The Construct of Mindfulness

The Construct of Mindfulness

Ellen J. Langer [*]

After mindfulness is defined, a brief history of the research on the topic to date is reviewed. This work essentially falls into three categories: health, business, and education. Considerations of mindlessness as a social issue are then addressed. A brief introduction to the articles in this issue follows. These articles speak to mindfulness as it relates to potential solutions to social problems.

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The main purpose of this issue is to offer social scientists and policy makers an alternative lens through which to view and understand the social phenomena and issues that interest them. Although the concept of mindfulness overlaps with many other constructs in psychology (a fuller discussion of this is provided in the following article, by Sternberg), it also offers some unique perspectives on how to investigate psychological processes. The concept of mindfulness and the related concept of mindlessness were introduced to social psychology more than 2 decades ago. They have been applied to many diverse areas, including psychopathology, developmental psychology, education research, political theory, and communication processes, to name a few.

Definition of Constructs

Mindfulness is not an easy concept to define but can be best understood as the process of drawing novel distinctions. It does not matter whether what is noticed is important or trivial, as long as it is new to the viewer. Actively drawing these distinctions keeps us situated in the present. It also makes us more aware of the context and perspective of our actions than if we rely upon distinctions and categories drawn in the past. Under this latter situation, rules and routines are more likely to govern our behavior, irrespective of the current circumstances, and this can be construed as mindless behavior. The process of drawing novel distinctions can lead to a number of diverse consequences, including (1) a greater sensitivity to one's environment, (2) more openness to new information, (3) the creation of new categories for structuring perception, and (4) enhanced awareness of multiple perspectives in problem solving. The subjective "feel" of mindfulness is that of a heightened state of involvement and wakef ulness or being in the present. This subjective state is the inherent common thread that ties together the extremely diverse observable consequences for the viewer. Mindfulness is not a cold cognitive process. When one is actively drawing novel distinctions, the whole individual is involved.

Brief History of Research

Research on the differences that emanate from mindful versus mindless behavior began in 1974, and the results have been both wide-ranging and of great practical concern. Early work focused on looking at basic characteristics of mindfulness (e.g., Chanowitz & Langer, 1981; Langer, Blank, & Chanowitz, 1978). Studies with relevance to social issues fall into three major categories: health, business, and education.

Studies of health ramifications were among the earliest studies of mindfulness. These focused upon aging and the issue of control. Perceived control has been shown to have very positive effects on stress reduction and health (e.g., Geer, Davison, & Gatchel, 1970; Langer, Janis, & Wolfer, 1975). It is the perception of control, rather than any objectively viewed control, that is the significant variable. Interestingly, when a person behaves mindlessly, the perception of control is not possible. Therefore, we conducted several investigations (e.g., Alexander, Langer, Newman, Chandler, & Davies, 1989; Langer, Beck, Janoff-Bulman, & Timko, 1984) to see if mindfulness in elderly populations could be increased with positive effects. We found that this could be accomplished with relatively simple manipulations, for example, having more control over one's schedule and taking care of plans. Mindful treatments had dramatic effects: They decreased adverse health symptoms such as arthritis pain and alcoholism and increa sed longevity (see Langer, 1989, for a more detailed review of this work and further examples of the effect of mindfulness on health).

Those in the business world have been eager to utilize techniques that increase mindfulness in workers and managers. Studies of mindfulness in a business context have shown that increases in mindfulness are associated with increased creativity and decreased burnout (e.g., Langer, Heffernan, & Kiester, 1988). A study by Park conducted with businessmen in Korea found an increase in productivity as well (Park, 1990). We anticipate that increased mindfulness will be shown to decrease accidents as well, particularly when new technology is introduced. For example, when many of us learned to drive, we were told to pump the brakes slowly while trying to stop on a slippery surface. With the advent of antilock brakes, however, the more appropriate response is to firmly press the brakes down and hold them there. Thus, accidents that could be prevented in the past by our learned behavior can now be caused by the same behavior. This is an example of mindlessness that can easily occur in everyday life as well as the workp lace.