Mindfulness as a Psychological Attractor: The Effect on Children

Mindfulness (Langer, 1978, 1989, 1997, 2005)—a process of actively making novel distinctions about objects in one's awareness—has been shown to have personal, interpersonal, and health benefits. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that mindfulness is (a) perceived and preferred by children; and (b) has positive effects on them. The results indicate that children ages 9 to 12 not only preferred to interact with mindful adults, but devalued themselves following the mindless interaction, despite the fact that only positive content was discussed. Potential implications of adults' mindless responding to children are discussed.