Mindfulness Predicts Mind Wandering and Differentially Affects Its Controllability in Everyday Life

It is currently unresolved whether control, or its lack, over mind wandering contributes to its associations with creativity. Mind wandering and mindfulness are seen as opposing constructs concerning the ability to remain undistracted and, at the same time, appear to have a complex relationship with one another and with creativity. This study investigated the influence of control on novelty and usefulness of thought content during mind wandering in everyday life, controlling for mindfulness, creativity, and momentary mood. One thousand twenty-five thought probes of 41 healthy young adults were collected over the course of one week. The mindfulness facet acting with awareness and higher originality predicted less mind wandering. Acting with awareness also predicted higher, but nonreactivity to inner experience and creative production lower, momentary control. Momentary control was lower among women than men and positively associated with usefulness, but not novelty, of thoughts. Creativity did not moderate these associations. Habitual spontaneous mind wandering predicted lower usefulness and novelty of thoughts. These results highlight the need to distinguish controlled and uncontrolled mind wandering and the facets of mindfulness in this field of inquiry. Future research should focus on the contents and processes of mind wandering to further disentangle its adaptive and maladaptive consequences.