Thinking critically in the moment? The relationship between mindfulness and critical thinking dispositions among pre-service teachers

ABSTRACT

The present study examined the association between pre-service teachers’ mindfulness and critical thinking dispositions, as indexed by engagement, cognitive maturity, and innovativeness in critical thinking. A total of 72 Chinese pre-service teachers were recruited from Hong Kong to complete an online questionnaire cross-sectionally. Hierarchical regression analysis indicated that mindfulness was differentially associated with critical thinking dispositions. As important dimensions of mindfulness, mindful presence was positively associated with engagement in critical thinking, whereas mindful acceptance was positively associated with cognitive maturity in the regression models. However, neither mindful presence nor mindful acceptance was related to innovativeness in critical thinking. As a covariate, gender was not related to dimensions of mindfulness and critical thinking dispositions. The present findings inform the literature on the relation between pre-service teachers’ mindfulness and critical thinking dispositions, particularly in the Chinese context. As a major implication, policymakers should be made aware of the importance of strengthening pre-service teachers’ mindfulness, such that they could have a greater disposition to teach critically as they enter the workforce.

KEYWORDS:

• Mindfulness
• critical thinking dispositions
• pre-service teachers

Critical thinking is important in our daily lives. According to the World Economic Forum (2016), critical thinking is one of the core work-related skills that prepares university students, including teachers in training, to enter the workforce (see also Warren 2006). It also benefits people for being effective and successful at work (Carmichael and Farrell 2012; Yang 2012). In the school setting, teachers’ critical thinking is a precondition that boosts students’ critical thinking (Elder and Paul 1994), which is further linked to students’ outcomes such as academic achievement (Wicaksana, Widoretno, and Dwiastuti 2020). As such, cultivating critical thinking is pivotal for teachers especially during teacher training, given its significance in both teaching tactics and students’ learning (Elder and Paul 1994). Despite its relative importance, little has been done to examine the precursors and correlates of critical thinking dispositions among teachers in training. To address this major research gap, the present study investigated the links between mindfulness and critical thinking dispositions among pre-service teachers.

What is critical thinking?

According to Inch and Warnick (1994), critical thinking is a cognitive mechanism ‘to indicate problems, questions, or situations; to integrate all available information; to reach hypotheses and results, and to affirm one’s idea’ (p. 11). Through multi-perspective thinking, openness to evidence and opinions, justified reasoning, problem-solving, and examination of hypotheses (Lai 2011; Willingham 2007), people with greater critical thinking skills are more likely to achieve purposeful outcomes (Halpern 1998). Over half a century ago, Bloom (1956) described the mechanisms through which critical thinking helps people digest complex information. Specifically, critical thinking enhances people’s ability to break down materials into meaningful segments, such that they can connect and recognise the underlying principles of the organisation, arrangement, and structure, combine the elements in a structured and clear manner, and adopt specific criteria to appraise the values, arguments, and solutions (Bloom 1956). As a stable inner motivation (Irani et al. 2007), critical thinking dispositions are indexed by engagement, i.e. having a habitual mindset and skills towards thinking critically (Facione 2000), cognitive maturity, i.e. being aware of biases, values, and standards pertained to critical thinking (Tishman, Jay, and Perkins 1993), and innovativeness, i.e. being intellectually curious to seek the truth and having an openness to ideas (Halpern 1998). Previous research suggested that critical thinking dispositions are linked to critical thinking skills (Macpherson and Stanovich 2007; Ricketts and Rudd 2004, 2005). As such, cultivating dispositions for critical thinking may be crucial for success in everyday lives.

