The Benefits of Being Present:
Mindfulness and Its Role in Psychological Well-Being
Kirk Warren Brown and Richard M. Ryan
University of Rochester
Mindfulness is an attribute of consciousness long believed to promote well-being. This research provides
a theoretical and empirical examination of the role of mindfulness in psychological well-being. The
development and psychometric properties of the dispositional Mindful Attention Awareness Scale
(MAAS) are described. Correlational, quasi-experimental, and laboratory studies then show that the
MAAS measures a unique quality of consciousness that is related to a variety of well-being constructs,
that differentiates mindfulness practitioners from others, and that is associated with enhanced self-
awareness. An experience-sampling study shows that both dispositional and state mindfulness predict
self-regulated behavior and positive emotional states. Finally, a clinical intervention study with cancer
patients demonstrates that increases in mindfulness over time relate to declines in mood disturbance and
stress.
Many philosophical, spiritual, and psychological traditions em-
phasize the importance of the quality of consciousness for the
maintenance and enhancement of well-being (Wilber, 2000). De-
spite this, it is easy to overlook the importance of consciousness in
human well-being because almost everyone exercises its primary
capacities, that is, attention and awareness. Indeed, the relation
between qualities of consciousness and well-being has received
little empirical attention. One attribute of consciousness that has
been much-discussed in relation to well-being is mindfulness. The
concept of mindfulness has roots in Buddhist and other contem-
plative traditions where conscious attention and awareness are
actively cultivated. It is most commonly defined as the state of
being attentive to and aware of what is taking place in the present.
For example, Nyanaponika Thera (1972) called mindfulness the
clear and single-minded awareness of what actually happens to us
and in us at the successive moments of perception (p. 5). Hanh
(1976) similarly defined mindfulness as keeping one s conscious-
ness alive to the present reality (p. 11).
Recent research has shown that the enhancement of mindfulness
through training facilitates a variety of well-being outcomes (e.g.,
Kabat-Zinn, 1990). To date, however, there has been little work
examining this attribute as a naturally occurring characteristic.
Recognizing that most everyone has the capacity to attend and to
be aware, we nonetheless assume (a) that individuals differ in their
propensity or willingness to be aware and to sustain attention to
what is occurring in the present and (b) that this mindful capacity
varies within persons, because it can be sharpened or dulled by a
variety of factors. The intent of the present research is to reliably
identify these inter- and intrapersonal variations in mindfulness,
establish their relations to other relevant psychological constructs,
and demonstrate their importance to a variety of forms of psycho-
logical well-being.
THE NATURE OF MINDFULNESS
AND MINDLESSNESS
Several authors (e.g., Averill, 1992; Mayer, Chabot, & Carl-
smith, 1997) have distinguished consciousness from other modes
of mental processing namely, cognition, motives, and emo-
tions that allow humans to operate effectively. Thus, one can be
conscious of thoughts, motives, and emotions as well as sensory
and perceptual stimuli. Consciousness encompasses both aware-
ness and attention. Awareness is the background radar of con-
sciousness, continually monitoring the inner and outer environ-
ment. One may be aware of stimuli without them being at the
center of attention. Attention is a process of focusing conscious
awareness, providing heightened sensitivity to a limited range of
experience (Westen, 1999). In actuality, awareness and attention
are intertwined, such that attention continually pulls figures out
of the ground of awareness, holding them focally for varying
lengths of time.
Although attention and awareness are relatively constant fea-
tures of normal functioning, mindfulness can be considered an
enhanced attention to and awareness of current experience or
present reality. Specifically, a core characteristic of mindfulness
has been described as open or receptive awareness and attention
(Deikman, 1982; Martin, 1997), which may be reflected in a more
Kirk Warren Brown and Richard M. Ryan, Department of Clinical and
Social Sciences in Psychology, University of Rochester.
This research was supported in part by a postdoctoral fellowship from
the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, by grants
from the Russell Sage Foundation and the Society of the Psychological
Study of Social Issues to Kirk Warren Brown, and by National Institute of
Mental Health Grant 59594 to Richard M. Ryan. We are grateful to Linda
Carlson, Ed Deci, Jennifer LaGuardia, Martin Lynch, and Todd Thrash for
their helpful comments on previous versions of this article. We also thank
D.S. Moskowitz, Joseph Schwartz, Joshua Smyth, and Harry Reis for
statistical programming help; Chris Stevens and Bodhin Kjolhede for
participant recruitment assistance; and Linda Carlson for collecting the
data presented in Study 5.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Kirk
Warren Brown, Department of Clinical and Social Sciences in Psychology,
University of Rochester, Meliora Hall, Rochester, New York 14627-0266.
E-mail: kirk@psych.rochester.edu
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Copyright 2003 by the American Psychological Association, Inc.
2003, Vol. 84, No. 4, 822 848 0022-3514/03/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.84.4.822
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regular or sustained consciousness of ongoing events and experi-
ences. For example, in speaking with a friend, one can be highly
attentive to the communication and sensitively aware of the per-
haps subtle emotional tone underlying it. Similarly, when eating a
meal, one can be attuned to the moment-to-moment taste experi-
ence while also peripherally aware of the increasing feeling of
fullness in one s stomach. This is to be contrasted with conscious-
ness that is blunted or restricted in various ways. For example,
rumination, absorption in the past, or fantasies and anxieties about
the future can pull one away from what is taking place in the
present. Awareness or attention can also be divided, such as when
people are occupied with multiple tasks or preoccupied with con-
cerns that detract from the quality of engagement with what is
focally present. Mindfulness is also compromised when individu-
als behave compulsively or automatically, without awareness of or
attention to one s behavior (Deci & Ryan, 1980). Finally, mind-
lessness, which we denote as the relative absence of mindfulness,
can be defensively motivated, as when an individual refuses to
acknowledge or attend to a thought, emotion, motive, or object of
perception. These forms of consciousness thus serve as concrete
counterpoints to mindful presence and the attention to current
experience within and without oneself that such presence entails.
