IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jhappi/v21y2020i8d10.1007_s10902-019-00201-y.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Contribution of Meaningfulness and Mindfulness to Psychological Well-Being and Mental Health: A Structural Equation Model

Author

Listed:
  • Antonio Crego

    (Pontifical University of Salamanca)

  • José Ramón Yela

    (Pontifical University of Salamanca)

  • María Ángeles Gómez-Martínez

    (Pontifical University of Salamanca)

  • Ahmed A. Karim

    (University of Tübingen
    SRH Mobile University
    Jacobs University)

Abstract

Experiencing meaning in life and practicing mindfulness in daily life are desirable features of a healthy and satisfactory life. However, the relationships among meaningfulness, mindfulness, psychological well-being and mental health outcomes remains elusive. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between mindfulness and meaning in life and to analyse how these variables are connected with life satisfaction, happiness, mental health and affect scores, regarded as outcome variables, after controlling for the effects of socio-demographic variables and religious attitudes. The data from a questionnaire survey (N = 1628), including measures of the presence of meaning in life, dispositional mindfulness, life satisfaction, happiness, mental health and affect, were analysed using correlation analyses, multiple regression analyses and structural equation modelling. Mindfulness and meaningfulness were significantly associated with one another. A structural equation model revealed that compared to mindfulness, meaningfulness was more strongly associated with positive well-being (i.e., life satisfaction, happiness and positive affect). Mindfulness, however, had a stronger relationship with negative well-being (i.e., negative affect and mental health issues). Moreover, meaningfulness was found to mediate the relationship between mindfulness and both positive and negative well-being. These findings provide new insights for psychological interventions promoting well-being and enhancing mental health through mindfulness- and meaningfulness-based approaches.

