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Dispositional mindfulness and perceived stress: The role of emotional intelligence
Personality and Individual Differences 78 (2015) 48–52
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Personality and Individual Differences journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/paid
Dispositional mindfulness and perceived stress: The role of emotional intelligence Xueming Bao a, Song Xue b, Feng Kong b,⇑ a b
Physical and Health Institute, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
a r t i c l e
i n f o
Article history: Received 4 December 2014 Received in revised form 7 January 2015 Accepted 8 January 2015
Keywords: Mindfulness Emotional intelligence Chinese adults Perceived stress
a b s t r a c t The present study examined the relationships between dispositional mindfulness, emotional intelligence and perceived stress using self-report measures. We administered the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), the Wong Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS), and the Perceive Stress Scale (PPS) to a nonclinical sample of Chinese adults (n = 380). The results showed that mindfulness was positively associated with four components of WLEIS, and negatively associated with perceived stress. Mediation analysis indicated that only the regulation and use of emotion components of WLEIS acted as mediators of the association between mindfulness and perceived stress. Effect contrasts showed no significant difference between the specific indirect effects through these two mediators. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed. Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction Over the last decades, mindfulness has received much attention in the research literature. Mindfulness can be conceptualized as a receptive attention to and awareness of internal and external experiences as they occur (Brown & Ryan, 2003; Brown, Ryan, & Creswell, 2007). Although levels of mindfulness can be increased through meditation or mindfulness-based training (e.g., Baer et al., 2008; Falkenstrom, 2010), mindfulness may also be conceptualized as a psychological trait that refers to the tendency to be mindful in everyday life (Brown & Ryan, 2003). Mindfulness has been shown to have positive effects on mental health and psychological well-being (e.g., general distress, depression, anxiety), physical health (e.g., chronic pain), and quality of intimate relationships, whether based on a trait approach or an invention approach (Baer, 2003; Brown & Ryan, 2003; Brown et al., 2007; Feldman, Hayes, Kumar, Greeson, & Laurenceau, 2007; Grossman, Niemann, Schmidt, & Walach, 2004). The present study mainly focused on the trait approach and used a self-report measure to assess dispositional mindfulness. There is a substantial body of research investigating the relationship between mindfulness and perceived stress. Several studies of mindfulness to date have reported negative correlations between self-reported mindfulness and perceived stress (Black, ⇑ Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (F. Kong). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.01.007 0191-8869/Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Sussman, Johnson, & Milam, 2012; Bränström, Duncan, & Moskowitz, 2011; Gard et al., 2012; Weinstein, Brown, & Ryan, 2009). With an increase in mindfulness as a result of interventions, e.g., Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) intervention, perceived stress tended to decrease (e.g., Baer, Carmody, & Hunsinger, 2012; Carmody, Baer, Lykins, & Olendzki, 2009; Chu, 2010; Oman, Hedberg, & Thoresen, 2006). Although the negative relationship between mindfulness and perceived stress has been well established, the mechanisms that might account for this relationship are still unclear. Some researchers (Schutte & Malouff, 2011) have asserted that mindfulness may encourage individuals to develop better emotional intelligence (EI) which in turn lead to higher well-being. Petrides, Pita, and Kokkinaki (2007) proposed two different conceptualization of EI, i.e., trait EI and ability EI. Ability EI is defined as a set of interrelated skills that can be classified within the four dimensions: the ability to perceive accurately, appraise, and express emotion; the ability to access and/or generate feelings when they facilitate thought; the ability to understand emotion and emotional knowledge; and the ability to regulate emotions to promote emotional and intellectual growth (Mayer & Salovey, 1997). Trait EI, by contrast, is conceptualized as a trait which refers to ‘‘a constellation of behavioral dispositions and emotional self-perceptions located at the lower-levels of personality hierarchies’’ (Petrides et al., 2007). There is some evidence to support the hypothesis. For example, people with high levels of mindfulness are likely to perceive greater EI (e.g., Baer, Smith, & Allen, 2004; Baer, Smith, Hopkins,
X. Bao et al. / Personality and Individual Differences 78 (2015) 48–52
