A CORRELATIONAL STUDY OF MIND WANDERING, MINDFULNESS & HAPPINESS IN GRADUATE AND POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS

Abstract

The present study investigated the relationships between mind wandering, mindfulness, and happiness, and examined demographic differences across age, gender, and education. A sample of 300 university and college students from the Hazara Division completed the Mind Excessively Wandering Scale (MEWS), the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), and the Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS). All three instruments demonstrated satisfactory internal consistency and strong item–total correlations. Correlational analyses revealed that mind wandering had a significant negative association with mindfulness and a non-significant positive association with happiness, while mindfulness showed a significant positive relationship with happiness. Age was negatively correlated with mind wandering but showed no significant relationship with mindfulness or happiness. Gender comparisons indicated that females reported significantly higher mindfulness and happiness, whereas males scored higher on mind wandering. Educational differences showed that graduate students had higher mind wandering, while postgraduate students demonstrated higher mindfulness and happiness. Overall, the findings highlight meaningful interactions among cognitive and emotional processes and suggest that demographic factors play an important role in shaping levels of mind wandering, mindfulness, and subjective happiness.

Keywords: Mind wandering; Mindfulness; Happiness; Demographic differences; University students