Mindful Instant Messaging: Mindfulness and Autonomous Motivation as Predictors of Well-Being in Smartphone Communication

The number of smartphone users surpassed two billion in 2016; the most popular applications are instant messengers. However, research about benefits and risks for users has yielded contradictory findings and indicates that the relation between smartphone use and well-being depends on many conditions. We propose mindfulness as a predictor of well-being related to instant messaging. In our study, 211 participants answered short questionnaires on the evenings of five consecutive days. Multilevel analyses showed that a mindful use of instant messaging was positively related to users’ well-being, as indicated by more positive affect and less stress related to instant messaging. Moreover, the relation between day-specific mindfulness and well-being was statistically mediated by a more autonomous motivation to use instant messengers.