Critical thinking among teachers

As discussed earlier, teachers play an important role in fostering critical thinking for the next generations (Elder and Paul 1994). However, some studies indicated that pre-service teachers only demonstrated low to medium levels of critical thinking dispositions (Bakir 2015; Demirhan and Köklükaya 2014). They also had insufficiencies in understanding or implementing critical thinking strategies in the classroom (e.g. As’ari, Mahmudi, and Nuerlaelah 2017; Benedicto and Andrade 2022). Notably, a study conducted in Indonesia indicated that a majority of the sample responded procedurally and mechanically to tasks and problems in mathematics (As’ari, Mahmudi, and Nuerlaelah 2017). That is, the pre-service teachers lacked an awareness to think or behave critically in their subject of teaching (As’ari, Mahmudi, and Nuerlaelah 2017; see also Benedicto and Andrade 2022, for similar findings among pre-service teachers from the Philippines). Despite some misconceptions, pre-service teachers from China were eager to receive training (e.g. problem-based learning; Saputro et al. 2020) and integrate critical thinking in their teaching (Ma and Luo, 2021).

As for in-service teachers, Stapleton (2011) revealed that most teachers had a clear idea about the meaning of critical thinking. However, some teachers of science and mathematics from Hong Kong reported that there was little room to integrate critical thinking into their subject of teaching (Stapleton 2011). In another study, although more than half of the participating music teachers from Hong Kong showed an accurate understanding of critical thinking skills and were willing to integrate them in the classroom, only a few were able to successfully implement the procedures (Lee 2016).

Taken together, a handful of pre-service and in-service teachers lack critical thinking dispositions or skills to integrate critical thinking in the classroom (As’ari, Mahmudi, and Nuerlaelah 2017; Bakir 2015; Benedicto and Andrade 2022; Lee 2016; Stapleton 2011). It is, therefore, vital to identify the precursors of critical thinking dispositions to inform the development of interventions, such that pre-service teachers could be more prepared to teach critically as they enter the workforce (Warren 2006).

The role of mindfulness in teachers’ functioning

Over the last two decades, theorists suggested that mindfulness may be imperative to the development of critical thinking (e.g. Brown, Ryan, and Creswell 2007; Shapiro et al. 2006; Shapiro, Brown, and Astin 2008). Mindfulness centres on the value of consciousness (Hayes 2003), as it requires paying attention to the present moment instead of being on autopilot (Baer et al. 2006; Bishop et al. 2004; Kabat-Zinn 1994). In examining the underlying components or facets of mindfulness, Kohls et al. (2009) argued that mindfulness encompasses mindful presence and mindful acceptance, whereas others suggested that it is a unidimensional construct (Walach et al. 2006) or has multiple components (e.g. Baer et al. 2006; Bergomi, Tschacher, and Kupper 2013; Lau et al. 2006), such as acting with awareness, non-judging, non-reactivity, describing, and observing (Baer et al. 2006). Nevertheless, the notion of mindfulness as conceptualised by these researchers converged to Kabat-Zinn’s (1994) definition, i.e. the awareness that arises when paying attention to the present, on purpose, and without judgement. In the present study, Kohls et al’.s (2009) depiction of mindfulness was adopted, as being mindfully present and having an attitude of acceptance are core to mindfulness (Teper, Segal, and Inzlicht 2013).

Previous research suggested that mindfulness is predictive of teachers’ psychological and occupational functioning, namely greater emotional intelligence, empathy, subjective well-being, self-efficacy, and teacher–student relationship quality, and lower-perceived stress and depressive symptoms (e.g. Hepburn, Carroll, and McCuaig 2021; Pan et al. 2022, 2023; Wang et al. 2023). Other studies also showed that mindfulness-based interventions are related to teachers’ well-being and performance in fostering academic achievement among students (e.g. Birchinall, Spendlove, and Buck 2019; Hue and Lau 2015; Hwang et al. 2017; Kerr et al. 2017; Zarate, Maggin, and Passmore 2019). As such, the role of mindfulness as a precursor of teachers’ outcomes has been well-established in the literature.