Krietemeyer, & Toney, 2006; Brown & Ryan, 2003; Schutte & Malouff, 2011; Sinclair & Feigenbaum, 2012; Snowden et al., 2015); People with high EI report less perceived stress (e.g., Extremera, Durán, & Rey, 2007; Gohm, Corser, & Dalsky, 2005; Mikolajczak, Balon, Ruosi, & Kotsou, 2012; Vesely, Siegling, & Saklofske, 2013). Thus, we predicted trait would mediate the association between mindfulness and perceived stress. To our knowledge, two studies have shown that EI acts as a mediator of the association between mindfulness and subjective well-being (Schutte & Malouff, 2011; Wang & Kong, 2013), but some questions still remain unanswered. One the one hand, although these two studies have demonstrated the mediating role of EI between EI and subjective well-being, as Schutte and Malouff (2011) pointed out, it is necessary to explore the possible mediating role of EI in the relationship between mindfulness and other variables such as stress. On the other hand, because EI is multidimensional construct (Mayer & Salovey, 1997), which aspects of EI play a more important role in the relationship between mindfulness and perceived stress is unclear. Some researchers have pointed out mindfulness may encourage the development of regulation of emotion (Chambers, Gullone, & Allen, 2009; Koole, 2009). Evidence from fMRI studies shows that brain regions involved in attentional and emotion regulation processes, such as the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex and the amygdala, play a role in mindfulness (Frewen et al., 2010). Thus, we predicted that only some aspects of EI (e.g., regulation of emotion) might mediate the mindfulness- perceived stress relationship. The present study expands the existing research in several ways. First, this study set out first to examine the mediating effect of EI on the link between mindfulness and perceived stress, which would extend our comprehensive understanding of the mechanism whereby mindfulness and perceived stress are connected. Second, we determined which components of EI play a more prominent role in this association via the methods comparing specific indirect effects in multiple mediator models because Preacher and Hayes (2008) asserted that significance of the total indirect effect was not a necessary precondition for significant specific indirect effects in multiple mediator models. 2. Method 2.1. Participants Three hundred and eighty native Chinese speaking adults from mainland China volunteered to take part in the study. The mean age of the sample was 27.21 years (standard deviation = 5.10 years). In the sample, 223 were women and 157 were men. Participants’ education level was classed as middle school education (n = 11), high school education (n = 10), undergraduate education (n = 115) and post-graduate education (n = 244). Each participant volunteered to take part in this study, and had no compensation for their participation. 2.2. Measures The Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS; Brown & Ryan, 2003) was used to assess dispositional mindfulness. It consists of 15 brief statements. It includes items such as, ‘‘I tend to walk quickly to get where I’m going without paying attention to what I experience along the way’’ and ‘‘I get so focused on the goal I want to achieve that I lose touch with what I’m doing right now to get there’’. Respondents are asked to rate their agreement on a 6-point Likert-type scale (1 = almost always, 6 = almost never). The mean rating across all items is computed. Higher scores reflect higher levels of mindfulness. The PSS has good reliability and validity
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(e.g., Brown & Ryan, 2003; Kong, Wang, & Zhao, 2014). In this study, the scale was internally consistent and had a Cronbach alpha coefficient of .86. The Wong Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS; Wong & Law, 2002) was used to assess trait EI. It consists of 16 brief statements. The scale consists of four dimensions: Self Emotion Appraisals (SEA), Others’ Emotion Appraisals (OEA), Regulation of Emotion (ROE), and Use of Emotion (UOE). SEA relates to the individual’s ability to understand their deep emotions and be able to express these emotions naturally. OEA relates to peoples’ ability to perceive and understand the emotions of those people around them. ROE relates to the ability of people to regulate their emotions, which will enable a more rapid recovery from psychological distress. UOE (or Emotional Facilitation of Thought) relates to the ability of individuals to make use of their emotions by directing them towards constructive activities and personal performance. The WLELS includes items such as, ‘‘I have good understanding of my own emotions’’ (SEA), ‘‘I have good understanding of the emotions of people around me’’ (OEA), ‘‘I am quite capable of controlling my own emotions’’ (ROE) and ‘‘I would always encourage myself to try my best’’ (UOE). Items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Higher scores reflect higher levels of EI. The WLEIS has good reliability and validity (e.g., Kong & Zhao, 2013; Kong, Zhao, & You, 2012a, 2012b; Wong & Law, 2002). In this study, the Cronbach alpha coefficients for the four subscales were: SEA: .75; OEA: .85; ROE: .83; UOE: .73. The Cronbach alpha coefficient for all 16 items was .86. The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS; Cohen, Kamarck, & Mermelstein, 1983) was used to assess perceived levels of stress. This scale measures an individual’s appraisal of their life as stressful (i.e. unpredictable, uncontrollable and overloading), consisting of 10 items. Item examples include, ‘‘How often have you felt nervous or stressed?’’ and ‘‘How often have you felt confident about your ability to handle your personal problems?’’ People rated how often they had experienced these feelings in the last month on a five-point Likert scale from 0 (never) to 4 (very often). PSS scores were obtained by reversing the scores on the four positive items; the items were 4, 5, 7 and 8. Total scores range from 0 to 40, with higher scores indicating greater overall distress. The PSS has good reliability and validity (e.g., Cohen et al., 1983). In this study, the scale was internally consistent and had a Cronbach alpha coefficient of .85. 2.3. Procedure Participants completed a multi-section questionnaire survey distributed using an online testing system. Included in the questionnaire were a brief demographics survey, and self-report measures of WLEIS, MAAS and PSS. All the questionnaires used in this study were in Chinese language. The hyperlink to the questionnaire survey was distributed via email and through online forums (e.g., tianya.cn). Participants could respond to the questionnaires at their own pace and typically took about 15 min to complete all sections. This method has been used successfully in other studies (e.g., Kong et al., 2012a; Meyerson & Tryon, 2003). 3. Results 3.1. Preliminary analyses Descriptive statistics and intercorrelations for all variables included are presented in Table 1. All variables were significantly correlated in the predicted directions. Mindfulness was negatively associated with perceived stress and positively associated with four dimensions and total scores of EI as well as age. Perceived
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X. Bao et al. / Personality and Individual Differences 78 (2015) 48–52
Table 1 Descriptive statistics and zero-order correlations for all measures. Measure
M
SD
1
2
3
4
5
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
27.21 61.22 58.80 15.85 15.22 58.80 14.54 13.18 17.91
5.10 11.55 8.71 2.51 2.84
1 .20*** .03 .03 .02
1 .34*** .23*** .14**
1 .73*** .66***
1 .39***
1
3.00 3.53 6.25
.08 .01 .12*
.31*** .28*** .57***
.77*** .76*** .39***
.45*** .41*** .20***
.35*** .25*** .15**
Age MASS WLEIS SEA OEA
6. UOE 7. ROE 8. PSS
6
7
1 .45*** .37***
1 .39***
Note. MAAS = Mindful Attention Awareness Scale; WLEIS = Wong Law Emotional Intelligence Scale; PSS = Perceived Stress Scale. SEA, ROE, UOE and OEA are the subscales of the Wong Law Emotional Intelligence Scale. * p < .05. ** p < .01. *** p < .001.
stress was negatively associated with four dimensions and total scores of EI. These bivariate relations provide evidence to support the test of mediation analyses. Independent samples t-tests did not reveal significant sex differences for OEA, SEA, mindfulness and perceived stress (all p > .05). Men, however, did obtain significantly higher UOE and ROE scores, and higher EI total scores than women, t(378) = 3.42, p < .01, t(269) = 4.35, p < .001, and t(378) = 3.24, p < .01, respectively. And, as such, sex and age were included as a covariate in mediation analysis. 3.2. Multiple mediation model A multiple mediation model testing the degree to which four components of EI mediate the link between mindfulness and perceived stress was examined. Like traditional mediation methods (e.g. Frazier, Tix, & Barron, 2004), a multiple mediation model allows researchers to explore whether the link between two variables is explained in part by a third variable, or mediator. However, a multiple mediation model provides the added benefit of exploring more than one mediator at a time, therein providing effect values for each model path while accounting for the other model paths. Using the multiple mediation macro developed by Preacher and Hayes (2008), we computed the direct and indirect path coefficients of the link between mindfulness and perceived stress, as mediated by four components of EI, using standardized values. These path coefficients refer to the regression weights in the relation of the independent and dependent variable. As seen in Fig. 1, mindfulness had significant direct paths to each mediator variable: SEA (b = .23, p < .001), OEA (b = .15, p < .01), UOE (b = .30, p < .001) and ROE (b = .29, p < .001), as well as perceived stress (b = .56, p < .001). Two of the mediators, SEA (b = .04, p > .05) and OEA (b = .01, p > .05) had non-significant direct paths to perceived stress. The other two, UOE (b = .25, p < .001) and ROE (b = .30, p < .001), had significant direct paths to perceived stress. Additionally, mindfulness was found to have significant indirect effects on perceived stress as mediated through UOE (b = .16, p < .01) and ROE (b = .22, p < .001). After including the four mediators in the model, the link between mindfulness and perceived stress was still significant (b = .47, p < .001), indicating partial mediation by UOE and ROE. To further test the significance of the indirect effects of mindfulness via the potential mediating variables on perceived stress, we followed the guidelines proposed by Shrout and Bolger (2002) and created 1000 bootstrapping samples from the original data set (N = 380) using the Preacher and Hayes (2008) multiple mediation macro. Across all 1000 samples, 95% confidence intervals were computed for the upper and lower potential limits of these
Fig. 1. Multiple mediator model examining the direct and indirect relation of mindfulness and perceived stress. Numbers in parentheses represent indirect effects for mediator variables and direct effect for the relation of mindfulness to perceived stress after accounting for mediator variables. Note. All regression coefficients are standardized. SEA, ROE, UOE and OEA are the subscales of the Wong Law Emotional Intelligence Scale. ⁄p < .01; ⁄p < .001.
