Decentering in the process of cultivating mindfulness: An experience-sampling study in time and context.
Adi Shoham, Pavel Goldstein, Ravit Oren, David Spivak, Amit Bernstein
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology February 2017 DOI: 10.1037/ccp0000154 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Single-subject, multiple-baseline experimental design with intensive experience sampling Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 82 |
| Population | Meditation-naive adults from the general community, 52% women, mean age 25.05 years (SD 3.26) |
| Intervention | Mahasi-based mindfulness training |
| Duration | 1-month, 6-session intervention; 52 experience samples collected over the course of the program |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | Participants grew more mindful and decentered across the program. Mindfulness and decentering were associated in daily living, more strongly in meditative states, and the same contextual pattern appeared for emotional valence and arousal. Decentering mediated the effect of mindfulness on reduced emotional arousal in meditative states but did not mediate its effect on positive emotional valence. |
Abstract
Through intensive experience sampling, we studied the practice and development of mindfulness as a dynamic process in time and context. We focused on role(s) and salutary function(s) of mindfulness and decentering for emotional experience over the course of mindfulness practice and development. Eighty-two meditation-naive adults from the general community, 52% women, Mage (SD) = 25.05 (3.26) years, participated in a 1-month, 6-session, Mahasi-based mindfulness-training intervention (Mahasi, 1978). We collected 52 digital experience samples of mindfulness, decentering, and emotional experience, in the context of daily living and meditative states, over the course of the program. Data were analyzed via time-varying effects models (TVEMs) and mixed-linear models (MLMs) within a single-subject, multiple-baseline experimental design. First, over the course of the intervention, participants grew more mindful and decentered in daily living and meditative states. Second, the association between mindfulness and decentering was significant in daily living, although the magnitude of this association was stronger in meditative states. Third, we observed the same contextualized pattern of relations between mindfulness and emotional valence (happy > sad) as well as arousal (calm > nervous). Finally, whereas decentering mediated the effect of mindfulness on reduced emotional arousal in meditative states, it did not similarly mediate the effect of mindfulness on positive emotional valence. The present findings illustrate the insights that may be gained about mindfulness mechanisms broadly and decentering specifically through the study of mindfulness as a dynamic, contextualized developmental process over time. (PsycINFO Database Record
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
Cited by 31
- How mindfulness training promotes positive emotions: Dismantling acceptance skills training in two randomized controlled trials. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology December 1, 2018
- Testing the mindfulness-to-meaning theory: Evidence for mindful positive emotion regulation from a reanalysis of longitudinal data. PLoS One December 6, 2017
- Emotion Regulation as a Mechanism of Mindfulness in Individual Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Depression and Anxiety Disorders. Depression and Anxiety 2024
- Bridging the gap of brain and experience - Converging Neurophenomenology with Spatiotemporal Neuroscience. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews June 1, 2025
- Effects of a Mindfulness Intervention Among Arab Teachers Are Mediated by Decentering: A Pilot Study Frontiers in Psychology September 29, 2020
and 26 more in the library
Cites 31
- 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
- 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
- Alterations in Brain and Immune Function Produced by Mindfulness Meditation Psychosomatic Medicine July 1, 2003
and 26 more in the library