Self-Determination as a Mediator Between Mindfulness and Perfectionism in Theory and Practice
Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have been surging as an alternative to cognitive-behavioural therapy for perfectionism. Despite promising results, there are practical and theoretical concerns regarding high resistance from perfectionists towards developing mindfulness related capabilities. Se...
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
SAGE Publishing
2025-07-01
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| Series: | SAGE Open |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440251351185 |
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| Summary: | Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have been surging as an alternative to cognitive-behavioural therapy for perfectionism. Despite promising results, there are practical and theoretical concerns regarding high resistance from perfectionists towards developing mindfulness related capabilities. Self-Determination Motivation could provide a pathway to circumvent this problem by mediating the relationship between mindfulness and multidimensional perfectionism. Ninety-three university students filled a questionnaire containing mindfulness, perfectionism and motivation measures. Thirteen participants were then included in an 8-week MBI. Intrinsic motivation mediated the effect between mindfulness and perfectionist concerns (indirect effect = −0.09). Perfectionist concerns and strivings were both reduced post-intervention ( p = .002). There was also a significant intragroup increase in mindfulness ( p ≤ .001), although there were no motivational changes. Current change mechanisms underlying MBI effectiveness do not support this approach as presenting unique advantages over other cognitive-behavioural approaches. Implementing explicit motivational change into MBI interventions could provide a pathway to differentiating MBIs from other alternatives. |
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| ISSN: | 2158-2440 |