Underlying mechanisms of mindfulness in critical thinking dispositions

Turning to the context of critical thinking, Shapiro et al. (2006; 2008) postulated in their theoretical framework that the awareness brought by mindfulness to consider multiple perspectives without biases can aid the development of critical thinking, especially in examining assumptions, evaluating evidence, and drawing conclusions. People who are mindful are likely to collect evidence that informs behaviour, thereby avoiding biased conclusions (Brown, Ryan, and Creswell 2007). They also tend to be more objective, open to missions, and engage in cognitive reappraisal (Adair and Fredrickson 2015; Cheung and Ng 2020; Garland et al. 2015), and are less likely to act reactively and impulsively (Cheung and Ng 2019). Previous research suggested that mindfulness-based interventions such as Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (Kabat-Zinn 2009) can improve performance in moral reasoning and ethical decision-making (Shapiro, Jazaieri, and Goldin 2012), both of which are related to critical thinking skills. As mindfulness in social interactions reduces self-serving biases and egocentrism, people are also more likely to take other people’s well-being into account and make ethical decisions (Shapiro, Jazaieri, and Goldin 2012). Given that mindfulness can facilitate high-order cognitions (Shapiro, Jazaieri, and Goldin 2012), a potential link might be expected between mindfulness and critical thinking dispositions. Nevertheless, to the best of our knowledge, few studies have examined the direct association between mindfulness and critical thinking dispositions, particularly among pre-service teachers.

In an attempt to understand the role of mindfulness through the lenses of mindful observing and nonreactivity (Baer et al. 2006), Noone et al. (2016) conducted a cross-sectional study and found no relation between observing and critical thinking skills. Paradoxically, they found an inverse relation between non-reactivity and critical thinking. Noone et al. (2016) speculated that people’s ability to let go non-reactively might have interfered with their tendency to think critically in stressful situations, thereby resulting in an inverse relation between the variables. Surprisingly, a 6-week online mindfulness intervention also did not improve university students’ critical thinking performance (Noone and Hogan 2018b). On the contrary, however, the same authors found that mindfulness meditation enhanced critical thinking performance only for people exhibiting a low level of need for cognition and those having an actively open-minded thinking disposition (Noone and Hogan 2018a). Given the mixed findings, it is important to investigate the relation between different dimensions of mindfulness and critical thinking dispositions.

The present study

Grounded in theories of mindfulness (Brown, Ryan, and Creswell 2007; Shapiro et al. 2006; Shapiro, Brown, and Astin 2008), the present study investigated the effect of mindfulness on critical thinking dispositions in a sample of Chinese pre-service teachers in Hong Kong. It was hypothesised that mindful presence and acceptance would statistically predict critical thinking dispositions, as indexed by engagement (H1), cognitive maturity (H2), and innovativeness (H3) in critical thinking (Irani et al. 2007).

Method

Participants

According to the G-power for multiple linear regression, for an effect size of f² = .15, alpha = .05, power (1 – β error prob) = .80, and with two predictors (i.e. mindful presence and acceptance) and one covariate (i.e. gender), the appropriate number of participants was 68. A total of 10 additional participants were recruited to ensure sufficient power to detect significant findings in case of data exclusion. Therefore, 78 self-identified pre-service teachers were recruited through random sampling and convenient sampling at a public university in Hong Kong. In total, 6 participants were excluded, with 3 participants identified as outliers on scatterplots, and the rest were regarded as influential points upon consideration of standard deviations, leverage values, p-values of Mahalanobis distance, and Cook’s distance. In the final sample, 72 Chinese pre-service teachers between 18 and 27 years of age (M = 21.65; SD = 1.74) were included in this study, comprising more women (n = 54; 75.00%) than men (n = 18; 25.00%). Despite a larger proportion of women, the gender composition was comparable to the data from the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department (2018), which indicated that 50,593 women (73.00%) and 18,675 men (27.00%) in Hong Kong were in the teaching profession.

Measures

Mindfulness dispositions

The Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory-8 (FMI-8; Kohls, Sauer, and Walach 2009) was used to assess two dimensions of mindfulness, including presence and acceptance. Participants rated on a four-point scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 4 (strongly agree). Sample items included, ‘I am open to the experience of the present moment’ (Presence) and ‘I am friendly to myself when things go wrong’ (Acceptance). The FMI-14 demonstrated adequate validity and reliability in previous research (Kohls, Sauer, and Walach 2009). The longer version, i.e. FMI-14 (Walach et al. 2006) was previously used by Hue and Lau (2015) to measure pre-service teachers’ dispositional mindfulness in Hong Kong. The item scores were averaged to form two subscale scores, with higher mean scores indicating greater Presence and Acceptance. In this study, the FMI-8 was translated from English to Chinese following the back-translation procedures outlined by Brislin (1970). No modifications of the items were made for the present study. Cronbach’s alpha = .71 for Presence and .61 for Acceptance.

