based metaphors of mind prevalent in digital media may unintentionally hinder present-moment awareness. Proposes an expanded media literacy that includes awareness of language and metaphor, opening new research and design avenues for how media environments support or suppress mindfulness. |
Abstract
Mindfulness has been studied in media and communication research as an individual capacity for regulating attention, managing distraction, and critically engaging with content. This perspective paper introduces an alternative approach, one that recognizes that mindfulness is strongly influenced by environments, including media environments. Drawing on the environmental model of mindfulness, this paper examines how dominant metaphors of mind, especially container-based metaphors prevalent in and propagated by digital media, may unintentionally make mindfulness harder to achieve. Building on this insight, an expanded role for media literacy is proposed, one that includes awareness of the effects of language and metaphor on the capability for present-moment awareness. This perspective opens new avenues for research and design by illuminating how media environments can support, or unintentionally suppress, mindfulness.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. | 2004 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mechanisms of mindfulness | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective | 2011 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART): a framework for understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of mindfulness | 2012 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cites 4
- The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 2003
- The Oxford Handbook of 4E Cognition Oxford University Press eBooks September 13, 2018
- Editorial: Mindfulness in internet and new media. Frontiers in Psychology September 22, 2023
- 'Stream of consciousness' and 'ownership of thought' in indigenous people in central Australia. Journal of Analytical Psychology October 1, 2000