IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jhappi/v19y2018i4d10.1007_s10902-017-9864-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does Being Mindful of Your Character Strengths Enhance Psychological Wellbeing? A Longitudinal Mediation Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Wenjie Duan

    (Wuhan University)

  • Samuel M. Y. Ho

    (City University of Hong Kong)

Abstract

Mindfulness and character strengths significantly contribute to psychological wellbeing in various contexts. Empirical studies further imply that mindfulness-based interventions can cultivate a wide range of strengths, which in turn facilitate the wellbeing of individuals. However, no study has examined this hypothesis. The current study underpins this argument with empirical pieces of evidence from cross-sectional (Study 1) and longitudinal (Study 2) data by investigating the relationship between character strengths, mindfulness, and psychological wellbeing among community (n = 375) and undergraduate populations (n = 229). Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire, Brief Strengths Scale, and Flourishing Scale were administrated. As hypothesized, the results of the cross-sectional investigation confirm that mindfulness and character strengths are conceptually related constructs with significant contributions to psychological wellbeing. Temperance Strength and Interpersonal Strength further mediate the relationship between Observing facet of mindfulness and Flourishing. Furthermore, investigating the relationship among mindfulness, strengths, and psychological wellbeing using Longitudinal Mediation Modeling reveals a clear picture. After the baseline of the outcomes is controlled, the 6-month longitudinal study indicates that the past level of Observing facet of mindfulness can predict the present level of Temperance Strength, which in turn predicts future Flourishing. These results highlight the importance of Observing facet in mindfulness and Temperance Strength, which provide another possible explanation on how and why mindfulness can affect psychological wellbeing among general populations. Future Strength-based Mindfulness Intervention Programs can be developed based on these findings.

Suggested Citation

  • Wenjie Duan & Samuel M. Y. Ho, 2018. "Does Being Mindful of Your Character Strengths Enhance Psychological Wellbeing? A Longitudinal Mediation Analysis," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 1045-1066, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:19:y:2018:i:4:d:10.1007_s10902-017-9864-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s10902-017-9864-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10902-017-9864-z
    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/s10902-017-9864-z?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. Denise Quinlan & Nicola Swain & Dianne Vella-Brodrick, 2012. "Character Strengths Interventions: Building on What We Know for Improved Outcomes," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 13(6), pages 1145-1163, December.
    2. Ed Diener & Derrick Wirtz & William Tov & Chu Kim-Prieto & Dong-won Choi & Shigehiro Oishi & Robert Biswas-Diener, 2010. "New Well-being Measures: Short Scales to Assess Flourishing and Positive and Negative Feelings," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 97(2), pages 143-156, June.
    3. Wenjie Duan & Samuel Ho & Xiaoqing Tang & Tingting Li & Yonghong Zhang, 2014. "Character Strength-Based Intervention to Promote Satisfaction with Life in the Chinese University Context," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 15(6), pages 1347-1361, December.
    4. Katherine A Duggan & Howard S Friedman & Elizabeth A McDevitt & Sara C Mednick, 2014. "Personality and Healthy Sleep: The Importance of Conscientiousness and Neuroticism," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(3), pages 1-11, March.
    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. Lian, Ling & Guo, Shengzhong & Wang, Qian & Hu, Lihong & Yang, Xueer & Li, Xuejie, 2021. "Calling, character strengths, career identity, and job burnout in young Chinese university teachers: A chain-mediating model," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    2. Champika K. Soysa & Fang Zhang & Maria Parmley & Keith Lahikainen, 2021. "Dispositional Mindfulness and Serenity: Their Unique Relations with Stress and Mental Well-being," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 1517-1536, March.

