Self-related processing reduction or revision?: The Buddhist theory of no-self and the mechanisms of mindfulness

Abstract

There is substantial evidence that mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have beneficial effects for a range of disorders, though their underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Prominent developers of MBIs have proposed the Buddhist concept of no-self as a core mechanism driving their efficacy. The idea of no-self has been interpreted as the process of reducing, attenuating or eliminating all senses of self – subjective, narrative, agential – across the spectrum of self-related processing (SRP). This article reconstructs and critiques four empirical arguments and one conceptual challenge to the Buddhist no-self hypothesis – that reducing all SRP is the central mechanism underpinning the health benefits of MBIs – drawn from the psychological research of Willoughby Britton and Jared Lindahl. While acknowledging that their empirical arguments, while defeasible, provide strong reasons for a more cautious approach to this hypothesis, this article argues that alternative interpretations of no-self can effectively evade these critiques. Moreover, it demonstrates that these alternative views can align with existing evidence which suggests that a valenced shift in self-concepts – from positive to negative – is one mechanism for the efficacy of MBIs.