Authenticity and mindfulness: The processes involved in regulating depressive symptoms in day-today living

• Main Author: Espiritu, Rosalind Therese M.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2014
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/4688
• Institution: De La Salle University

Depression is characterized by the near-absence of positive affect and the person's tendency to view the self in a negative light. Authenticity, a form of personality integrity in which one freely expresses all aspects of the self, and mindfulness, a receptive form of consciousness that may be practiced momentto- moment predicted less depressive symptoms through self-acceptance and negative mood regulation expectancies. Studies have claimed that authenticity and mindfulness both predicted lesser depressive symptoms by going through self-acceptance and negative mood regulation expectancies, but have not tested all of these variables in a path-analytic model. A questionnaire packet containing the following self-rated scales: the Inauthenticity Scale, Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory, Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale, Self-acceptance Scale, Negative Mood Regulation Expectancies Scale, and the Dispositional Positive Emotions Scale measured these variables. The questionnaire packet was distributed to 274 participants aged 18-25. Results from the study show that authentic and mindful persons experienced less depressive symptoms because they accepted and saw themselves in a positive light. They too were confident in knowing that when they find themselves in an unpleasant mood, that the mood was a part of the many psychic processes that they experienced from moment-to-moment, and that eventually this would pass. These latter statements are findings mirror those reported and suggested in the literature (Jimenez, Niles, & Park, 2010 Gross & John, 2003), but differ in that positive emotions emerged as an outcome when a person is both mindful and authentic. These findings imply that living day-by-day is a continuous process of self-knowledge directed towards growth, maturity, and autonomy.