Table 2 Summary of mediation results for perceived stress with mindfulness as independent variable. Model pathways
Indirect effect
Mindfulness ? SEA ? Perceived stress Mindfulness ? OEA ? Perceived stress Mindfulness ? UOE ? Perceived stress Mindfulness ? ROE ? Perceived stress IndEff (UOE) minus IndEff (ROE)
.01 .0004 .03a .03a .01
95% bias Corrected CI Lower .003 .01 .05 .06 .02
Upper .03 .01 .01 .02 .04
Note. SEA, ROE, UOE and OEA are the subscales of the Wong Law Emotional Intelligence Scale. Indirect effects are non-standardized. IndEff = Indirect effect. a Empirical 95% confidence interval does not overlap with zero. (p < .05).
indirect effects. When zero is not in the 95% confidence interval, one can conclude that the indirect effect is significantly different from zero at p < .05. Furthermore, in multiple mediator models, significance of the total indirect effect is not a necessary precondition for significant specific indirect effects (Preacher & Hayes, 2008). Therefore, it is legitimate to interpret the specific indirect effects found here. Table 2 displays the indirect effects and their associated 95% confidence intervals. As shown in Table 2, mindfulness exerted significant indirect effects on perceived stress via UOE
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and ROE. Effect contrasts showed no significant difference between the specific indirect effects through UOE and ROE.
4. Discussion The purpose of the present study was to investigate the pivotal role of EI in the relationship between mindfulness and perceived stress in a sample of Chinese adults. Correlational results showed that mindfulness was negatively related to perceived stress, and positively related to EI. These results are consistent with previous research that reported relationships between mindfulness and perceived stress (Black et al., 2012; Bränström et al., 2011; Gard et al., 2012; Weinstein et al., 2009), and EI (e.g., Baer et al., 2004, 2006; Brown & Ryan, 2003; Schutte & Malouff, 2011; Sinclair & Feigenbaum, 2012; Snowden et al., 2015). Furthermore, the association of EI with perceived stress is consistent with previous research on the negative relation between EI and perceived stress (e.g., Extremera et al., 2007; Gohm et al., 2005; Mikolajczak et al., 2012; Vesely et al., 2013). As we expected, mindfulness predicted perceived stress through the partial mediating effect of ROE in Chinese adults. That is, people with high levels of mindfulness were more likely to perceive better ability to regulate their emotion, which enable a more rapid recovery from psychological distress, thus leading to less perceived stress. As Brown et al. (2007) mentioned, mindfulness may add ‘‘clarity and vividness to current experience and encourages closer, moment-to-moment sensory contact with life’’ (p. 219) and enhance ‘‘self-regulated functioning that comes with ongoing attentional sensitivity to psychological, somatic and environmental cues’’ (p. 220). Thus, the self-regulated functioning inherent in mindfulness relates to the ROE component of EI. This is consistent with previous behavioral and neuroimaging studies that demonstrated the connection between mindfulness and ROE (e.g., Chambers et al., 2009). In short, our result suggests that ROE may be an important behavioral mechanism by which mindfulness reduces perceived stress. Interestingly, we also found that mindfulness mediated the association between UOE and perceived stress. That is, people with high levels of mindfulness were more likely to make use of their emotions to motivate themselves to enhance performance, which thus contributed to reduce perceived stress. This is the first study that reported the crucial role of use of emotion in the relationship between mindfulness and perceived stress. Previous studies have found mindfulness training is intimately linked to improvements of attentional functions, cognitive flexibility and problem solving (Jha, Krompinger, & Baime, 2007; Moore & Malinowski, 2009; Ostafin & Kassman, 2012), which thus may contribute to the ability to access and generate feelings when they facilitate thought (i.e., UOE). Effect contrasts showed no significant difference between the specific indirect effects through regulation and use of emotion, signifying that they played an equally important role in mindfulness as the predictor variable of mental distress. The mediating role of EI has been demonstrated in this study, but further investigations are needed to test other potential mediating processes. Several important limitations of the present study should be mentioned. The first limitation is that the data relied on self-report measures. Although the instruments used here have good reliability and validity, self-report measures are subjective by nature and vulnerable to bias (e.g., social desirability). Multiple methods for evaluation may be adopted to lower the impact of subjectivity. The second limitation is that the methods of this study were correlational and cross-sectional, so interpretation of the results of mediation analysis on cross-sectional data must always proceed with caution. Longitudinal or experimental studies would provide additional insights into relationships between these factors. In
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addition, this study used a non-clinical sample of convenience, so these findings cannot necessarily be generalized to clinical populations. Despite these limitations, the present study provides insight into the underlying mechanisms between mindfulness and perceived stress in a sample of Chinese adults. These findings suggest that mindfulness influences perceived stress by two different pathways, with the impact of mindfulness on perceived stress mediated by ROE and the impact of mindfulness on perceived stress mediated by UOE. It may provide valuable guidance for how to implement mindfulness interventions aimed at reducing psychological stress. The development of mindfulness can work as a preventive therapy to help individuals reduce their perceived stress in the future, and it can work as a palliative therapy by helping them get better ability to use and regulate their emotion from self and others.
