Deliberate and spontaneous mind wandering in Chinese students: Associations with mindfulness, affect, personality, and life satisfaction

Abstract Distinguishing between deliberate and spontaneous mind wandering (MW) allows for exploration of unique associations with each form of MW. The current study developed Chinese translations of the Mind Wandering: Deliberate (MW-D) and Mind Wandering: Spontaneous (MW-S) scales, and associations with mindfulness, positive and negative affect, personality, and life satisfaction were investigated. A sample of 261 Chinese university students completed the questionnaire survey. Exploratory factor analysis of the Chinese MW-D/MW-S scales showed all items loading strongly on the expected scale, and there was good internal consistency. Consistent with previous findings, spontaneous MW was more strongly (negatively) associated with mindfulness (acting with awareness), and (positively) with negative affect, while deliberate MW was more strongly associated with openness. Furthermore, spontaneous MW was more strongly associated (negatively) with agreeableness and positive affect. Both deliberate and spontaneous MW were negatively correlated with conscientiousness. Mindfulness was a significant mediator in the relationship between spontaneous MW and negative affect, but it was not significant in the relationship between deliberate MW and negative affect after controlling for spontaneous MW. These results indicate that the Chinese MW-S/MW-D scales may be useful tools in research investigating correlates of spontaneous and deliberate mind wandering.