Relationships between mindfulness, flow and enjoyment
Bart Adins
University of Thessaly Institutional Repository 2013 DOI: 10.26253/heal.uth.2260 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cross-sectional study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 307 |
| Population | German-speaking participants who all participate in sports (mean age 26.47), including competitive and recreational athletes |
| Measures | KIMS-short, Flow-Kurzfragenbogen (FKS), German Version of Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | Mindfulness, flow, and enjoyment were positively correlated, and competitive athletes reported higher flow, enjoyment, and some mindfulness facets than recreational athletes. The authors suggest that flow mediates the relationship between mindfulness and enjoyment: mindfulness predicted greater flow, which in turn predicted greater enjoyment, while the direct mindfulness-enjoyment association became non-significant after controlling for flow. |
Abstract
The current study investigated the relationships between mindfulness, flow and enjoyment, and attempted to identify whether flow mediates the relation between mindfulness and enjoyment.The sample consisted of 307 German speaking participants (mean age 26.47) who all participate in sports.Dispositional mindfulness was assessed with KIMS-short (Höfling, Ströhle, & Michalak, 2011), Flow with Flow-Kurzfragenboog (FKS; Rheinberg, Vollmeyer, & Engenser, 2003) and Enjoyment with German Version of Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale (Jedauc et al, 2012).Preliminary analyses showed sufficient reliability for all scales and subscales.Examination of the bivariate correlations revealed positive correlations between mindfulness and flow (r = .27,p < .01),mindfulness and enjoyment (r = .20,p < .01)and between flow and enjoyment (r = .47,p < .01).Furthermore, the findings showed that competitive athletes report higher scores than recreational athletes on flow (p < .01), enjoyment (p < .01)and the mindfulness scales acting with awareness and undivided attention (p < .05)as well as observing external stimuli (p < .01).Regression analyses were used to test the mediation hypothesis.The analysis showed that the significant relationship between mindfulness and enjoyment became insignificant (.08, p = .16),after controlling for flow as a mediator.A significant effect of mindfulness on flow (.27, p < .05)and flow on enjoyment (.45, p < .05)was reported so we can suggest that flow is a mediator on the relationship of mindfulness and enjoyment.Flow will be higher for athletes who report higher mindfulness and in turn this higher flow leads to more enjoyment.This article furthermore discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the study and gives directions for future research.
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 |