Mindfulness and Empathy: Mediating Factors and Gender Differences in a Spanish Sample

Abstract

Numerous research studies link mindfulness training to improved empathy. However, few studies focus on the mediating factors of empathy. This work has three objectives: (a) to analyze the possible mediation of mindfulness as a feature in this relation, (b) to analyze the mindfulness factors that mediate in the increase of empathy and (c) to analyze the moderating role of gender. The sample was composed of 246 Spanish-speaking university students (M = 24.08 years, SD = 8.43). The instruments used were the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) and the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ). For data analysis, the indirect effect was calculated using 10000 bootstrap samples for the bias-corrected bootstrap confidence intervals (BCI). The improvement of empathy is mediated by the changes in mindfulness trait (B = 0.233, p < 0.001), disappearing in the presence of this mediator, the direct effect of mindfulness practice on empathy (B = 0.161, p = 0.394). We did not find a differential functioning of this mediation according to gender. Observing and describing are the FFMQ factors that mediate significantly between mindfulness practice and empathy.

Influence on Forgiveness, Character Strengths and Satisfaction with Life of a Short Mindfulness Intervention via a Spanish Smartphone Application

“…For example, the percentage of women in the area of education in the United Kingdom is 74%, in Ireland it is 68% and in Spain it is 81%, and with regard to the area of health and social services in the United Kingdom it is 79%, in Ireland it is 75% and in Spain it is 72%. Furthermore, in other recent studies on mindfulness, the gender distributions are similar to those in our research [ 3 , 44 , 45 ]. Finally, according to a recent review that analyzed the gender distribution of all published peer-reviewed trials on mindfulness [ 46 ], men accounted for less than 29% of nearly 10,000 participants.…”

“…These factors are grouped into a general factor that contemplates the traits of mindfulness. The questionnaire has adequate psychometric guarantees of reliability and validity, and has good sensitivity to differences in mindfulness practice [ 3 , 44 , 51 ]. It has been validated in different languages and cultures, in countries such as Spain, France, the Netherlands, Germany, China, Norway and Chile [ 52 ].…”

“…In recent years, MBI have experienced a great boom and have shown their effectiveness in different contexts, especially in the field of health, both as complementary therapy to treatment and as therapy to improve well-being [ 3 ]. Recent studies point out the beneficial effects of mindfulness practice on mental health, reducing stress, anxiety-depressive symptoms and improving sleep quality, among others [ 4 , 5 , 6 ].…”

Anxiety and theory of mind: A moderated mediation model of mindfulness and gender

“…Results related to mindfulness show that there is no statistically significant difference between the scores of women and men. This result is in concurrence with the studies in which the moderation role of gender is tested and no statistically significant difference was found (de la fuente‐anuncibay et al, 2020; Kaviani & Hatami, 2016). As a result, H1 is partially confirmed.…”

“…For example, Martins et al (2019) found a statistically significant difference between girls and boys in terms of their ToM abilities. However, there have been conflicting results about the role of gender in mindfulness (Alispahic & Hasanbegovic‐Anic, 2017; De la Fuente‐Anuncibay et al, 2020). For example, in a mindfulness training intervention program, it was determined that female meditators had higher improvement than did the control group (Kang et al, 2018).…”