I recently read an article entitled “How Hope Beats Mindfulness When Times Are Tough” which outlined the relative benefits of both approaches.
First things first, what’s the difference?
According to the authors, “hope is inherently forward looking, while mindfulness is about appreciating your current circumstances”. The researchers wanted to see how each of these two mindsets influenced people’s well-being and professional attitudes during difficult times.
They found that mindfulness presents two challenges: “First, it’s hard to be mindful when you’re experiencing stress. Second, if it’s a truly difficult time, you don’t necessarily want to dwell too much on the experience you’re going through.”
And this was borne out in the results:
“Fundamentally, our findings tell us that hope was associated with people being happy, and mindfulness was not,” says Kristin Scott, study co-author and a professor of management at Clemson University. “And when people are hopeful – and happy – they experience less distress, are more engaged with their work, and feel less tension related to their professional lives.”
“Being mindful can be tremendously valuable – there are certainly advantages to living in the moment,” says Sharon Sheridan, study co-author and an assistant professor of management at Clemson. “But it’s important to maintain a hopeful outlook – particularly during periods of prolonged stress. People should be hopeful while being mindful – hold on to the idea that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.”
The paper, “Work-related Resilience, Engagement and Wellbeing Among Music Industry Workers During the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Multiwave Model of Mindfulness and Hope,” is published open-access in the journal Stress and Health.