    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. María J. Blanca & Marta Ferragut & Margarita Ortiz-Tallo & Rebecca Bendayan, 2018. "Life Satisfaction and Character Strengths in Spanish Early Adolescents," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 19(5), pages 1247-1260, June.
    2. Wenjie Duan & He Bu & Jinli Zhao & Xiaolong Guo, 2019. "Examining the Mediating Roles of Strengths Knowledge and Strengths Use in a 1-Year Single-Session Character Strength-Based Cognitive Intervention," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(6), pages 1673-1688, August.
    3. Nicola S. Schutte & John M. Malouff, 2019. "The Impact of Signature Character Strengths Interventions: A Meta-analysis," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 1179-1196, April.
    4. Maw–Der Foo & Marilyn A. Uy & Charles Murnieks, 2015. "Beyond Affective Valence: Untangling Valence and Activation Influences on Opportunity Identification," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 39(2), pages 407-431, March.
    5. Yi-Ching Hsieh & Hung-Chang Chiu & Yun-Chia Tang & Wei-Yun Lin, 2018. "Does Raising Value Co-creation Increase All Customers’ Happiness?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 152(4), pages 1053-1067, November.
    6. Li, Tingting Elle & Chan, Eric Tak Hin, 2017. "Diaspora tourism and well-being: A eudaimonic view," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 205-206.
    7. M. Sirgy, 2011. "Theoretical Perspectives Guiding QOL Indicator Projects," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 103(1), pages 1-22, August.
    8. Merrick Powell & Kirk N. Olsen & William Forde Thompson, 2023. "Music, Pleasure, and Meaning: The Hedonic and Eudaimonic Motivations for Music (HEMM) Scale," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(6), pages 1-19, March.
    9. Zuoxian Gan & Tao Feng & Min Yang, 2018. "Exploring the Effects of Car Ownership and Commuting on Subjective Well-Being: A Nationwide Questionnaire Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-20, December.
    10. Nelli Ferenczi & Tara C Marshall, 2013. "Exploring Attachment to the “Homeland” and Its Association with Heritage Culture Identification," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(1), pages 1-17, January.
    11. Yixuan Liu & Liumeng Li & Guomei Miao & Xinyan Yang & Yinghui Wu & Yanling Xu & Yonghong Gao & Yongzhi Zhan & Yiwei Zhong & Shujuan Yang, 2021. "Relationship between Children’s Intergenerational Emotional Support and Subjective Well-Being among Middle-Aged and Elderly People in China: The Mediation Role of the Sense of Social Fairness," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-12, December.
    12. Sakari Kainulainen, 2020. "Flourishing within the Working-Aged Finnish Population," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 15(1), pages 187-205, March.
    13. Sujit Raghunathrao Jagadale & Himadri Roy‐Chaudhuri & Djavlonbek Kadirov, 2021. "Quality‐of‐life as chronotopefication and futurization: Subsistence consumer experiences in India," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(1), pages 59-86, March.
    14. Erin Percival Carter & Stephanie Welcomer, 2021. "Designing and Distinguishing Meaningful Artisan Food Experiences," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-13, July.
    15. Shiri Lavy, 2020. "A Review of Character Strengths Interventions in Twenty-First-Century Schools: their Importance and How they can be Fostered," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 15(2), pages 573-596, April.
    16. Annamaria Di Fabio & Maureen E. Kenny, 2018. "Intrapreneurial Self-Capital: A Key Resource for Promoting Well-Being in a Shifting Work Landscape," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-11, August.
    17. Michael A. Busseri & Mojan Naisani Samani, 2019. "Lay Theories for Life Satisfaction and the Belief that Life Gets Better and Better," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(5), pages 1647-1672, June.
    18. Asude Malkoç & Aynur Kesen Mutlu, 2019. "Mediating the Effect of Cognitive Flexibility in the Relationship between Psychological Well-Being and Self-Confidence: A Study on Turkish University Students," International Journal of Higher Education, Sciedu Press, vol. 8(6), pages 278-278, December.
    19. Shafiullah Jan & M. Fahad Siddiqi & Karim Ullah, 2019. "Maqasid al Shariah and Stakeholders’ Wellbeing in Islamic Banks: A Proposed Framework," Business & Economic Review, Institute of Management Sciences, Peshawar, Pakistan, vol. 11(1), pages 83-102, March.
    20. Kamlesh Singh & Mahima Raina, 2020. "Demographic Correlates and Validation of PERMA and WEMWBS Scales in Indian Adolescents," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 13(4), pages 1175-1186, August.

    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:19:y:2018:i:4:d:10.1007_s10902-017-9864-z. 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.