Mindfulness Predicts Mind Wandering and Differentially Affects Its Controllability in Everyday Life.
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| Title: | Mindfulness Predicts Mind Wandering and Differentially Affects Its Controllability in Everyday Life. |
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| Authors: | Normann, Agatha (AUTHOR), Voracek, Martin (AUTHOR), Tran, Ulrich S. (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Creativity Research Journal. Oct-Dec2025, Vol. 37 Issue 4, p639-653. 15p. |
| Subjects: | Mindfulness, Mind-wandering, Differential psychology, Control groups, Everyday life, Cognitive ability, Creative ability, Cognitive psychology |
| Abstract: | It is currently unresolved whether control, or its lack, over mind wandering contributes to its associations with creativity. Mind wandering and mindfulness are seen as opposing constructs concerning the ability to remain undistracted and, at the same time, appear to have a complex relationship with one another and with creativity. This study investigated the influence of control on novelty and usefulness of thought content during mind wandering in everyday life, controlling for mindfulness, creativity, and momentary mood. One thousand twenty-five thought probes of 41 healthy young adults were collected over the course of one week. The mindfulness facet acting with awareness and higher originality predicted less mind wandering. Acting with awareness also predicted higher, but nonreactivity to inner experience and creative production lower, momentary control. Momentary control was lower among women than men and positively associated with usefulness, but not novelty, of thoughts. Creativity did not moderate these associations. Habitual spontaneous mind wandering predicted lower usefulness and novelty of thoughts. These results highlight the need to distinguish controlled and uncontrolled mind wandering and the facets of mindfulness in this field of inquiry. Future research should focus on the contents and processes of mind wandering to further disentangle its adaptive and maladaptive consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Creativity Research Journal is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
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