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Journal of Spirituality in Mental Health
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Benefits of Mindfulness Meditation on
Emotional Intelligence, General Self-
Efficacy, and Perceived Stress: Evidence
from Thailand
Peerayuth Charoensukmongkola
a National Institute of Development Administration, International
College, Bangkok, Thailand
Published online: 28 Jul 2014.
To cite this article: Peerayuth Charoensukmongkol (2014) Benefits of Mindfulness Meditation on
Emotional Intelligence, General Self-Efficacy, and Perceived Stress: Evidence from Thailand, Journal
of Spirituality in Mental Health, 16:3, 171-192, DOI: 10.1080/19349637.2014.925364
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Journal of Spirituality in Mental Health, 16:171–192, 2014
Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 1934-9637 print/1934-9645 online
DOI: 10.1080/19349637.2014.925364
Benefits of Mindfulness Meditation on
Emotional Intelligence, General Self-Efficacy,
and Perceived Stress: Evidence from Thailand
PEERAYUTH CHAROENSUKMONGKOL
National Institute of Development Administration, International College, Bangkok, Thailand
This study investigated the benefits of mindfulness meditation
practice on self-report emotional intelligence, general self-efficacy,
and general perceived stress. The survey data was collected from
317 respondents in Thailand. The results analyzed using the par-
tial least squares regression indicated that mindfulness meditation
practice tended to associate positively with emotional intelligence.
Practicing mindfulness meditation also negatively relates to gen-
eral perceived stress directly and indirectly through emotional
intelligence. However, the positive association between the medi-
tation and general self-efficacy was only found to be mediated by
emotional intelligence.
KEYWORDS mindfulness meditation, self-efficacy, stress,
Thailand, emotional intelligence
INTRODUCTION
Research related to the benefits of mindfulness on psychological well-being
and a variety of performance measures has been growing extensively over
the past decade. Mindfulness is widely defined as the ability to “bring one’s
complete attention to the experiences occurring in the present moment, in
a nonjudgmental or accepting way” (Baer, Smith, Hopkins, Krietemeyer, &
Toney, 2006, p. 27). Literature has shown that one particular practice that
can enhance the level of mindfulness is mindfulness meditation (MM; Brown
& Ryan, 2003; Charoensukmongkol, 2013; Jha, Krompinger, & Baime, 2007;
Address correspondence to Peerayuth Charoensukmongkol, National Institute of
Development Administration, International College, 118 Moo 3, Serithai Road, Klong-Chan,
Bangkapi, Bangkok 10240, Thailand. E-mail: peerayuth@outlook.com
171
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172 P. Charoensukmongkol
Kabat-Zinn, 1990). Cahn and Polich (2006, p. 180) defined meditation as
“practices that self-regulate the body and mind, thereby affecting mental
events by engaging a specific attentional set.” The key characteristic of MM is
how practitioners learn to be consistently attentive to their own body action
(e.g., movement, breath) or internal stimuli (e.g., emotion, thought) that they
are experiencing at the present moment (Kabat-Zinn, 2005). MM also requires
practitioners to cultivate a moment-to-moment awareness of the self and
the environment (Wallace, 2006), acknowledge any stimuli nonjudgmentally
(Kabat-Zinn, 1994), and maintain equanimity in the face of any pleasant or
unpleasant sensation they are encountering during the practice (Goenka,
2002).
Although MM is rooted in Eastern cultures, research on its contribu-
tions in Eastern countries is still lacking compared to Western countries.
Therefore, the present study was conducted using the survey data collected
from respondents in Thailand who came from diverse backgrounds. The
present study aimed to test the outcomes of MM on: (a) emotional intel-
ligence, (b) general self-efficacy, and (c) general perceived stress. These
three outcomes were chosen because existing studies have shown that they
contributed significantly to better health, well-being, and occupational per-
formance (Bedini, Gladwell, Dudley, & Clancy, 2011; Joseph & Newman,
2010; Yang, Kim, & McFarland, 2011).
In particular, there are two main research questions that the present
study intended to address. The first question is whether the regular practice
of MM could explain the difference in the level of emotional intelligence,
general self-efficacy, and general perceived stress. In addition to the direct
effect, the second research question is whether the effect of MM on general
self-efficacy and general perceived stress could be mediated by emotional
intelligence. Although previous studies have provided some evidence about
the contribution of MM on various psychological outcomes, little research
tended to focus on its indirect effect. Emotional intelligence was selected as
a mediator for this study because it has been shown as a good predictor for
self-efficacy (Rathi & Rastogi, 2008) and stress (Salovey, Stroud, Woolery, &
Epel, 2002).
