In the last few decades, Mindfulness has become very popular and subject of many research. It has shown to be effective in solving many psychological difficulties. Some of Mindfulness benefits found in previous research are: emotions regulation, reduction of depression, self acceptance and accepting of experiences without previous judging, better mental health and general life satisfaction. The study described here, examined the influence of one of the most known psychological interventions based on Mindfulness, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction. On a sample of 36 respondents, it was examined how the participation in this 8 to 10 weeks program influences self-esteem, its contingency, and the development of mindfulness itself. The results showed no significant changes in the increase in self-esteem (M = 36.19 before and M = 38.42 after), but they showed reduced self-esteem's contingency (competence based self-esteem M = 36.25 before and M = 31.61 after); acceptance (relations) based self-esteem (M = 42.11 before and M = 35.6 after), and increased "mindfulness", whose changes are shown in the research for each mindfulness component. Although, after participating in the program average self-esteem did not rise to a high self-esteem, its contingency and conditionality by competence and acceptance decreased, indicating the positive impacts of Mindfulness on developing unconditional self-esteem. All five components of Mindfulness were increased and developed by participants after participating in Mindfulness program. Some of the research disadvantages are: small sample, the non-specificity of examined population when it comes to the level of self-esteem, missing the information about other activities participants could have been involved in during the research period and also possible differences between the two examined programs. The research results are useful for professionals in the field of psychology, psychotherapy, education, but also for all other people who aspire to psychological well-being.
|
