The Impact And Mechanism Of Mindfulness On Helping Behavior In The Paradigm Of Social Exclusion

Mindfulness is a state of consciousness while maintaining uncritical awareness of current experience.It is also a trait with individual differences.Awareness and acceptance are its core elements.Mindfulness training is a kind of training method aimed at improving mindfulness state and characteristics.Previous studies have shown that mindfulness level is closely related to pro-social behaviors related to helping others.A few studies have explored the mechanism of positive thinking quality promoting prosocial formation,and found that empathic concern plays an important role in it.However,as a multidimensional concept,the role of the two basic elements of mindfulness awareness and acceptance in the connection between mindfulness training and helping behavior is not clear.This study focuses on the exact relationship and mechanism between mindfulness quality and helping behavior,especially the influence of two basic elements of mindfulness awareness and acceptance,and the role of empathic concern and empathic disstress as two basic empathy in the relationship between mindfulness and helping.This study explores the unsolved problems in previous studies from two levels.First of all,as a psychological trait with individual differences,is there a correlation between higher mindfulness trait and higher helping behavior? If there is a connection,how do the two levels of empathy,empathic concern and empathic distress,each play a role in it?What is the connection between the two levels of mindfulness acceptance and awareness and helping behavior? Secondly,can short-term mindfulness training improve empathy and helping behavior? Moreover,we try to explore the reasons for the connection between mindfulness and helping behavior from the internal channels and internal mechanisms that constitute mindfulness.Study 1 explores the relationship between trait mindfulness level and helping behavior,and whether this relationship is based on empathy.A total of 104 subjects(39males,average age 19 years)participated in the study.The mindfulness trait level of the subjects was measured by mindfulness attention awareness scale and Philadelphia mindfulness scale from two dimensions of awareness and acceptance.The helping behavior of individuals was measured by social exclusion paradigm.Meanwhile,the attention control level,trait empathy and altruistic personality traits of the subjects were measured.The results show that the acceptance dimension of the individual mindfulness trait negatively predicts the behavior of writing letters and helping the excluded when facing social exclusion,in which empathy discomfort plays a full mediating role between acceptance and helping.That is,a high level of acceptance predicts a low level of empathy distress when individuals face social exclusion from others,and then predicts a low level of helping behavior.This result is not consistent with the hypothesis and results of the existing research that mindfulness promotes helping others.Research 2 further observes whether the helping behavior changes with the improvement of mindfulness level and the internal mechanism of this change through the change of mindfulness level caused by a short-term mindfulness intervention.Study 2 separated the elements of awareness and acceptance in mindfulness training.202 subjects(157 female,average age 20.23 years)were randomly divided into standard mindfulness training group(acceptance+awareness),awareness training group,relaxation training group and control group.Whether the type of training affected the subsequent helping behavior was systematically compared,and the role of empathy level in it was also investigated.The results show that,compared with the relaxation group and the control group,the short-term standard mindfulness training and awareness training of 15 minutes both lead to a higher level of helping behavior when individuals face rejection from others.Moreover,the level of state acceptance promoted by standard mindfulness training partly mediates the change of helping level produced by standard mindfulness training relative to the control group.In addition,study 2 found that through different types of audio guidance,the four groups showed different patterns in the relationship between empathy and helping behavior.Among them,only the subjects who received standard mindfulness training showed positive correlation between empathy care and email helping.However,the empathic concern and empathic distress of the subjects receiving awareness training were only related to the scores of those who condemned and rejected in the email.To sum up,the study draws the following conclusions:(1)The acceptance dimension of the individual mindfulness trait negatively predicts the helping behavior of the excluded when facing social exclusion,in which empathy discomfort plays a full mediating role.(2)15 minutes of short-term mindfulness training can effectively improve the individual's mindfulness level.Whether it includes standard mindfulness training(awareness+acceptance)or awareness training,it can effectively promote helping behavior.(3)Individual's state acceptance level partially mediates between short-term standard mindfulness training and helping behavior.That is,short-term standard mindfulness training promotes individuals to produce more helpful behaviors by improving their state acceptance level.For the first time,this study goes deep into mindfulness training,explores the relationship between mindfulness quality and helping behavior,and obtains different results from similar studies with western whites as samples.The discussion part of the study explores the deep connection between mindfulness and pro-social qualities such as helping others,which is of great value to deeply understand the essence of mindfulness training.