Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects

Date of Award

2024

Document Type

Honors Paper

Degree Name

Psychology-BA

Department

Psychology

Advisor

Dr. Denise Hatter-Fisher

First Committee Member

Dr. Denise Hatter-Fisher

Second Committee Member

Dr. Michele Acker

Third Committee Member

Dr. Dennis Davenport

Keywords

Meditation App, Self-determination Theory, Fantasy Sports, Intervention

Subject Categories

Higher Education | Psychology

Abstract

Given the growing global burden of mental health disorders, the use of smartphone-based mindfulness meditation applications has skyrocketed. However, such applications have failed to attract a substantial base of male users and suffer from poor attrition and adherence rates across genders. It was proposed this may be due to a lack of basic psychological need satisfaction (BPNS) as outlined by self-determination theory (SDT).

It was theorized that online fantasy sports could compensate for possible shortcomings of conventional meditation apps in inspiring consistent usage by men. Using a randomized control trial design, this study tested an eight-week, gamified meditation intervention linking the mechanics of fantasy sports to weekly meditation goals (termed “mindful fantasy sports”) in an all-male sample (n = 24). A secondary aim of the study was to determine if mindful fantasy sports were more intrinsically motivating than conventional meditation apps by measuring BPNS.

The current findings showed participants in the mindful fantasy sports groups meditated significantly more often and for a significantly longer cumulative duration than peers in the control condition. Additionally, those playing mindful fantasy sports reported higher degrees of BPNS, specifically higher competence satisfaction. These findings support the notion that mindful fantasy sports can be effective in the promotion of meditation activity in a male population. Thus, mindful fantasy sports could be a promising mental health tool with potential for scalability and wide dissemination.

Licensing Permission

Copyright, all rights reserved. Fair Use

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