As presently defined, mindfulness bears some relation to other
constructs that have received empirical attention. For example,
emotional intelligence, as described by Salovey, Mayer, Goldman,
Turvey, and Palfai (1995), includes perceptual clarity about one s
emotional states. Insofar as mindfulness involves receptive atten-
tion to psychological states, we expect it to be associated with such
clarity. In less mindful states, emotions may occur outside of
awareness or drive behavior before one clearly acknowledges
them. Mindfulness also appears to relate to aspects of the Open-
ness to Experience dimension of personality (Costa & McCrae,
1992), which involves receptivity to and interest in new experi-
ences. Receptive attention would appear to support the contact
with and assimilation of feelings and new ideas, for example. On
the other hand, the imagination, fantasy, and aesthetic interest
facets of Openness measured in Big Five research do not theoret-
ically relate to mindfulness mindlessness as presently defined,
given the role of cognition in Openness.
Finally, the concept of mindfulness as we describe it bears some
relation to earlier groundbreaking work by Langer (1989) and
colleagues (e.g., Bodner & Langer, 2001; Langer & Moldoveanu,
2000). Langer s formulation includes an open, assimilative wake-
fulness to cognitive tasks and in this has some overlap with the
current formulation. However, Langer s formulation emphasizes
active cognitive operations on perceptual inputs from the external
environment, such as the creation of new categories and the
seeking of multiple perspectives. The present definition empha-
sizes an open, undivided observation of what is occurring both
internally and externally rather than a particular cognitive ap-
proach to external stimuli.
Mindfulness can also be distinguished from various forms of
self-awareness that have received considerable attention over the
past 30 years. Most prominently, Duval and Wicklund s (1972)
theory of objective self-awareness, Buss s (1980) self-conscious-
ness theory, and Carver and Scheier s (1981) control theory all
define self-awareness in terms of knowledge about the self. For
example, private self-consciousness represents a disposition to be
highly aware of internal states (e.g., Fenigstein, Scheier, & Buss,
1975). However, this form of awareness is defined by its focus
rather than by its quality. Thus, high private self-consciousness
may reflect preoccupation with internal states or an open recep-
tivity to them. Recent research has, in fact, uncovered two factors
in this construct, internal state awareness and self-reflectiveness
(Cramer, 2000; Trapnell & Campbell, 1999). The former repre-
sents sensitivity to ongoing psychological processes, a construct
that has greater conceptual overlap with mindfulness. Even more
distinct from mindfulness is public self-consciousness, the ten-
dency to be concerned about the self as perceived by others, which
may detract from present awareness. Several other approaches to
the measurement of self-awareness have also been developed,
including self-monitoring (Snyder, 1974) and reflection (Trapnell
& Campbell, 1999).
Although distinct in the content that each examines, all the
forms of self-awareness discussed above reflect cognitive opera-
tions on aspects of the self through self-examination, processes
collectively termed reflexive consciousness (Baumeister, 1999;
Bermu· dez, 1998). Mindfulness directed inward differs from these
approaches in that its mode of functioning is perceptual or pre-
reflexive, operating on, rather than within, thought, feeling, and
other contents of consciousness. Rather than generating mental
accounts about the self, mindfulness offer[s] a bare display of
what is taking place (Shear & Jevning, 1999, p. 204). Thus,
whereas the modes of reflexive consciousness noted above con-
cern the focus of cognitive operations, mindfulness concerns the
quality of consciousness itself and, except for the inverse relation
to public self-consciousness noted above, is theorized to have little
or no inherent relation to reflexive thought.
MINDFULNESS AND WELL-BEING
William James (1911/1924) had great interest in the study of
consciousness, but he was not sanguine about the usual state of
consciousness of the average person, stating, Compared to what
we ought to be, we are only half awake (p. 237). This perspective
has been shared by contemporary scholars (e.g., Tart, 1994).
Mindfulness captures a quality of consciousness that is character-
ized by clarity and vividness of current experience and functioning
and thus stands in contrast to the mindless, less awake states of
habitual or automatic functioning that may be chronic for many
individuals. Mindfulness may be important in disengaging indi-
viduals from automatic thoughts, habits, and unhealthy behavior
patterns and thus could play a key role in fostering informed and
self-endorsed behavioral regulation, which has long been associ-
ated with well-being enhancement (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Further,
by adding clarity and vividness to experience, mindfulness may
also contribute to well-being and happiness in a direct way. In this
section, we offer theoretical and empirical support for both of these
hypothesized effects.
Theorists from many schools of personality and psychotherapy
have discussed the importance of observant, open awareness and
attention in the optimization of self-regulation and well-being (see
reviews in Brazier, 1995; Martin, 1997). In the psychoanalytic
tradition, for example, free association represents a receptive
awareness wherein attention evenly hovers over the psycholog-
ical landscape (Freud, 1912/1963). In other dynamic and human-
istic traditions, awareness is thought to enable the identification of
needs, conflicts, and existential concerns. Most notably, Perls
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MINDFULNESS AND WELL-BEING