Personal relative deprivation (PRD) is associated with worse psychological well-being, yet relatively little is known about the psychological factors that may buffer these associations. Drawing on evidence that mindfulness is associated with more adaptive responses to negative experiences, we examined mindfulness as one such potential buffering factor. Although trait mindfulness did not attenuate the immediate impact of unfavourable social comparisons of affluence on resentment (Study 1), Studies 2a/b found that associations between trait PRD and psychological distress were weaker at higher levels of mindfulness. In a daily diary study (Study 3), higher trait and state mindfulness weakened the association between unfavourable social comparisons and resentment, which in turn were associated with lower distress. Study 4 extended these findings by showing that mindfulness weakened trait-level associations between social comparison, resentment, and psychological distress, although evidence for autonomic symptoms and self-rated physical health was less consistent. These findings suggest that mindfulness may buffer associations involving PRD, particularly those linking unfavourable social comparisons and resentment and those linking PRD with psychological distress. More broadly, these findings have theoretical implications for understanding how psychological resources such as mindfulness may contribute to resilience in the face of perceived relative disadvantage.
Congenital aphantasia refers to a lifelong absence of voluntary visual imagery. Imagery varies substantially across individuals and may provide insight into broader patterns of cognitive, emotional, and interoceptive functioning. However, imagery differences remain underexamined within the individual-differences literature. The present study investigated whether variation in imagery vividness is associated with bodily awareness, neurodevelopmental traits, and early-life experience.Imagery vividness was assessed using the Plymouth Sensory Imagery Questionnaire (PSI-Q) in an online sample comprising individuals with core aphantasia (PSI-Q = 0; n = 330), hypofantasia (0 < PSI-Q ≤ 4; n = 755), typical imagery (4 < PSI-Q < 9; n = 216), and hyperphantasia (9 ≤ PSI-Q ≤ 10; n = 123). Participants completed self-report measures of autonomic symptoms, cardiac symptomatology, childhood experiences, ADHD traits, autistic traits, anxiety, postural symptoms, and hypermobility.Both aphantasia groups reported reduced cardiac symptoms relative to typical imagers, while core aphantasia additionally showed reduced POTS symptoms. Both aphantasia groups exhibited elevated ADHD and autistic trait. Emotional neglect was higher in both aphantasia groups relative to hyperphantasia, while hyperphantasia showed elevated hypermobility traits.These findings suggest that imagery vividness reflects individual differences linked to bodily awareness, neurodevelopmental traits, and early experience.
