The effect of short-term mindfulness intervention on risk decision-making of final-year undergraduate students
Yani Duan, Nor Akmar Nordin, Siti Aisyah Panatik, Chenyu Zhang, 德猛 杨, Yan Li
Frontiers in Psychiatry September 30, 2026 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2026.1904313 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | 2×2 mixed experimental design Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 44 |
| Population | Final-year undergraduate students in China |
| Intervention | Mindfulness training |
| Duration | 4-week mindfulness training |
| Measures | Uncertainty decision tasks, FFMQ-20 |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | The Mindfulness Group showed a significant reduction in the probability of high-risk decisions and shorter decision reaction times compared with the Control Group. The authors suggest that short-term mindfulness training can suppress reliance on intuitive thinking and enhance prudent decision-making. |
Abstract
Mindfulness training holds unique value in enhancing decision-making, particularly under uncertainty. Against the backdrop of Chinese fresh graduates facing mounting employment pressure, widened wealth gaps, and a heightened tendency for high-risk decisions, this study draws on Risk Sensitivity Theory (RST) and the Self-Control Resource Model (SCM). Employing a 2×2 mixed experimental design, it explores the effect of a 4-week mindfulness training on final-year undergraduate students’ risk decision-making. Forty-four students were divided into a Mindfulness Group and a Control Group, with assessments conducted using uncertainty decision tasks and the FFMQ-20 scale. Results indicate the Mindfulness Group exhibited a significant reduction in high-risk decision probability and shorter decision reaction time. The findings suggest that short-term mindfulness training can suppress reliance on intuitive thinking and enhance prudent decision-making. These results are discussed within the theoretical frameworks of Risk Sensitivity Theory and the Self-Control Resource Model.
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 6
- Mindful attention reduces neural and self-reported cue-induced craving in smokers Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience November 22, 2011
- Effects of mindfulness training on emotional and physiologic recovery from induced negative affect. Psychoneuroendocrinology December 2017
- Mindfulness online: an evaluation of the feasibility of a web-based mindfulness course for stress, anxiety and depression BMJ Open November 1, 2013
- Combined Goal Management Training and Mindfulness meditation improve executive functions and decision-making performance in abstinent polysubstance abusers. Drug and Alcohol Dependence February 1, 2011
- Mindfulness practice leads to increases in regional brain gray matter density Psychiatry Research November 10, 2010
and 1 more in the library