Critical thinking dispositions

The University of Florida Engagement, Cognitive Maturity, Innovativeness Scale (UF-EMI; Irani et al. 2007) was used to measure participants’ critical thinking dispositions. The measure included three subscales: Engagement, Cognitive Maturity, and Innovativeness. Participants rated on a five-point scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Sample items included, “I am a good problem solver’ (Engagement), ‘I listen carefully to the opinions of others even when they disagree with me’ (Cognitive Maturity), and ‘I enjoy learning about many topics’ (Innovativeness). The original UF-EMI contains 26 items (Irani et al. 2007). According to Bell and Loon (2015), the item, ‘I keep on working on things until I get them right’ was removed because the factor loading was below .40. As such, the adapted 25-item measure was utilised in this study. The item scores were averaged, with higher mean scores representing a higher level of critical thinking dispositions in the corresponding domains. In this study, the UF-EMI was translated from English to Chinese following the back-translation procedures outlined by Brislin (1970). No modifications of the items were made for the present study. In this study, Cronbach’s alpha = .82 for Engagement, .61 for Cognitive Maturity, and .72 for Innovativeness in critical thinking.

Procedure

Prior to the conduct of this study, ethics approval had been obtained at the first author’s institution (Approval ID: PS18-U048BEd). The study was conducted in strict accordance with the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki ethical standards and its subsequent amendments. Participants were recruited through an advertisement in social media and the public university’s intranet forums to complete an online questionnaire. The questionnaire took 5 to 10 minutes to complete. Informed consent was sought before participation.

Analytic plan

Means, standard deviations, and zero-order correlations were examined as preliminary analyses. Hierarchical linear regression was then used to test the hypothesis of whether mindful presence and mindful acceptance statistically predicted critical thinking dispositions. In the three regression models with engagement, cognitive maturity, and innovativeness in critical thinking as criterion variables, pre-service teachers’ gender was entered to the first block as a covariate. Mindful presence and acceptance were then entered to the second block as predictors of the three domains of critical thinking. Given that previous research indicated gender differences in critical thinking (e.g. Lee 2016; Walsh and Hardy 1999), gender was included as a covariate in the regression analyses.

Results

Table 1 shows the means, standard deviations, and zero-order correlations of mindfulness, critical thinking dispositions, and gender. Mindfulness and critical thinking dispositions were significantly correlated across dimensions, all p < .001. Table 2 shows the findings of the three hierarchical linear regression models, with participants’ gender as a covariate and mindful presence and awareness as predictors of critical thinking dispositions. Although mindful presence and mindful acceptance were moderately correlated at .61, p < .001 (see Table 1), the VIFs were less than 5. Hence, there was no multicollinearity between the predictors (Hair, Ringle, and Sarstedt 2011).

Table 1. Means, standard deviations, and zero-order correlations of the variables under study.

Variable	M	SD	(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)	(6)
(1) Gender (0 = women, 1 = men)	NA	NA	-
(2) Mindful Acceptance	2.86	.43	.03	-
(3) Mindful Presence	3.01	.41	.07	61***	-
(4) Engagement in Critical Thinking	3.75	.42	.14	.33***	.38***	-
(5) Cognitive Maturity in Critical Thinking	3.86	.37	.10	.41***	.38***	.48***	-
(6) Innovativeness in Critical Thinking	3.80	.46	.10	.32***	.33***	.69***	.50***	-

***p < .001.

Table 2. Hierarchical regression models of mindful acceptance and mindful presence as predictors of the three dimensions of critical thinking dispositions.