Acknowledgments This study was supported by National Education Science Key Research Project during 12th Five-Year Plan of Ministry of Education (DLA120312).
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Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Personality and Individual Differences journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/paid
Dispositional mindfulness and perceived stress: The role of emotional intelligence Xueming Bao a, Song Xue b, Feng Kong b,⇑ a b
Physical and Health Institute, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
a r t i c l e
i n f o
Article history: Received 4 December 2014 Received in revised form 7 January 2015 Accepted 8 January 2015
Keywords: Mindfulness Emotional intelligence Chinese adults Perceived stress
a b s t r a c t The present study examined the relationships between dispositional mindfulness, emotional intelligence and perceived stress using self-report measures. We administered the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), the Wong Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS), and the Perceive Stress Scale (PPS) to a nonclinical sample of Chinese adults (n = 380). The results showed that mindfulness was positively associated with four components of WLEIS, and negatively associated with perceived stress. Mediation analysis indicated that only the regulation and use of emotion components of WLEIS acted as mediators of the association between mindfulness and perceived stress. Effect contrasts showed no significant difference between the specific indirect effects through these two mediators. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed. Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction Over the last decades, mindfulness has received much attention in the research literature. Mindfulness can be conceptualized as a receptive attention to and awareness of internal and external experiences as they occur (Brown & Ryan, 2003; Brown, Ryan, & Creswell, 2007). Although levels of mindfulness can be increased through meditation or mindfulness-based training (e.g., Baer et al., 2008; Falkenstrom, 2010), mindfulness may also be conceptualized as a psychological trait that refers to the tendency to be mindful in everyday life (Brown & Ryan, 2003). Mindfulness has been shown to have positive effects on mental health and psychological well-being (e.g., general distress, depression, anxiety), physical health (e.g., chronic pain), and quality of intimate relationships, whether based on a trait approach or an invention approach (Baer, 2003; Brown & Ryan, 2003; Brown et al., 2007; Feldman, Hayes, Kumar, Greeson, & Laurenceau, 2007; Grossman, Niemann, Schmidt, & Walach, 2004). The present study mainly focused on the trait approach and used a self-report measure to assess dispositional mindfulness. There is a substantial body of research investigating the relationship between mindfulness and perceived stress. Several studies of mindfulness to date have reported negative correlations between self-reported mindfulness and perceived stress (Black, ⇑ Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (F. Kong). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.01.007 0191-8869/Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Sussman, Johnson, & Milam, 2012; Bränström, Duncan, & Moskowitz, 2011; Gard et al., 2012; Weinstein, Brown, & Ryan, 2009). With an increase in mindfulness as a result of interventions, e.g., Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) intervention, perceived stress tended to decrease (e.g., Baer, Carmody, & Hunsinger, 2012; Carmody, Baer, Lykins, & Olendzki, 2009; Chu, 2010; Oman, Hedberg, & Thoresen, 2006). Although the negative relationship between mindfulness and perceived stress has been well established, the mechanisms that might account for this relationship are still unclear. Some researchers (Schutte & Malouff, 2011) have asserted that mindfulness may encourage individuals to develop better emotional intelligence (EI) which in turn lead to higher well-being. Petrides, Pita, and Kokkinaki (2007) proposed two different conceptualization of EI, i.e., trait EI and ability EI. Ability EI is defined as a set of interrelated skills that can be classified within the four dimensions: the ability to perceive accurately, appraise, and express emotion; the ability to access and/or generate feelings when they facilitate thought; the ability to understand emotion and emotional knowledge; and the ability to regulate emotions to promote emotional and intellectual growth (Mayer & Salovey, 1997). Trait EI, by contrast, is conceptualized as a trait which refers to ‘‘a constellation of behavioral dispositions and emotional self-perceptions located at the lower-levels of personality hierarchies’’ (Petrides et al., 2007). There is some evidence to support the hypothesis. For example, people with high levels of mindfulness are likely to perceive greater EI (e.g., Baer, Smith, & Allen, 2004; Baer, Smith, Hopkins,