Suggested Citation

  • Antonio Crego & José Ramón Yela & María Ángeles Gómez-Martínez & Ahmed A. Karim, 2020. "The Contribution of Meaningfulness and Mindfulness to Psychological Well-Being and Mental Health: A Structural Equation Model," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(8), pages 2827-2850, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:21:y:2020:i:8:d:10.1007_s10902-019-00201-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s10902-019-00201-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10902-019-00201-y
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10902-019-00201-y?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dolan, Paul & Peasgood, Tessa & White, Mathew, 2008. "Do we really know what makes us happy A review of the economic literature on the factors associated with subjective well-being," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 94-122, February.
    2. Natalio Extremera & Pablo Fernández-Berrocal, 2014. "The Subjective Happiness Scale: Translation and Preliminary Psychometric Evaluation of a Spanish Version," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 119(1), pages 473-481, October.
    3. Cristián Coo & Marisa Salanova, 2018. "Mindfulness Can Make You Happy-and-Productive: A Mindfulness Controlled Trial and Its Effects on Happiness, Work Engagement and Performance," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 19(6), pages 1691-1711, August.
    4. Adam Hanley & Alia Warner & Eric Garland, 2015. "Associations Between Mindfulness, Psychological Well-Being, and Subjective Well-Being with Respect to Contemplative Practice," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 16(6), pages 1423-1436, December.
    5. Michael Steger & Todd Kashdan, 2007. "Stability and specificity of meaning in life and life satisfaction over one year," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 8(2), pages 161-179, June.
    6. Sonja Lyubomirsky & Heidi Lepper, 1999. "A Measure of Subjective Happiness: Preliminary Reliability and Construct Validation," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 46(2), pages 137-155, February.
    7. An K. Raes & Lynn Bruyneel & Tom Loeys & Beatrijs Moerkerke & Rudi De Raedt, 2015. "Mindful Attention and Awareness Mediate the Association Between Age and Negative Affect," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 70(2), pages 179-188.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Miriam Chasson & Ofir Ben-Yaakov & Orit Taubman – Ben-Ari, 2021. "Meaning in Life among New Mothers before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Mothers’ Marital Satisfaction and Perception of the Infant," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(8), pages 3499-3512, December.
    2. Antonio Crego & José Ramón Yela & María Ángeles Gómez-Martínez & Pablo Riesco-Matías & Cristina Petisco-Rodríguez, 2021. "Relationships between Mindfulness, Purpose in Life, Happiness, Anxiety, and Depression: Testing a Mediation Model in a Sample of Women," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-15, January.
    3. Antonio Crego & José Ramón Yela & Rita Ozores-Pérez & Pablo Riesco-Matías & María Ángeles Gómez-Martínez, 2022. "Eudaimonic and Uncertainty Metaphors About Life are Associated with Meaningfulness, Experiential Avoidance, Mental Health and Happiness," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(8), pages 4119-4146, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Antonio Crego & José Ramón Yela & María Ángeles Gómez-Martínez & Pablo Riesco-Matías & Cristina Petisco-Rodríguez, 2021. "Relationships between Mindfulness, Purpose in Life, Happiness, Anxiety, and Depression: Testing a Mediation Model in a Sample of Women," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-15, January.
    2. Antonio Crego & José Ramón Yela & Rita Ozores-Pérez & Pablo Riesco-Matías & María Ángeles Gómez-Martínez, 2022. "Eudaimonic and Uncertainty Metaphors About Life are Associated with Meaningfulness, Experiential Avoidance, Mental Health and Happiness," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(8), pages 4119-4146, December.
    3. Leiv Gabrielsen & Pål Ulleberg & Reidulf Watten, 2012. "The Adolescent Life Goal Profile Scale: Development of a New Scale for Measurements of Life Goals Among Young People," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 13(6), pages 1053-1072, December.
    4. Lindblom, Arto & Lindblom, Taru & Wechtler, Heidi, 2020. "Dispositional optimism, entrepreneurial success and exit intentions: The mediating effects of life satisfaction," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 230-240.
    5. J. Haavard Maridal, 2017. "A Worldwide Measure of Societal Quality of Life," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 134(1), pages 1-38, October.
    6. Douglas Rhein & Alexander Nanni, 2022. "Assessing Mental Health Among Thai University Students: A Cross-Sectional Study," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(4), pages 21582440221, October.
    7. Badri Bajaj & Ragini Gupta & Santoshi Sengupta, 2019. "Emotional Stability and Self-Esteem as Mediators Between Mindfulness and Happiness," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(7), pages 2211-2226, October.
    8. Albert Feliu-Soler & Javier de Diego-Adeliño & Juan V. Luciano & Ioseba Iraurgi & Carlo Alemany & Dolors Puigdemont & Víctor Pérez & Maria J. Portella & Joan Trujols, 2021. "Unhappy While Depressed: Examining the Dimensionality, Reliability and Validity of the Subjective Happiness Scale in a Spanish Sample of Patients with Depressive Disorders," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(20), pages 1-13, October.
    9. Sehee Han & Heaseung Kim & Eung-Sun Lee & Hee-Sun Lee, 2013. "The Contextual and Compositional Associations of Social Capital and Subjective Happiness: A Multilevel Analysis from Seoul, South Korea," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 14(4), pages 1183-1200, August.
    10. Luigi Curini & Stefano Iacus & Luciano Canova, 2015. "Measuring Idiosyncratic Happiness Through the Analysis of Twitter: An Application to the Italian Case," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 121(2), pages 525-542, April.
    11. Generós Ortet & Daniel Pinazo & Diane Walker & Sígrid Gallego & Laura Mezquita & Manuel I Ibáñez, 2020. "Personality and nonjudging make you happier: Contribution of the Five-Factor Model, mindfulness facets and a mindfulness intervention to subjective well-being," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(2), pages 1-14, February.
    12. Raquel Lara-Moreno & Ester Lara & Débora Godoy-Izquierdo, 2021. "Exploring Intraindividual Profiles for Home Buildings Based on Architectural Compositional Elements and Psychological Health Factors: A Transdisciplinary Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-20, August.
    13. Rose Nabi Deborah Karimi Muthuri & Flavia Senkubuge & Charles Hongoro, 2020. "Determinants of happiness among healthcare professionals between 2009 and 2019: a systematic review," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 7(1), pages 1-14, December.
    14. Ummugulsum Aysan, 2021. "The Welfare States and Happiness Inequalities in Europe," Journal of Social Policy Conferences, Istanbul University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 0(81), pages 71-99, December.
    15. Marina G. Kolosnitsyna & Natalia A. Khorkina & Khongor N. Dorzhiev, 2014. "What Happens To Happiness When People Get Older? Socio-Economic Determinants Of Life Satisfaction In Later Life," HSE Working papers WP BRP 68/EC/2014, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    16. Zhanjia Zhang & Weiyun Chen, 2019. "A Systematic Review of the Relationship Between Physical Activity and Happiness," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 1305-1322, April.
    17. Ana Blasco-Belled & Radosław Rogoza & Cristina Torrelles-Nadal & Carles Alsinet, 2020. "Emotional Intelligence Structure and Its Relationship with Life Satisfaction and Happiness: New Findings from the Bifactor Model," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(6), pages 2031-2049, August.
    18. Ina Teresa Wilczewska, 2023. "Examining the Relationship Between Acculturation and Socioeconomic Status and Their Role for the First Generation Polish Immigrants’ Well-Being," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 1337-1355, September.
    19. Laura Esteban-Gonzalo & Sara Esteban-Gonzalo & Irene Esteban-Cornejo & Rocío Izquierdo-Gómez & Carmen Padilla-Moledo & José Castro-Piñero & Oscar L. Veiga, 2020. "Wellbeing as a Protective Factor of Adolescent Health. The Up & Down Study," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 13(4), pages 1453-1467, August.
    20. Avichai Shuv-Ami & Liad Bareket-Bojmel, 2021. "What Indicates Your Life is Meaningful? A New Measure for the Indicators of Meaning in Life (3IML)," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 625-644, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:21:y:2020:i:8:d:10.1007_s10902-019-00201-y. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.