BENEFITS OF PRACTICING MINDFULNESS MEDITATION
Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence (EQ) was defined by Salovey and Mayer (1990,
p. 189) as “the subset of social intelligence that involves the ability to mon-
itor one’s own and others’ feelings and emotions, to discriminate among
them and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and actions.” EQ
represents the ability of individuals to make a connection between emo-
tions and reasoning in a way that enables them to use emotions to guide
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Benefits of Mindfulness Meditation on Psychological Well-Being 173
their actions and use reasoning to regulate their emotions (Mayer, Salovey, &
Caruso, 2000). A number of studies have found EQ to be a good predictor of
psychological well-being and work performance (Fitzgerald & Schutte, 2010;
Goleman, 1995). As a result, these contributions have made EQ trainings
become one of the major interventions to help people deal effectively with
various life- and job-related stressors.
Mayer and Salovey (1997) suggested that EQ consists of four functions.
First, appraisal and expression of emotion in the self refers to the ability to
understand one’s own deep emotions and be able to express them naturally.
Second, appraisal and expression of emotion in others refers to the ability
to perceive and understand the emotions of other people (Goleman, 1995).
Third, regulation of emotion in the self refers to the ability to control one’s
own emotion, which is crucial for an individual to recover quickly when
experiencing a negative emotion. Fourth, using emotion to facilitate decision-
making represents the ability to direct one’s own emotions to help improve
performance.
Mindfulness Meditation and Emotional Intelligence
In literature, scholars have reported a positive relationship between mindful-
ness and EQ (Baer et al., 2006; Brown & Ryan, 2003). Since the objective of
MM is to enhance the level of mindfulness, it can significantly facilitate the
development of EQ. First, regularly practicing MM can enhance the ability to
understand one’s own emotions (Brown, Ryan, & Creswell, 2007). Since the
meditation training requires practitioners to closely observe their thoughts
and feelings moment-to-moment without any judgment or interference, prac-
titioners tend to develop a higher tendency to be aware of their emotional
state and change than those who do not. This contribution is supported by
a study conducted by Feldman, Hayes, Kumar, Greeson, and Laurenceau
(2007), which found that the level of mindfulness was associated positively
with more clarity of feelings, attention to feelings, and lower distraction.
Second, people who regularly practice MM can easily develop the ability
to detect and understand the emotions of others. In particular, being mindful
allows individual to better focus their attention on how other people around
them are feeling (Brown et al., 2007), which subsequently helps them deci-
pher emotional cues of others more accurately (Krasner et al., 2009). This
contribution is supported by a study conducted by Shapiro, Schwartz, and
Bonner (1998), which found that participants who attended the MM program
tended to score higher on the overall empathy self-reported measurement.
A study by Brown and Kasser (2005) also found that the level of mind-
fulness tended to associate positively with a felt sense of relatedness and
interpersonal closeness.
Third, regularly practicing MM can significantly enhance the ability of
individuals to regulate and control their emotions (Cahn & Polich, 2006).
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174 P. Charoensukmongkol
In particular, Feldman et al. (2007) found that people with a higher level
of mindfulness tended to recover quickly from emotional distress compared
with those with a lower level of mindfulness. Moreover, research found that
practicing MM could heighten one’s meta-cognitive ability (Zeidan, Johnson,
Diamond, David, & Goolkasian, 2010), which is considered a higher-level
cognitive ability that allows individuals to monitor and control their thought
process (Flavell, 1987). In EQ literature, this meta-cognitive ability was pro-
posed as a crucial ability for people to effectively regulate their emotions
(Mayer et al., 2000; Salovey & Mayer, 1990).
Finally, regularly practicing MM can also allow individuals to effectively
use their emotions. This is because the quality of being mindful to one’s
own emotions, both negative and positive, enables one to appropriately
focus on a task that might be performed better when a specific emotion is in
place; and to avoid performing a task that cannot be performed well under
such emotion (Averill, Chon, & Hahn, 2001). For example, George (2000)
argued that while being in positive moods is important for tasks that require
creativity, integrative thinking, and deductive reasoning, being in a negative
mood tends to make people become more effective in tasks that require
attention to detail, detection of errors and problems, and careful information
processing. Without being sufficiently mindful, on the other hand, it can be
difficult for people to focus on a task that could benefit from their currently
felt emotion.
Considering the aforementioned arguments, therefore, the first set of
hypotheses is presented:
H1: Individuals who regularly practice MM will report higher level of
emotional intelligence than those who do not.
