Mindfulness: Seeking a More Perfect Approach to Coping with Life's Challenges

This is a preliminary investigation of the role mindfulness plays in relation to cognitive coping strategies in healthy and dysfunctional forms of perfectionism. It was our hypothesis that higher levels of positive perfectionism would be associated with increased mindfulness, self-esteem, and satisfaction with life. The present study used hierarchical regression and correlational designs with a sample of 232 male and female college students. Results suggest that mindfulness has a significant effect in the prediction of positive and negative perfectionism and life satisfaction. Correlational findings indicate significant positive correlations between high levels of mindfulness, self-esteem, pro-active coping, and high satisfaction with life. Furthermore, findings demonstrate a significant correlation between lack of mindfulness, negative perfectionism, depression, and rumination. This study provides a plausible argument for the potential importance and benefits of mindfulness in relation to perfectionism and life satisfaction. Further research should investigate whether mindfulness could be a useful tool for negative perfectionists to utilize as a means of decreasing depression and thus increasing life satisfaction and self-esteem.