Variable	Engagement in Critical Thinking		Cognitive Maturity in Critical Thinking		Innovativeness in Critical Thinking
	Block 1	Block 2	Block 1	Block 2	Block 1	Block 2
β for Gender (0 = women, 1 = men)	.14*	.09	.10	.06	.10	.08
β for Mindful Acceptance		.15		.24*		.20
β for Mindful Presence		.28*		.18		.24
R^2	.02	.17	.01	.20	.01	.14
R^2 change	.02	.15	.01	.19	.01	.13
d.f.	1/70	3/68	1/70	3/68	1/70	3/68
F change	1.50	4.80**	.65	5.55**	.67	3.68*

*p < .05, **p < .01.

H1:

Engagement in Critical Thinking as Criterion Variable

In the regression model with engagement in critical thinking as a criterion variable, F(3,68) = 6.30, p < .01, R² = .17, R² change for Block 2 = .15, i.e. a total of 15% of the variance of engagement was explained by the mindfulness predictors. However, only mindful presence demonstrated a significant effect on engagement (β = .28, p < .05). In addition, the effect of gender on engagement in Block 1 (β = .14, p < .05) subsided upon the inclusion of mindfulness predictors in Block 2. Therefore, when partialling out the effects of gender and mindful acceptance on engagement, one unit of increment of mindful presence predicted .28 unit of increment of engagement in critical thinking.

H2:

Cognitive Maturity in critical thinking as Criterion Variable

As for cognitive maturity in critical thinking, F(3,68) = 6.20, p < .01, R² = .20, R² change for Block 2 = .19, i.e. a total of 19% of the variance of cognitive maturity was explained by mindfulness predictors. However, only mindful acceptance demonstrated a significant effect on cognitive maturity (β = .24, p < .05). That is, when partialling out the effects of gender and mindful presence on cognitive maturity, one unit of increment of mindful acceptance predicted .24 unit of increment of cognitive maturity in critical thinking.

H3:

Innovativeness in Critical Thinking as Criterion Variable

Finally, when innovativeness in critical thinking was entered as a criterion variable, F(3,68) = 4.35, p < .05, R² = .14, R² change for Block 2 = .13, i.e. a total of 13% of the variance of innovativeness was explained by mindfulness predictors. Nevertheless, neither mindful presence nor acceptance significantly predicted innovativeness in critical thinking.

Discussion

The goal of this study was to examine the relation between mindfulness and critical thinking dispositions in a sample of pre-service teachers. The hypotheses were partially supported. Specifically, mindful presence predicted engagement in critical thinking, such that teachers who were mindfully present demonstrated a more habitual mindset towards thinking critically (Facione 2000). In addition, mindful acceptance predicted cognitive maturity. As such, teachers who were more mindfully accepting also had a greater awareness of their own biases and values (Irani et al. 2007). Somewhat surprisingly, neither dimension of mindfulness was related to pre-service teachers’ innovativeness, i.e. having an intellectual curiosity to seek the truth (Irani et al. 2007). Taken together, the present findings enriched the literature on pre-service teachers’ mindfulness and other aspects of functioning (Birchinall, Spendlove, and Buck 2019; Hepburn, Carroll, and McCuaig 2021; Hue and Lau 2015). They also filled the research gap by demonstrating differential effects of mindfulness in pre-service teachers’ critical thinking dispositions.

In this study, mindful presence predicted engagement in critical thinking, which involved pre-service teachers’ dispositional performance in problem-solving and decision-making. Our finding was consistent with a study revealing that mindful awareness was related to ethical decision-making (Ruedy and Schweitzer 2010). It also corroborated another study showing that mindful awareness was associated with insight problem-solving (Ostafin and Kassman 2012). Of note, mindful presence facilitates pre-service teachers’ effective problem-solving and decision-making by aiding a search for significant elements and attendance to meaningful information in the present moment (Murray and Byrne 2005). It also facilitates an openness towards switching attention, such that people are more likely to consider possibilities in producing new connections among all essential elements, which may lead to alternative strategies (Garland et al. 2015; Murray and Byrne 2005). Furthermore, when teachers are mindfully present, they are also less likely to be affected by reactionary thoughts and memories in solving similar problems (Shapiro et al. 2006), such as working with students who exhibit behavioural problems in different contexts. As a result, they can have a ‘beginner’s mind’ to take the current issue as a new one and restructure it from the very beginning, which may allow them to experience an ‘aha’ moment through the restructuring process (Ostafin and Kassman 2012). On the contrary, habitual responses triggered by prior experience may hinder problem-solving and appropriate decision-making. As such, supporting theories of mindfulness and previous findings (e.g. Ostafin and Kassman 2012; Ruedy and Schweitzer 2010; Shapiro et al. 2006), our sample of pre-service teachers revealed that mindful presence was a precursor of dispositional engagement in critical thinking.