General Self-Efficacy
Self-efficacy represents the belief of an individual that he/she can perform
well in a specific task (Bandura, 1997,1999). Studies have found that self-
efficacy tended to correlate strongly with many positive individual-level
outcomes. For example, it was reported that people with high self-efficacy
tended to have better health (Schreurs, van Emmerik, Notelaers, & De
Witte, 2010), higher achievement, and better performance (Brady-Amoon &
Fuertes, 2011). Studies found that they tended to be optimistic about life and
had more confidence that they could deal effectively with life events and
stressors (Nasurdin, Ramayah, & Chee, 2009). On the other hand, people
with low self-efficacy were reported to have more anxiety and depression
(Jimmieson, 2000). Lack of self-efficacy was also found to be associated posi-
tively with a sense of helplessness, low self-esteem, and pessimistic thoughts
(Schwarzer & Hallum, 2008). Studies conducted in organizational settings
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Benefits of Mindfulness Meditation on Psychological Well-Being 175
have also found that employees with high self-efficacy tended to have better
performance than employees with low self-efficacy (Yang et al., 2011).
Generally, self-efficacy is considered to be domain-specific (Wang &
Richarde, 1988). For example, self-efficacy has been applied to some partic-
ular situation or function such as job-related efficacy or task-specific efficacy
(Lang & Lee, 2005). However, scholars have suggested that self-efficacy can
also be considered a global confidence in one’s own competence (Schwarzer
& Jerusalem, 1995). In this sense, general self-efficacy is defined as “indi-
viduals’ perception of their ability to perform across a variety of different
situations” (Judge, Erez, & Bono, 1998, p. 170). Unlike task-specific self-
efficacy, general self-efficacy is a stable trait-like belief in one’s own potential
to perform well in a wide array of tasks (DeRue & Morgeson, 2007).
Mindfulness Meditation and General Self-Efficacy
There are several reasons to support that individuals who regularly practice
MM tend to develop higher general self-efficacy than those who do not. For
example, Bandura (1997) proposed that the sources of self-efficacy involve
both cognitive and affective processes. From the social cognitive theory,
Bandura (1986) argued that individuals tend to act according to how they
interpret the realities, and this activity in turn is strongly determined by their
level of self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-control. For example, when
people are overwhelmed by a negative psychological state such as worry or
anxiety, it can be difficult for them to focus their thinking and to evaluate
their true potentials accurately. In the same manner, Gundlach, Martinko,
and Douglas (2003, p. 232) suggested, “without an awareness or willingness
to decipher and understand how one produces beliefs about his/her own
[job] capability, it will be difficult to explain, understand, or improve existing
self-efficacy levels.”
Because self-efficacy belief is influenced by the cognitive process of
how people make causal attribution between their abilities and performance
outcomes (Bandura, 1997), regularly practicing MM can allow individuals
to make more positive attribution because it helps them overcome their
pessimistic thoughts. Specifically, a study suggested that the ability to observe
the mind’s operations nonjudgmentally was associated with more realistic
perceptions (Brown et al., 2007). Being aware and having a clear mind also
enhance the ability of people to think constructively (Kabat-Zinn, 1990).
For example, Feldman et al. (2007) found that people with a high level of
mindfulness tended to have a high level of cognitive flexibility, problem
analysis, and plan rehearsal and less stagnant deliberation. Furthermore, a
study by Astin (1997) reported that participants who completed the MM
training tended to demonstrate a higher sense of control over one’s cognitive,
affective, and behavioral experience. Studies also reported that people with
a high level of mindfulness tended to possess a high capability to deal with
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176 P. Charoensukmongkol
challenges and difficulties (Feldman et al., 2007). Therefore, the following
hypothesis is presented:
H2: Individuals who regularly practice MM will report a higher level of
general self-efficacy than those who do not.
Because the sources of self-efficacy involve an emotional process
(Bandura, 1997), this study argues that MM can also indirectly influence gen-
eral self-efficacy through EQ. Although emotion and cognition are normally
treated as independent entities (Zajonc, 1980), scholars have argued that they
can be highly interdependent (Storbeck & Clore, 2007). For example, stud-
ies have shown that negative emotions tended to hinder the capability of
individuals to think rationally (Herabadi, Verplanken, & Van Knippenberg,
2009; van Knippenberg, Kooij-de Bode, & van Ginkel, 2010). In this regard,
Gundlach et al. (2003) argued that emotional awareness and emotional
regulation are considered key factors that facilitate the perception of self-
efficacy because they prevent individuals from being tampered by their
negative emotion when making causal attribution between their abilities and
outcomes.
Accordingly, the lack of ability to understand and control one’s own
negative emotions can have a detrimental effect on how people develop
general self-efficacy belief. In particular, individuals who are overwhelmed
by their negative emotions are less likely to evaluate their potential opti-
mistically compared to when they are having positive emotions (Kavanagh
& Bower, 1985). In this regard, Tsai, Chen, and Liu (2007) argued that a pos-
itive mood not only makes people easily recall an outstanding performance
that they had in the past, but it also enhances their positive feelings about
their past performance, thereby allowing them to raise expectation about
their ability. Plus, their study conducted on employees and supervisors from
insurance companies in Taiwan also found a strong positive relationship
between positive mood and task-specific self-efficacy measure (Tsai et al.,
2007). Moreover, a study by Rathi and Rastogi (2008), which was conducted
on scientists from research organizations in India, found EQ to be a good
predictor for occupational self-efficacy. Therefore:
H3: EQ will mediate the positive relationship between practicing MM
and general self-efficacy.