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Krietemeyer, & Toney, 2006; Brown & Ryan, 2003; Schutte & Malouff, 2011; Sinclair & Feigenbaum, 2012; Snowden et al., 2015); People with high EI report less perceived stress (e.g., Extremera, Durán, & Rey, 2007; Gohm, Corser, & Dalsky, 2005; Mikolajczak, Balon, Ruosi, & Kotsou, 2012; Vesely, Siegling, & Saklofske, 2013). Thus, we predicted trait would mediate the association between mindfulness and perceived stress. To our knowledge, two studies have shown that EI acts as a mediator of the association between mindfulness and subjective well-being (Schutte & Malouff, 2011; Wang & Kong, 2013), but some questions still remain unanswered. One the one hand, although these two studies have demonstrated the mediating role of EI between EI and subjective well-being, as Schutte and Malouff (2011) pointed out, it is necessary to explore the possible mediating role of EI in the relationship between mindfulness and other variables such as stress. On the other hand, because EI is multidimensional construct (Mayer & Salovey, 1997), which aspects of EI play a more important role in the relationship between mindfulness and perceived stress is unclear. Some researchers have pointed out mindfulness may encourage the development of regulation of emotion (Chambers, Gullone, & Allen, 2009; Koole, 2009). Evidence from fMRI studies shows that brain regions involved in attentional and emotion regulation processes, such as the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex and the amygdala, play a role in mindfulness (Frewen et al., 2010). Thus, we predicted that only some aspects of EI (e.g., regulation of emotion) might mediate the mindfulness- perceived stress relationship. The present study expands the existing research in several ways. First, this study set out first to examine the mediating effect of EI on the link between mindfulness and perceived stress, which would extend our comprehensive understanding of the mechanism whereby mindfulness and perceived stress are connected. Second, we determined which components of EI play a more prominent role in this association via the methods comparing specific indirect effects in multiple mediator models because Preacher and Hayes (2008) asserted that significance of the total indirect effect was not a necessary precondition for significant specific indirect effects in multiple mediator models. 2. Method 2.1. Participants Three hundred and eighty native Chinese speaking adults from mainland China volunteered to take part in the study. The mean age of the sample was 27.21 years (standard deviation = 5.10 years). In the sample, 223 were women and 157 were men. Participants’ education level was classed as middle school education (n = 11), high school education (n = 10), undergraduate education (n = 115) and post-graduate education (n = 244). Each participant volunteered to take part in this study, and had no compensation for their participation. 2.2. Measures The Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS; Brown & Ryan, 2003) was used to assess dispositional mindfulness. It consists of 15 brief statements. It includes items such as, ‘‘I tend to walk quickly to get where I’m going without paying attention to what I experience along the way’’ and ‘‘I get so focused on the goal I want to achieve that I lose touch with what I’m doing right now to get there’’. Respondents are asked to rate their agreement on a 6-point Likert-type scale (1 = almost always, 6 = almost never). The mean rating across all items is computed. Higher scores reflect higher levels of mindfulness. The PSS has good reliability and validity
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(e.g., Brown & Ryan, 2003; Kong, Wang, & Zhao, 2014). In this study, the scale was internally consistent and had a Cronbach alpha coefficient of .86. The Wong Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS; Wong & Law, 2002) was used to assess trait EI. It consists of 16 brief statements. The scale consists of four dimensions: Self Emotion Appraisals (SEA), Others’ Emotion Appraisals (OEA), Regulation of Emotion (ROE), and Use of Emotion (UOE). SEA relates to the individual’s ability to understand their deep emotions and be able to express these emotions naturally. OEA relates to peoples’ ability to perceive and understand the emotions of those people around them. ROE relates to the ability of people to regulate their emotions, which will enable a more rapid recovery from psychological distress. UOE (or Emotional Facilitation of Thought) relates to the ability of individuals to make use of their emotions by directing them towards constructive activities and personal performance. The WLELS includes items such as, ‘‘I have good understanding of my own emotions’’ (SEA), ‘‘I have good understanding of the emotions of people around me’’ (OEA), ‘‘I am quite capable of controlling my own emotions’’ (ROE) and ‘‘I would always encourage myself to try my best’’ (UOE). Items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Higher scores reflect higher levels of EI. The WLEIS has good reliability and validity (e.g., Kong & Zhao, 2013; Kong, Zhao, & You, 2012a, 2012b; Wong & Law, 2002). In this study, the Cronbach alpha coefficients for the four subscales were: SEA: .75; OEA: .85; ROE: .83; UOE: .73. The Cronbach alpha coefficient for all 16 items was .86. The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS; Cohen, Kamarck, & Mermelstein, 1983) was used to assess perceived levels of stress. This scale measures an individual’s appraisal of their life as stressful (i.e. unpredictable, uncontrollable and overloading), consisting of 10 items. Item examples include, ‘‘How often have you felt nervous or stressed?’’ and ‘‘How often have you felt confident about your ability to handle your personal problems?’’ People rated how often they had experienced these feelings in the last month on a five-point Likert scale from 0 (never) to 4 (very often). PSS scores were obtained by reversing the scores on the four positive items; the items were 4, 5, 7 and 8. Total scores range from 0 to 40, with higher scores indicating greater overall distress. The PSS has good reliability and validity (e.g., Cohen et al., 1983). In this study, the scale was internally consistent and had a Cronbach alpha coefficient of .85. 2.3. Procedure Participants completed a multi-section questionnaire survey distributed using an online testing system. Included in the questionnaire were a brief demographics survey, and self-report measures of WLEIS, MAAS and PSS. All the questionnaires used in this study were in Chinese language. The hyperlink to the questionnaire survey was distributed via email and through online forums (e.g., tianya.cn). Participants could respond to the questionnaires at their own pace and typically took about 15 min to complete all sections. This method has been used successfully in other studies (e.g., Kong et al., 2012a; Meyerson & Tryon, 2003). 3. Results 3.1. Preliminary analyses Descriptive statistics and intercorrelations for all variables included are presented in Table 1. All variables were significantly correlated in the predicted directions. Mindfulness was negatively associated with perceived stress and positively associated with four dimensions and total scores of EI as well as age. Perceived
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Table 1 Descriptive statistics and zero-order correlations for all measures. Measure
M
SD
1
2
3
4
5
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
27.21 61.22 58.80 15.85 15.22 58.80 14.54 13.18 17.91
5.10 11.55 8.71 2.51 2.84
1 .20*** .03 .03 .02
1 .34*** .23*** .14**
1 .73*** .66***
1 .39***
1
3.00 3.53 6.25
.08 .01 .12*
.31*** .28*** .57***
.77*** .76*** .39***
.45*** .41*** .20***
.35*** .25*** .15**
Age MASS WLEIS SEA OEA
6. UOE 7. ROE 8. PSS
6
7
1 .45*** .37***
1 .39***
Note. MAAS = Mindful Attention Awareness Scale; WLEIS = Wong Law Emotional Intelligence Scale; PSS = Perceived Stress Scale. SEA, ROE, UOE and OEA are the subscales of the Wong Law Emotional Intelligence Scale. * p < .05. ** p < .01. *** p < .001.
stress was negatively associated with four dimensions and total scores of EI. These bivariate relations provide evidence to support the test of mediation analyses. Independent samples t-tests did not reveal significant sex differences for OEA, SEA, mindfulness and perceived stress (all p > .05). Men, however, did obtain significantly higher UOE and ROE scores, and higher EI total scores than women, t(378) = 3.42, p < .01, t(269) = 4.35, p < .001, and t(378) = 3.24, p < .01, respectively. And, as such, sex and age were included as a covariate in mediation analysis. 3.2. Multiple mediation model A multiple mediation model testing the degree to which four components of EI mediate the link between mindfulness and perceived stress was examined. Like traditional mediation methods (e.g. Frazier, Tix, & Barron, 2004), a multiple mediation model allows researchers to explore whether the link between two variables is explained in part by a third variable, or mediator. However, a multiple mediation model provides the added benefit of exploring more than one mediator at a time, therein providing effect values for each model path while accounting for the other model paths. Using the multiple mediation macro developed by Preacher and Hayes (2008), we computed the direct and indirect path coefficients of the link between mindfulness and perceived stress, as mediated by four components of EI, using standardized values. These path coefficients refer to the regression weights in the relation of the independent and dependent variable. As seen in Fig. 1, mindfulness had significant direct paths to each mediator variable: SEA (b = .23, p < .001), OEA (b = .15, p < .01), UOE (b = .30, p < .001) and ROE (b = .29, p < .001), as well as perceived stress (b = .56, p < .001). Two of the mediators, SEA (b = .04, p > .05) and OEA (b = .01, p > .05) had non-significant direct paths to perceived stress. The other two, UOE (b = .25, p < .001) and ROE (b = .30, p < .001), had significant direct paths to perceived stress. Additionally, mindfulness was found to have significant indirect effects on perceived stress as mediated through UOE (b = .16, p < .01) and ROE (b = .22, p < .001). After including the four mediators in the model, the link between mindfulness and perceived stress was still significant (b = .47, p < .001), indicating partial mediation by UOE and ROE. To further test the significance of the indirect effects of mindfulness via the potential mediating variables on perceived stress, we followed the guidelines proposed by Shrout and Bolger (2002) and created 1000 bootstrapping samples from the original data set (N = 380) using the Preacher and Hayes (2008) multiple mediation macro. Across all 1000 samples, 95% confidence intervals were computed for the upper and lower potential limits of these
Fig. 1. Multiple mediator model examining the direct and indirect relation of mindfulness and perceived stress. Numbers in parentheses represent indirect effects for mediator variables and direct effect for the relation of mindfulness to perceived stress after accounting for mediator variables. Note. All regression coefficients are standardized. SEA, ROE, UOE and OEA are the subscales of the Wong Law Emotional Intelligence Scale. ⁄p < .01; ⁄p < .001.
