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Trait, but not State Mindfulness Improves Resistance to Cognitive Biases

The dual-process theory of thinking defines a heuristic-based System I which trades-off precision and accuracy in favour of speed. It is prone to consistent range of error modes formalized as cognitive biases. In contrast, System II is slower, requires deliberate engagement but can work through complex problems with lower error. Mindfulness research points to positive improvements in higher-cognition processes with specific emphasis on attention and an attitude of non-judgement; both are thought to underlie successful recruitment of System II. We hypothesized that individuals with higher mindfulness would be less susceptible to common cognitive biases. We evaluate two constructs of mindfulness. Trait mindfulness: a long-term dispositional mindfulness with can enhanced via deliberate training but otherwise remains consistent across an individual’s lifetime. State mindfulness: refers to a short-term experience of mindfulness which is subject to experimental manipulation. The present study consists of two-arms. The first arm (N = 391) was administered completely online and evaluates trait mindfulness. The second arm (N =191) was conducted in-lab and randomized participants into one of two conditions: mindfulness induction or a sham control condition. Participants from both arms underwent performance assessment on a battery of common cognitive bias tasks. We found that trait mindfulness was associated with reduced susceptibility to specific biases: anchoring, resistance to sunk costs, availability, and logical fallacies. Contrary to expectations, experimental manipulation of state mindfulness did not influence susceptibility to cognitive biases when compared to the sham control. These findings suggest trait, but not state mindfulness may improve resistance to cognitive biases.