General Perceived Stress
According to Lazarus and Folkman (1984, p. 19), individuals tend to expe-
rience stress when they perceive events they encounter as “taxing or
exceeding his or her resources and endangering his or her well-being.”
Cohen, Kamarck, and Mermelstein (1983) argued that stress can also be
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Benefits of Mindfulness Meditation on Psychological Well-Being 177
conceptualized as a generalized perception. Scholars suggested that sources
of stress, or stressors, could be caused by macroevents and microevents
(Luria & Torjman, 2009). Microevents are any small situations that can hap-
pen in everyday life (e.g., missing a bus), which can have a cumulative effect
on stress level. On the other hand, macroevents are major life events (e.g.,
losing a loved one) that suddenly cause stress and can subsequently lead
individuals into a deep depression.
Numerous studies have reported that perceived stress tended to asso-
ciate positively with psychological and health-related problems. For example,
a study by Ghorbani, Krauss, Watson, and LeBreton (2008)onAmericanand
Iranian samples found that those who were high in stress perception tended
to experience higher anxiety and depression, regardless of the national cul-
ture characteristics. Bedini et al. (2011) also found that perceived stress was
negatively associated with a quality of life measure. Perceived stress not only
affects personal life, but can also have a spillover effect on work perfor-
mance. In an organization, for example, studies have found that employees
who reported having high general perceived stress tended to have low
job satisfaction and performance (Lourel, Ford, Gamassou, Guéguen, &
Hartmann, 2009).
Mindfulness Meditation and General Perceived Stress
Regularly practicing MM can prevent an individual from being preoccupied
by stressors. The key benefit of MM on alleviating stress lies in the ability of
practitioners to be attentive to their thought and emotional reactions when
experiencing stressful situations. In most part, MM is based on the Buddhist
wisdom that the emotions and sensations that we experience are transient
phenomena; they are impermanent and unstable (Kabat-Zinn, 1990). In fact,
the purpose of practicing MM does not give individuals the ability to shield
themselves from experiencing any unwanted emotion. Rather, it makes indi-
viduals understand and get along well with those unpleasant encounters
without being affected by them (Kabat-Zinn, 1990). For this reason, when
any stressor that causes unwanted sensations or emotions arises, they only
acknowledge it nonjudgmentally until that sensation or emotion fades away
on its own (Kabat-Zinn, 1994)
In literature, scholars also argued that mindfulness tends to help individ-
uals deal effectively with unpleasant feelings, particularly because it prevents
them from underengaging (e.g., experiential avoiding, through suppressing)
and overengaging (e.g., worry, rumination, overgeneralization) with emo-
tional encounters (Baer et al., 2006; Feldman et al., 2007). Moreover, studies
have shown that individuals with a higher level of mindfulness tended to
experience lower stress-related factors. For example, Christopher and Gilbert
(2010) found that mindfulness was positively related to satisfaction with life
and low depression. Therefore:
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178 P. Charoensukmongkol
H4: Individuals who practice MM regularly will report a lower level of
perceived stress than those who do not.
In addition to the direct effect, the benefit of practicing MM on perceived
stress can also be mediated through EQ. Specifically, Salovey et al. (2002)
suggested that EQ enhances the cognitive ability of individuals to cope well
with stressful events. Plus, a study by Luria and Torjman (2009) showed that
individuals who processed higher cognitive resources, as measured by their
problem solving ability, demonstrated higher tendency to cope well with
stressors over time. However, as mentioned earlier, negative felt emotions
can hinder the cognitive ability of individuals to think clearly and accurately
(Gundlach et al., 2003). Thus, the ability to understand and manage negative
emotion is crucial for people to better evaluate their coping resources to deal
with stress.
Studies have shown that people with high EQ tended to come up
with more effective coping strategies to deal with stressors. For example,
Matthews et al. (2006, p. 98) argued that persons with high EQ “tend to use
strategies such as eliciting social support and disclosure of feelings, in place
of the maladaptive coping strategy of rumination.” Their study also found
that participants who had lower EQ not only demonstrated higher worry but
also engaged more in avoidance coping when they were assigned to stressful
tasks, even after controlling for the five personality factors (Matthews et al.,
2006). Finally, a study by Nikolaou and Tsaousis (2002) also found the neg-
ative correlation between EQ and occupational stress. Therefore, the final
hypothesis is presented:
H5: EQ will mediate the negative relationship between practicing MM
and perceived stress.
