The Role Of Mindfulness On Self-positive Bias And Their Mediating Mechanism

Self-referential processing views the self as the background for encoding and interpreting information.When interacting with emotional stimulates,it also produces self-positive bias,which attributes positive traits and consequence to the self and denies negative events.Self-positive bias is self-centrality,which will bring many negative effects on individual mental function and social adaptation.Changing self-related processes is the key mechanism of mindfulness.Mindfulness requires individuals to explore the nature of the self,to recognize that the self is changeable and broadly connected to everything in the world.Previous studies have found that mindfulness can change self-cognition in many aspects,such as self-compassion and self-concept clarity.However,the relationship between mindfulness and the self-positive bias has been poorly researched.Through awareness and acceptance of all present experiences,mindfulness reduces the individual’s attachment to positive experiences and avoidance of negative ones,and increases the individual’s ability to integrate the concept of self with others`.Whether mindfulness can reduce self-centrality and decrease individual self-positive bias remains to be supported by empirical research.Moreover,if mindfulness can effectively reduce the self-positive bias,possible mediating mechanism in this relationship attracts the researchers’ interest.The research questions were solved by three studies.In study 1,a 2(group: mindfulness training /control)× 2(reference: self/other)×2(valence: positive/negative)mixed experimental design was conducted to discover the effects of mindfulness training on the word judgment score and recognition accuracy in explicit self-positive bias tasks.In study 2,the effects of mindfulness on the response speed and accuracy of implicit tasks were investigated by using a design of group(2: mindfulness training /control)× priming type(2: self/other)× valence(2:positive/negative).Through related study design,study 3 used a series of measurements including Philadelphia mindfulness scale,self-esteem scale etc,and with Go/Nogo task difference in the discrimination index as the dependent variable to reveal the correlation between trait mindfulness and self-positive bias.Moreover,we included unconditional self-acceptance,non-self,and interpersonal closeness as possible mediating variables in the statistical analysis.The results demonstrated that when there was no difference in trait mindfulness levels between groups,short-term mindfulness training reduced the self-positive bias by increasing the accuracy of recalling other words or self-negative words(Study 1).And it reduced the implicit self-positive bias by shortening the response time in the other-positive priming condition(study2).Short-term mindfulness training did not significantly reduce the recognition rate and response speed of self-positive words,but reduced the differences in the processing speed and memory quantity between self-positive and self-negative,and between self-positive and others.Results of study 3 suggested that mindfulness was negatively correlated with self-positive bias.Unconditional self-acceptance explained the relationship between mindfulness and low difference between self-positive and self-negative,and non-self explained the relationship between mindfulness and low difference between self-positive and others-positive.There is no experimental data to support the correlation between mindfulness and self-positive bias and interpersonal closeness,so the mediating effect of it has not been found.Self-esteem was positively correlated with the low difference between self-positive and self-negative.This study has important significance for enriching the positive effects of mindfulness from the perspective of self,and offers an effective practical guidance for reducing self-positive bias.