Teleological explanation and positive emotion serially mediate the effect of religion on well‐being

Objective: Previous research has demonstrated a robust relationship between religion and well‐being, and it has been proposed that positive emotions are important mediators of this effect. Yet the mechanism via which religion promotes positive emotions has not been widely studied. We sought to examine whether teleological explanations of daily events and resulting positive emotions serially mediated the effects of religion on well‐being. Method: These hypotheses were tested over three studies. In study 1, participants completed measures of religiousness and well‐being, and explained and described three recent personally significant events and their resulting emotions. Studies 2 and 3 adopted an ecological momentary assessment approach to measure teleological explanations, resulting emotions, and well‐being in almost real time. Results: In study 1, teleological explanations and positive emotions serially mediated the effects of religiousness on well‐being. In study 2, momentary teleological explanations of daily events mediated the positive relationship between religiousness and momentary positive emotions. In Study 3, serial mediation of the relationship between religiousness and momentary well‐being by momentary teleological explanations and positive emotions was observed. Conclusions: These results provide evidence of the importance of teleological explanations of daily events in religious enhancement of well‐being

The mediating role of shared flow and perceived emotional synchrony on compassion for others in a mindful-dancing program

While there is a growing understanding of the relationship between mindfulness and compassion, this largely relates to the form of mindfulness employed in first-generation mindfulness-based interventions such as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. Consequently, there is limited knowledge of the relationship between mindfulness and compassion in respect of the type of mindfulness employed in second-generation mindfulness-based interventions (SG-MBIs), including those that employ the principle of working harmoniously as a “secular sangha.” Understanding this relationship is important because research indicates that perceived emotional synchrony (PES) and shared flow—that often arise during participation in harmonized group contemplative activities—can enhance outcomes relating to compassion, subjective well-being, and group identity fusion. This pilot study analyzed the effects of participation in a mindful-dancing SG-MBI on compassion and investigated the mediating role of shared flow and PES. A total of 130 participants were enrolled into the study that followed a quasi-experimental design with an intervention and control group. Results confirmed the salutary effect of participating in a collective mindful-dancing program, and demonstrated that shared flow and PES fully meditated the effects of collective mindfulness on the kindness and common humanity dimensions of compassion. Further research is warranted to explore whether collective mindfulness approaches, such as mindful dancing, may be a means of enhancing compassion and subjective well-being outcomes due to the mediating role of PES and shared flow.N/