METHODOLOGY
Participants
The data were collected using the online self-administered questionnaire
hosted by Survey Monkey. In order to obtain the respondents, espe-
cially those who had regularly practiced MM, to complete the survey, the
announcements of the study were posted in several major religious web sites
in Thailand. These websites offer discussion boards for members/visitors to
discuss about various topics, including meditation practices. The visitors of
these web sites are diverse and not just limited to religious purposes. Visitors
of the websites were informed about the objectives and contributions of the
study and were given the link to enter the online survey. The participa-
tion was conducted in a voluntary basis with no monetary compensation.
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Benefits of Mindfulness Meditation on Psychological Well-Being 179
However, the researcher promised a 10 Thai baht donation to the charity
fund for each survey completed.
Approximately two months after the announcement, a total of 317 ques-
tionnaires were completed. The final samples included 188 female (59%)
and 129 male (41%) respondents. The average age of the respondents was
35 years old (SD =10.87). For education background, 68 had below a bach-
elor’s degree (21%), 177 held a bachelor’s degree (56%), 60 held a master’s
degree (19%), and 12 held a doctoral degree (4%). For occupation, 77 were
students (24%), 156 were full-time employees (49%), and 84 were business
owners (27%). For marital status, 208 were single (66%) and 109 were mar-
ried (34%). Finally, 93 of the respondents reported having children (29%)
whereas 224 did not (71%). The average number of children was two (SD =
0.69).
For MM practice, 200 reported that they had regularly practiced MM
(63%) and 117 reported that they did not practice at all (37%). The majority
of MM practitioners reported that they meditated by observing their breath-
ing. For the intensity of meditation, the majority of them reported that they
meditated 2 hours per day, 7 days per week, and had meditated for 5 years.
Measurements
This study used established scales that have been used by other scholars.
To ensure the validity of the constructs, all questionnaire items originally in
English were translated to Thai and then back-translated to English by a pro-
fessional bilingual translator. Finally, the contents from the back-translation
were compared with the original contents to ensure that they convey the
same meanings.
Mindfulness Meditation
This variable was measured by the number of hours per day, days per week,
and the total years that participants had practiced MM. In the survey, respon-
dents were asked if they had regularly practiced MM until the present time.
Those who answered yes to this question were then asked to describe how
they meditated. Finally, they were asked to estimate the length in hours,
days, and years that they had meditated. These variables were coded in ordi-
nal scale. The number of hours ranges from 1 to 8 (1 =less than one hour;
2=about one hour ...7=about six hours; and 8=more than six hours).
The number of days ranged from 1 to 7. The number of years ranged from
1to11(1=less than one year; 2=about one year to 10 =about nine
years; 11 =more than ten years). For those who did not practice MM, these
three variables were coded as 0. These numbers were then used to construct
a single reflective latent variable.
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180 P. Charoensukmongkol
Emotional Intelligence
The Wong and Law EQ Scale, which was originally developed for measuring
the EQ of respondents in the Eastern country, was used to measure the level
of EQ (Law et al., 2004; Wong & Law, 2002). The scale contains 16 items in
5-point Likert scales ranging from 1 (strongly disagree)to5(strongly agree).
Sample items include “I have good understanding of my own emotions”
(emotion appraisal of self), “I am sensitive to the feelings and emotions
of others” (emotion appraisal of other), I am quite capable of controlling
my own emotions (emotion regulation), and “I would always encourage
myself to try my best” (use of emotion). First, these indicators were used to
construct the reflective latent variables of four EQ aspects. The calculation
was performed using WarpPLS 3.0. According to Kock (2012), the score of
each latent variable is calculated based on the indicators defined by the user
as associated with the latent variable. The calculation is based on a partial
least squares (PLS) algorithm. The factor scores of each latent variable were
then used to construct the second-order latent variable for overall EQ.
General Self-Efficacy
The measurement of general self-efficacy was adopted from Schwarzer and
Jerusalem (1995). This scale was tested in 25 countries and received sup-
port for it reliability across cultures (Scholz, Doña, Sud, & Schwarzer, 2002).
It contains 10 items in a 5-point Likert scales ranging from 1 (strongly dis-
agree)to5(strongly agree). Sample items of this measure include “I can
always manage to solve difficult problems if I try hard enough,” and “I am
confident that I could deal efficiently with unexpected events.”
General Perceived Stress
Perceived stress was measured using the Cohen and Williamson’s (1988)
Perceived Stress Scale. The scale is designed to measure the degree to which
situations in one’s life are appraised as stressful. Sample items of this measure
include “In the last month, how often have you been upset because of
something that happened unexpectedly?”, “In the last month, how often have
you felt you were unable to control the important things in your life?” It
contains 14 items in a 5-point Likert scales ranging from 1 (never)to5
(always). However, four items were loaded weakly to the latent variable;
therefore they were removed from the model.
