Mindfulness - as a coping strategy

Mindfulness has been described as “paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non judgmentally.”(Kabat-Zinn, 1994,p. 4). It is a technique where one focuses on the present, gradually letting go of thoughts about the past or the future. Mindfulness is becoming more popular as a technique to help people manage stress. Research suggests, for example, that individuals who have higher levels of mindfulness have increased performance in attention and cognitive flexibility (Moore &Malinowski, 2009); report higher levels of relationship satisfaction (Kozlowski, 2013), and lower levels of perceived stress (Roeser et al.,2013). As a therapeutic technique mindfulness has been shown to be effective through, for example, Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (Nevanper, 2012). Aims of Research: The argument offered here is that mindfulness is likely to act in the same way as other types of coping i.e. that it is not a ‘silver bullet’and that it is likely to be a preferred strategy used by some and not others. The aim of this research therefore is to compare the impact of mindfulness compared to other types of coping on well-being -operationalised as happiness, self compassion and stress.