The overarching goal of this project aims to understand how embodied mindfulness (i.e., “ability/skill that includes attention, awareness, and acceptance requiring the mind, body, and mind-body association”) (Khoury, et al., 2023, p. 459) mediates the relationship between research and statistics anxiety, research self-efficacy, and research competency, amongst graduate students. While mindfulness practices have been shown to reduce anxiety, stress (Hoge, et al., 2013), perfectionism (Manova & Khoury, 2023), and improve cognitive functioning (McBride & Greeson, 2023), research has not yet demonstrated how mindfulness may mitigate anxiety related to research methods and improve students’ self-efficacy and competency toward research. Understanding these relationships may support the use of embodied activities (i.e., activities rooted in sensorimotor functions and movement to foster cognition) (Foglia & Wilson, 2013), within graduate research courses. To address the larger goal, the first phase of this research examined the relationships between research and statistics anxiety, embodied mindfulness, mindfulness attention and awareness, research self-efficacy, and research competency amongst graduate students using mixed methods research.

The sample included n=124 graduate students. Most participants were from the United States (92.7%) and enrolled in a master’s program (53.2%) in engineering (19.5%, education (17.1%) and statistics (10.6%), to name a few. Six instruments examined the relationships between research (Onwuegbuzie, 2013) and statistics anxiety (Hanna et al., 2008), embodied mindfulness (Khoury, et al., 2023), mindfulness attention and awareness (Brown & Ryan, 2003), research self-efficacy (Bieschke, et al., 1996), and research competency (Swank, et al., 2003). Further, three open-ended questions asked participants about their bodily responses when engaged in learning or using research methods and statistics. Pearson correlation was used to examine the relationships. Open-ended responses were examined using thematic analysis.

The results revealed three statistically significant relationships between embodied mindfulness and research anxiety. The ability to attend to and notice feelings and corresponding physical sensations in the body (r =.31, p =.002), and notice the “bidirectional associations” between the mind and body (r = .29, p = .004) are positively related to research anxiety. These embodied-mindfulness constructs are related to less research anxiety*. However, the ability to detach from automatic thoughts is negatively related to research anxiety (r = -.30, p = .003 ). As such, the more one is absorbed by their thoughts, the greater their research anxiety*. The qualitative findings revealed 59% of participants had negative embodied-related responses to statistics and research anxiety.

Participants expressed feeling:
1) stress, anxiety, or overwhelmed,
2) mental fatigue or exhaustion,
3) physical fatigue or somatic reactions, or
4) uncertain or nervous tension.

Some participants revealed positive less embodied responses captured by the themes,
1) focused/alert,
2) neutral or fine,
3) perseverance/pressing, and
4) confidence or excited.

These findings reveal that those who can attend to the connection between their bodies and feelings and are less absorbed by their thoughts are less likely to experience research anxiety.

*Higher research anxiety scores correspond to less anxiety.

Keywords: Embodied mindfulness, research anxiety, research methods pedagogy.