Control Variables
Five demographic variables including age, gender, education, marital status,
and the number of children were used as control variables. Studies found that
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Benefits of Mindfulness Meditation on Psychological Well-Being 181
these demographic factors tend to determine the level of outcome variables
used in this study (e,g., Gbadamosi and Ross (2012). Gender was measured
as a dummy variable where Female was coded 0 and Male was coded 1. Age
was measured in years. Education was measured ordinally. Marital status was
measured as a dummy variable where single was coded 0 and married was
coded 1. The number of children was measured in ordinal values.
Estimation Technique
The model was analyzed using partial least squares (PLS) performed in
WarpPLS 3.0 (Kock, 2012). PLS is a technique combining principal com-
ponent analysis, path analysis, and a set of regressions to generate estimates
of standardized regression coefficients for the model’s paths and factor load-
ings for the measurement items (Chin, 1998a). Like the covariance-based
SEM method, PLS allows multiple hypotheses to be tested simultaneously
while also enabling single-item and multi-item measurement and the use of
formative and reflective scales. It also permits the simultaneous assessment
of both measurement and structural models. However, PLS provides more
flexibility than covariance-based SEM techniques as it does not require the
data to be normally distributed (Kline, 2005). Another advantage of PLS is
that it allows for smaller sample sizes compared to other SEM techniques, as
scholars recommend that at least 30 to 100 observations are adequate for the
analysis (Chin, 1998b).
RESULTS
Model Validity and Reliability
Before estimating the model, a series of analyses were performed. Table 1
reports the correlations among variables in the model along with some valid-
ity and reliability indicators. First, the construct reliabilities were evaluated
using Cronbach’s alphas (α). The results showed that all values exceeded
the widely recommended minimum value of 0.7 (Fornell & Larcker, 1981).
Second, the convergent validity of each item was evaluated using factor load-
ings. The results indicated that the loadings were greater than 0.5, which is
satisfactory as recommended by Hair, Black, Babin, and Anderson (2009).
Third, the test for discriminant validity, which requires that a construct should
share more variance with its measures than it shares with other constructs in
a given model (Hulland, 1999), was also evaluated. This was performed by
comparing the average variance extracted (AVE) to the squared correlation
coefficient. As suggested by Fornell and Larcker (1981), the square root of
the AVE must be greater than correlations between the constructs in order for
discriminant validity to exist. The result indicated that the AVE for each con-
struct meets this requirement for all scales. Finally, the test for the possible
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182 P. Charoensukmongkol
TABLE 1 Correlations Matrix
Variable α123456789
1. Mindfulness
meditation
.76 (.821)
2. Emotional
intelligence
.72 .323∗∗ (.739)
3. Perceived
self-efficacy
.92 .271∗∗ .682∗∗ (.758)
4. Perceived
stress
.83 −.353∗∗ −.442∗∗ −.477∗∗ (.637)
5. Age — .106 −.110 −.095 −.201∗∗ (1)
6. Sex — .126∗.080 .179∗∗ −.062 −.105 (1)
7. Education — −.104 −.115∗−.042 −.014 .268∗∗ −.195∗∗ (1)
8. Marital status — .003 −.063 −.157∗∗ −.065 .495∗∗ −.092 .073 (1)
9. Number of
children
— .067 −.049 −.114∗−.064 .522∗∗ −.032 .023 .685∗∗ (1)
Note. Average variance extracted of latent variables are shown in the parentheses.
∗p<.05. ∗∗p<.01.
presence of multicollinearity among the indicators was also performed using
the variance inflation factor (VIF) statistics. The VIFs ranged from 1.05 to
2.09, which is considerably below the critical value of 3.3 as suggested by
Petter, Straub, and Rai (2007).
Test of Hypotheses
Before testing the hypotheses, the comparison of means of key outcomes
variable between MM practitioners and nonpractitioners, regardless of how
long they had practiced, was performed using a t-test. The results are
reported in Table 2. Apparently, those who practiced MM had significantly
higher mean scores of EQ and general self-efficacy, and lower mean score of
general perceived stress, than those who did not practice at all. These results
provided some preliminary evidence about the benefits of MM practice.
Next, analysis results from the structural model after controlling for all
demographic variables are presented in Figure 1. The standardized coeffi-
cient and t-values were calculated using a bootstrap resampling procedure
with 100 subsamples (Efron, Rogosa, & Tibshirani, 2004).
TABLE 2 Comparison of Means
Emotional
intelligence
General
self-efficacy
General perceived
stress
MtMtM t
Meditators .251 6.166∗∗∗ .198 4.769∗∗∗ −.235 −5.734∗∗∗
Non-meditators −.428 −.339 .401
∗p<.1. ∗∗p<.05. ∗∗∗p<.01.
