Mindful Versus Mindless Thinking and Persuasion

Although the construct of mindfulness has seen diverging definitions in the field of psychology (Gethin, 2011), general themes among these definitions are relevant to attitudes and persuasion. One of these accounts of mindfulness, representing a more Western approach, is that provided by Langer (1989; Langer & Moldoveanu, 2000). In this account, mindfulness is seen as bringing one’s full resources to a cognitive task by using multiple perspectives and attending to context, which creates novel ways to consider the relevant information. As we describe in this review, this active process of elaboration can be linked to the concept of the central route to persuasion. In contrast to mindfulness, the persuasion literature views mindlessness as a way of approaching the same cognitive tasks with reduced attention and a reliance on previously developed means of interpreting information. This second approach, based on reliance on mental shortcuts, associative inferences, and heuristics, can be linked to the concept of the peripheral route to persuasion. Briefly stated, mindful engagement in a task is characterized by openness and elaborative thinking, whereas mindless engagement is characterized by rigidity and less elaborative rule-governed behavior. Other definitions of mindfulness stem more from the Buddhist practice of mindful meditation. Like Langer’s formulation, this view of mindfulness involves openness centered in the present moment, but there are additional processes inherent in these conceptualizations of mindfulness that are not components of Langer’s approach. These more Eastern formulations emphasize various mental processes that characterize the state of mindfulness (Bishop et al., 2004; Brown & Ryan, 2003; Kabat-Zinn, 2003). Of most relevance to the persuasion processes that will be reviewed later are openness to current experiences, shifting perspectives of self, and the nonjudgment of thoughts. Simply put, people experiencing a state of mindfulness are those who demonstrate an openness to the present and have experiences unburdened by personal concerns, previous events, or future possibilities (e.g., Bishop et al., 2004; Brown & Ryan, 2003; Hölzel et al., 2011; Martin, 1997). Shifting perspectives of self refers to