During hopeless times, when you feel as if you're trapped in a dark and desperate place with no way out and no light at the end of the tunnel, new research suggests that cultivating hopefulness is better than practicing mindfulness. This North Carolina State University study (Scott et al., 2024) on hope vs. mindfulness examined work-related resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic.

When high stress levels are baked into someone's daily life, first author Kristin Scott and colleagues found that a future-oriented mindset boosts resilience and motivation better than mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs). These findings were published on August 30 in the peer-reviewed journal Stress and Health.

For the study, researchers recruited 247 participants and used a multiwave statistical model to identify dynamic relationships between hope, mindfulness, and outcomes related to work-related resilience, engagement, and psychological well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic.

One key finding of the latest (2024) research on the differences between being hopeful and being mindful is that hopefulness seems to go hand........

© Psychology Today