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Benefits of Mindfulness Meditation on Psychological Well-Being 183
–.402***
.66***
.047
.332***
–.199***
R2 = 0.13
R2 = 0.30
R2 = 0.50
General
Self-Efficacy
General
Perceived Stress
Emotional
Intelligence
Mindfulness
Meditation
Control variables:
Age
Gender
Education
Marital status
Number of children
FIGURE 1 PLS Results
Note. Standardized coefficients are reported. Control variables pointing to each dependent
variable are not shown.
∗p<.1. ∗∗p<.05. ∗∗∗p<.01.
First, for the association between MM and EQ, the result showed the
positive relationship between the two variables, suggesting that practicing
MM can be linked to higher EQ. This relationship was also statistically
significant (β=.332; p<.01). Therefore, Hypothesis 1 was supported.
For the direct relationship between MM and general self-efficacy,
although the result indicated a positive association between the two vari-
ables, it was not statistically significant (β=.047; p=.149). Thus,
Hypothesis 2 was not supported. However, it appeared that the effect of MM
on general self-efficacy could be mediated through EQ, as the link between
EQ and general self-efficacy was statistically significant (β=.66; p<.01).
To test the mediating effect, the method proposed by Preacher and Hayes
(2004) was performed. The analysis revealed a strong indirect link between
MM and general self-efficacy, which was mediated by EQ. This indirect link
was statistically significant (β=.219; p<.01). Therefore, Hypothesis 3 was
supported.
For the direct relationship between MM and general perceived stress, the
result revealed the negative relationship between the variables, which was
statistically significant (β=−.199; p<.01). Thus, Hypothesis 4 was sup-
ported. Moreover, there was a negative association between EQ and general
perceived stress that was statistically significant (β=−.402; p<.01). The
result from of the test of the mediating effect also found that the effect of MM
Downloaded by [200.178.118.85] at 23:35 26 August 2015
184 P. Charoensukmongkol
on general perceived stress was also strongly mediated by EQ. This indirect
link was statistically significant (β=−.133; p<.01). Therefore, Hypothesis
5 was supported.
Next, the significant relationships between control variables and the
main dependent variables were reported as the following. First, age was
negatively associated with general perceived stress (β=−.311; p<.01).
For gender, males tended to report higher general self-efficacy (β=.125;
p<.01) than females. For education, the results only revealed its positive
relationship with general self-efficacy (β=.062; p=.08). For marital status,
married persons tended to report lower general self-efficacy (β=−.107; p=
.03) than single persons. Lastly, there was no significant relationship between
the number of children and any of the dependent variables.
For the model fit indicators, three indices are provided by WarpPLS:
average path coefficient (APC), average R-squared (ARS), and average vari-
ance inflation factor (AVIF). The p-values for APC and ARS are calculated
through a complex process that involves resampling estimations coupled
with Bonferroni-like corrections (Rosenthal & Rosnow, 1991). For the model
fit indices to be satisfactory, the p-values for the APC and ARS must be lower
than 5%, whereas the AVIF must be lower than 5. From the analysis, the APC
is equal to .13 the ARS is equal to .308, and the AVIF is equal to 1.475. Both
APC and ARS are statistically significant at .1%.
Finally, to check if the results from the analysis were affected by out-
liers, the author performed the analysis using ranked data and compared
the results with the original results. In particular, WarpPLS 3.0 allows users
to select an option to conduct the analyses with only ranked data, whereby
all the data are automatically ranked prior to the SEM analysis. When data
are ranked, typically the value distances that typify outliers are significantly
reduced, effectively eliminating outliers without any decrease in sample size
(Kock, 2012). The results show that all the path coefficients as well as the
p-values from the analysis using ranked data did not change from the original
findings, suggesting that outliers are not a major problem in the analysis.
DISCUSSION
General Findings
This study contributes to existing research related to benefits of MM. This
study, which focused on diverse groups of respondents from Thailand, tested
the direct and indirect effect of practicing MM on EQ, general self-efficacy,
and general perceived stress. In particular, evidence was found about the
direct effects of practicing MM on EQ and general perceived stress. On the
other hand, the indirect effects of MM were found, through EQ, for general
self-efficacy and also for general perceived stress.
