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Dispositions Toward Flow and Mindfulness Predict Dispositional Insight

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Abstract

This study aimed to investigate whether dispositions to positive affect (PA), mindfulness, and flow states predict a disposition toward insight. Using a sample of 1069 participants, two structural equation models (SEMs) were performed; the first included positive affect, mindfulness, and flow as the predictors. The second SEM repeated this, but with the nine components of flow included separately. In the first model, mindfulness and flow significantly predicted insight; PA showed no effect. In the second model, PA and mindfulness showed an effect. The subcomponents of flow—merging of action and awareness, unambiguous feedback, and transformation of time—had the strongest effect on insight, followed by autotelic experience. Clear goals negatively affected insight.

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded under an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors. We thank the Charles Sturt University Writing Circle for providing insightful comments on the content and expression of ideas.

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  1. School of Psychology, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, 2678, Australia

    Linda A. Ovington, Anthony J. Saliba & Jeremy Goldring

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  1. Linda A. Ovington
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Contributions

LO: designed and executed the study, and conducted the analyses of the data, and wrote the paper. AS: collaborated on the design of the study, writing, and editing of the manuscript. JG: collaborated on the design of the study, writing, and editing of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Linda A. Ovington.

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The study was approved by the Charles Sturt University, Faculty of Arts Ethics Committee. All procedures performed in the study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institution and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments. Participants gave informed consent through accessing the study online via a link in an email inviting potential respondents to participate.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Ovington, L.A., Saliba, A.J. & Goldring, J. Dispositions Toward Flow and Mindfulness Predict Dispositional Insight. Mindfulness 9, 585–596 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-017-0800-4

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