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Procrastination is a commonly occurring phenomenon that can significantly impact a person’s well-being and physical health. A significant need exists to identify variables that confer risk or hold potential to treat procrastination. Thus, we aimed to (a) investigate the web of relations among procrastination, anxiety, and mindfulness and (b) explore the contribution of candidate variables of potential relevance beyond anxiety in predicting procrastination. To address our primary aim, we performed a structural equation model (SEM) analysis in a college sample (N = 801; male = 550, female = 246, other = 5) to investigate whether five facets of mindfulness (i.e., nonreactivity, nonjudging, observing, describing, and acting with awareness) attenuate procrastination via decreasing anxiety. Regarding indirect effects, anxiety mediated the relation between procrastination and all facets of mindfulness, except for observing. In terms of direct effects, greater acting with awareness and observing were most closely associated with lower procrastination. To explore our secondary aim, we used forward stepwise regression to investigate the unique contribution of variables of potential relevance beyond mindfulness and anxiety in predicting procrastination. This analysis revealed that anxiety, conscientiousness, behavioral avoidance, social desirability, neuroticism, and mindfulness significantly accounted for variance in procrastination while controlling for a variety of other variables (i.e., emotion dysregulation, depression, negative affect, and acceptance). Finally, we discuss (a) the implications of our findings for procrastination treatment, (b) the limitations of our study, and (c) future research directions.

Scant studies have addressed the relations of an array of variables related to trait mindfulness in the context of a single investigation. We tested 800 (67.9% females, 31.3% males, .6% other, and .3% missing) undergraduate participants to evaluate three hypotheses: (a) increased positive affect, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness, acceptance, mysticism, transliminality, emotion regulation, and resilience would be related to increased trait mindfulness; (b) decreased negative affect, neuroticism, trait anxiety, behavioral avoidance, depression, and psychopathy would be associated with increased trait mindfulness; and (c) emotion regulation and resilience would demonstrate the strongest relations with trait mindfulness. All variables correlated significantly with trait mindfulness in the hypothesized directions, except for mysticism. Regression analyses revealed that emotion regulation, resilience, neuroticism, openness, conscientiousness, and behavioral avoidance all uniquely related to trait mindfulness. Enhanced emotion regulation and resilience alone accounted for more than 50% of variance in trait mindfulness.

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In this chapter we present evidence garnered from the scientific literature to counter or refute prevalent yet mistaken beliefs about hypnosis (e.g., participants respond robotically, hypnosis is a sleep-like state, hypnosis greatly increases suggestibility). We discuss the robust influence of the media and stage hypnosis in perpetuating myths of hypnosis as a trance-like state, and we contend that research does not support the existence of a reliable marker (e.g., hypnotized participants respond literally, exhibit a greater tolerance for logical incongruity, and can override the optokinetic reflex) of a special state of consciousness uniquely associated with hypnosis. We further suggest that myths and misconceptions can have serious personal and social consequences and can be misused in forensic and psychotherapeutic consequences. Nevertheless, we also contend that there is accumulating evidence that hypnosis, when properly administered, may be helpful in the treatment of a number of psychological and medical conditions. Despite the myths and misconceptions surrounding hypnosis, the scientific study of hypnosis has advanced beyond hokum and pseudoscience to move hypnosis increasingly into the mainstream of psychological science.