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Benefits of Mindfulness Meditation on Psychological Well-Being 185
First, the results indicated that regularly practice of MM tended to be
a good predictor of EQ and general perceived stress. In particular, those
who had regularly practiced MM tended to report higher EQ and lower
general perceived stress than those who did not. These results are consis-
tent with past research conducted in the Western countries on the benefits
of MM (Feldman et al., 2007). In addition to the direct effect, the present
study found that regularly practicing MM may allow people to experience
less stress perception indirectly through EQ. Because people who had reg-
ularly practiced MM were frequently mindful to their inner self more than
those who did not, they tended to be better in deciphering how and why
their emotion was triggered by a specific stimuli and how it should be man-
aged. This, in turn, allowed them to adjust their emotion more quickly or
to direct their attention to other appropriate activities that suit their currently
felt emotion more effectively whenever they experienced stress. These bene-
fits were therefore considered important factors that may be associated with
less stress perception. Furthermore, this study offers new evidence that MM
practice was also associated with higher general self-efficacy. However, the
results suggested that the linkage was only achieved indirectly through EQ.
This finding is consistent with the argument that emotions can exert a strong
influence on how people make causal reasoning about their capabilities to
achieve challenge tasks (Gundlach et al., 2003).
Practical Implications
Given all the findings, this research provides implications that can help
people improve their well-being. Considering the hectic lifestyle of the pop-
ulation in developing countries such as in Thailand (Floro & Pichetpongsa,
2010), it is inevitable that people will be exposed to various life- and work-
related stressors that are harmful to their health and psychological well-being
(Taylor, 2009). This study suggests that MM can be considered an interven-
tion that can significantly help people deal effectively with those stressors.
Importantly, practicing MM could be associated with the ability of people to
maintain peace of mind despite experiencing unfavorable situations in their
work and life. Moreover, the indirect benefit of practicing MM on general
self-efficacy suggested that MM intervention may also help people improve
their ability to perform challenge tasks, as the clarity of mind and the stability
of emotion can promote more optimistic thinking and enhance their belief
that they can effectively overcome any difficulty and obstacle.
The strong associations between MM practice and key psychology out-
comes that were found in this paper also offer important implication to
organizations. Because having good mental health can help people develop
inner strength to cope well with stressors, the author suggests that organi-
zations should consider MM training as an intervention to help employee
develop the capability to deal effectively with stress at work. Offering MM
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186 P. Charoensukmongkol
training can also help employees improve their focus and alertness (Kabat-
Zinn, 2005), thereby allowing them to concentrate better on their tasks at
hand.
Limitations
There are several limitations in this study that need to be addressed. The
major limitation of this study is its cross-sectional research design. In partic-
ular, using a cross-sectional design make it difficult for researchers to infer
causality between constructs (Maxwell & Cole, 2007). Moreover, there is a
possibility for the bidirectional relationships between the variables in the
study. For example, it could be possible that less perceived stress could
mediate an indirect effect of MM on EQ. Using a cross-sectional study make
it difficult to check for the bidirectional causality in the model. Because of
these limitations, it is important for future research to use an experimental
design to test the causal association between MM practice and the outcome
variables over time. Future research that uses longitudinal design will pro-
vide more solid evidence whether MM practice can lead to improvement in
these outcome variables.
Second, the level of mindfulness of the respondents was not measured
in this study. However, based on the results from previous research that
found that the intensity of MM practice tended to be associated positively
with mindfulness measures (Baer et al., 2008), the present study assumed that
the measure of MM practice (the numbers of hours per day, days per week,
and years of practice) would associate positively with the level of mindful-
ness. However, it is possible that the measure of the MM practice may not
accurately capture the level of mindfulness that participants developed from
the practice. Thus, future research should also incorporate a mindfulness
measure in the studies.
Another limitation is the self-report measurements of the key variables,
which may not be the accurate measurement of the constructs. Some scholars
may claim that self-report measurements may have also inflated the relation-
ships among them because of common method variance (van Beek, Hu,
Schaufeli, Taris, & Schreurs, 2012). However, Spector (2006) argues that self-
reports may not necessarily inflate associations between variables and do not
necessarily lead to significant results. The second limitation of this study is
the sample selection, which only targeted the visitors of the religion websites.
This sample selection method can limit the ability to generalize the findings
to the larger population of the country. Therefore, future research focusing
on different groups of samples from other sources is needed. In addition,
because this study employed the data collected from a diverse group of
respondents, general self-efficacy can only be investigated. Future research
should target a specific group of respondents (e.g., by similar occupation
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Benefits of Mindfulness Meditation on Psychological Well-Being 187
or the same workplace) to test whether practicing MM can associate with
specific self-efficacy measures.
CONCLUSION
In summary, this study offered some evidence that practicing MM can asso-
ciate strongly with higher EQ, higher general self-efficacy, and lower general
perceived stress. Having good mental health is crucial for people to live hap-
pily and to be more effective at work. Therefore, the author concludes that
MM could be an essential practice that people should learn so that they can
apply the technique to help them improve their psychological well-being.
FUNDING
This research received financial support from the International College of
National Institute of Development Administration.
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