Mind-Wandering and Mindfulness as Mediators of the Relation Between Online Vigilance and Well-Being

As mobile technology allows users to be online anywhere and at all times, a growing number of users report feeling constantly alert and preoccupied with online streams of online information and communication—a phenomenon that has recently been termed online vigilance. Despite its growing prevalence, the consequences of this constant orientation towards online streams of information and communication for users’ well-being are largely unclear. In the present study, we investigated whether being constantly vigilant is related to cognitive consequences in the form of increased mind-wandering and decreased mindfulness, and examined the resulting implications for well-being. To test our assumptions, we estimated a path model based on survey data (N = 371). The model supported the majority of our preregistered hypotheses: Online vigilance was indeed related to mind-wandering and mindfulness, but only mindfulness mediated the relation with decreased well-being. Thus, those mentally preoccupied with online communication were overall less satisfied with their lives and reported less affective well-being when they also experienced reduced mindfulness.

随着移动技术的普及，用户得以随时随地在线，越来越多的用户报告称他们始终处于警觉和在线信息及沟通流量的高度专注状态——这一现象近期被称作在线警觉。尽管其普遍性日益增长，但持续关注在线信息及沟通流量对用户福祉的后果尚不清楚。在本研究中，我们探讨了持续的警觉是否与认知后果（如增加的心神不宁和减少的正念）相关，并探讨了其对福祉产生的潜在影响。为验证我们的假设，我们基于调查数据（N = 371）建立了一个路径模型。该模型支持了大多数我们预先注册的假设：在线警觉确实与心神不宁和正念相关，但只有正念在在线警觉与降低的福祉之间起到了中介作用。因此，那些对在线沟通高度投入的个体在总体上对生活满意度较低，并且当他们经历正念减少时，报告的情绪福祉也较低。