Table 2 Summary of mediation results for perceived stress with mindfulness as independent variable. Model pathways
Indirect effect
Mindfulness ? SEA ? Perceived stress Mindfulness ? OEA ? Perceived stress Mindfulness ? UOE ? Perceived stress Mindfulness ? ROE ? Perceived stress IndEff (UOE) minus IndEff (ROE)
.01 .0004 .03a .03a .01
95% bias Corrected CI Lower .003 .01 .05 .06 .02
Upper .03 .01 .01 .02 .04
Note. SEA, ROE, UOE and OEA are the subscales of the Wong Law Emotional Intelligence Scale. Indirect effects are non-standardized. IndEff = Indirect effect. a Empirical 95% confidence interval does not overlap with zero. (p < .05).
indirect effects. When zero is not in the 95% confidence interval, one can conclude that the indirect effect is significantly different from zero at p < .05. Furthermore, in multiple mediator models, significance of the total indirect effect is not a necessary precondition for significant specific indirect effects (Preacher & Hayes, 2008). Therefore, it is legitimate to interpret the specific indirect effects found here. Table 2 displays the indirect effects and their associated 95% confidence intervals. As shown in Table 2, mindfulness exerted significant indirect effects on perceived stress via UOE
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and ROE. Effect contrasts showed no significant difference between the specific indirect effects through UOE and ROE.
4. Discussion The purpose of the present study was to investigate the pivotal role of EI in the relationship between mindfulness and perceived stress in a sample of Chinese adults. Correlational results showed that mindfulness was negatively related to perceived stress, and positively related to EI. These results are consistent with previous research that reported relationships between mindfulness and perceived stress (Black et al., 2012; Bränström et al., 2011; Gard et al., 2012; Weinstein et al., 2009), and EI (e.g., Baer et al., 2004, 2006; Brown & Ryan, 2003; Schutte & Malouff, 2011; Sinclair & Feigenbaum, 2012; Snowden et al., 2015). Furthermore, the association of EI with perceived stress is consistent with previous research on the negative relation between EI and perceived stress (e.g., Extremera et al., 2007; Gohm et al., 2005; Mikolajczak et al., 2012; Vesely et al., 2013). As we expected, mindfulness predicted perceived stress through the partial mediating effect of ROE in Chinese adults. That is, people with high levels of mindfulness were more likely to perceive better ability to regulate their emotion, which enable a more rapid recovery from psychological distress, thus leading to less perceived stress. As Brown et al. (2007) mentioned, mindfulness may add ‘‘clarity and vividness to current experience and encourages closer, moment-to-moment sensory contact with life’’ (p. 219) and enhance ‘‘self-regulated functioning that comes with ongoing attentional sensitivity to psychological, somatic and environmental cues’’ (p. 220). Thus, the self-regulated functioning inherent in mindfulness relates to the ROE component of EI. This is consistent with previous behavioral and neuroimaging studies that demonstrated the connection between mindfulness and ROE (e.g., Chambers et al., 2009). In short, our result suggests that ROE may be an important behavioral mechanism by which mindfulness reduces perceived stress. Interestingly, we also found that mindfulness mediated the association between UOE and perceived stress. That is, people with high levels of mindfulness were more likely to make use of their emotions to motivate themselves to enhance performance, which thus contributed to reduce perceived stress. This is the first study that reported the crucial role of use of emotion in the relationship between mindfulness and perceived stress. Previous studies have found mindfulness training is intimately linked to improvements of attentional functions, cognitive flexibility and problem solving (Jha, Krompinger, & Baime, 2007; Moore & Malinowski, 2009; Ostafin & Kassman, 2012), which thus may contribute to the ability to access and generate feelings when they facilitate thought (i.e., UOE). Effect contrasts showed no significant difference between the specific indirect effects through regulation and use of emotion, signifying that they played an equally important role in mindfulness as the predictor variable of mental distress. The mediating role of EI has been demonstrated in this study, but further investigations are needed to test other potential mediating processes. Several important limitations of the present study should be mentioned. The first limitation is that the data relied on self-report measures. Although the instruments used here have good reliability and validity, self-report measures are subjective by nature and vulnerable to bias (e.g., social desirability). Multiple methods for evaluation may be adopted to lower the impact of subjectivity. The second limitation is that the methods of this study were correlational and cross-sectional, so interpretation of the results of mediation analysis on cross-sectional data must always proceed with caution. Longitudinal or experimental studies would provide additional insights into relationships between these factors. In
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addition, this study used a non-clinical sample of convenience, so these findings cannot necessarily be generalized to clinical populations. Despite these limitations, the present study provides insight into the underlying mechanisms between mindfulness and perceived stress in a sample of Chinese adults. These findings suggest that mindfulness influences perceived stress by two different pathways, with the impact of mindfulness on perceived stress mediated by ROE and the impact of mindfulness on perceived stress mediated by UOE. It may provide valuable guidance for how to implement mindfulness interventions aimed at reducing psychological stress. The development of mindfulness can work as a preventive therapy to help individuals reduce their perceived stress in the future, and it can work as a palliative therapy by helping them get better ability to use and regulate their emotion from self and others.
Acknowledgments This study was supported by National Education Science Key Research Project during 12th Five-Year Plan of Ministry of Education (DLA120312).
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