Mindfulness and Motives

Research findings across multiple life domains underscore the psychological and social importance of having greater correspondence between what one wants (implicit motives) and what one says they want (explicit motives and goals).  Previous research has investigated some possible substantive moderators of implicit motive-explicit motive congruence such as referential competence and body consciousness.  Conceptually, these constructs share a common characteristic of allowing a person to achieve greater self-awareness.  

​Based on these lines of research, we propose that mindfulness training will be helpful in increasing implicit-explicit motive congruence. Mindfulness is a multi-dimensional construct that refers to several dimensions, such as a) self-regulated attention to internal as well as external environments, b) non-evaluative awareness, c) a state of emotional equanimity, and d) philosophical and ethical underpinnings of compassion and pro-sociality that are associated with Buddhism. In this research, we examine whether mindfulness training will lead to greater implicit-explicit motive congruence. Participants will be exposed to different aspects of mindfulness training such as breath and body awareness meditation, emotion meditation, and loving kindness meditation.  It is hypothesized that mindfulness training will result in better motive congruence and that improved motive congruence will lead to better well-being and greater motive-relevant goal progress. 

This research is supported by the HASS incentive scheme for the development of competitive grants.

For more information, or if you are interested in participating in the study and/or collaborating on the project, please contact Tania Nagpaul at [email protected] or Joyce at [email protected].