In this study, pre-service teachers’ mindful acceptance was associated with their cognitive maturity, which encompasses an awareness of biases and values (Irani et al. 2007). When pre-service teachers mindfully accept their experience, they are less likely to engage in cognitive defence (S. C. Hayes 1994) and more likely to keep an openness to reality, without preconceived opinions, prejudice, and judgements (Roemer and Orsillo 2003). They are also more capable of embracing all experiences, thoughts, and ideas by having a ‘clean slate’ (Cardaciotto et al. 2008). Notably, mindful acceptance aids teachers to acknowledge their experiences without judgement, such that they are more equanimous and are better at pausing and regulating their emotions (Chambers, Lo, and Allen 2008; Cheung, Ke, and Ng 2020). Considering that teaching is one of the most stressful occupations (Johnson et al. 2005), mindful acceptance can also curb the potential stress and negative emotions from shutting out divergent ideas (Baer 2003). Interestingly, although mindful acceptance was associated with cognitive maturity among pre-service teachers, it was not associated with engagement in critical thinking, which involves dispositions towards problem-solving and decision-making. As engagement in critical thinking requires high-order cognitive efforts (e.g. to actively identify core issues and determine appropriate solutions), accepting experiences mindfully may not be a proximal predictor of engagement.

Somewhat surprisingly, neither mindful presence nor acceptance predicted pre-service teachers’ innovativeness, which encompasses intellectual curiosity. This finding corroborated another study that suggested a lack of relation between mindfulness and the construct of ‘openness to experience’, which involved an item ‘I have a lot of intellectual curiosity’ (Niemiec et al. 2010). The null findings might be due, in part, to the measure assessing pre-service teachers’ innovativeness in this study (UF-EMI; Irani et al. 2007), which focused primarily on curiosity in learning (e.g. ‘I enjoy learning about many topics’, ‘I ask lots of questions in a learning environment’, and ‘I enjoy learning even when I am not in University’) but not necessarily curiosity in general, such as being curious about inner emotional experiences. Hence, future studies should replicate the present findings by using multiple measures of innovativeness and a more general assessment of curiosity.

In the present study, we controlled for gender effects in the regression analyses. Consistent with some studies (e.g. Goodall, Trejnowska, and Darling 2012; Howell et al. 2008; F. Kong, Wang, and Zhao 2014), our findings revealed that pre-service teachers’ gender was not related to mindfulness. Gender was also not related to critical thinking dispositions (Yeh 1997). However, the null findings between gender and critical thinking were in contrary to other studies indicating a significant association (e.g. McBride, Xiang, and Wittenburg 2002; Nilgun 2011; Walsh and Hardy 1999). Therefore, future work is necessary to replicate the relation between pre-service teachers’ gender and critical thinking, or the lack thereof.

Practical implications

In terms of practical implications, the present findings lent potential initial support to evidence-based interventions aiming to strengthen pre-service teachers’ critical thinking dispositions via mindfulness (see also Roeser et al. 2012). More specifically, pre-service teachers’ dispositions towards problem-solving and decision-making may be improved by practicing mindful presence. For instance, greater present-focused attention and awareness can aid information-seeking and knowledge-acquiring, which may heighten the quality of decisions and solutions to problems in the classroom setting. Secondly, mindful acceptance may reduce pre-service teachers’ cognitive biases and strengthen their open-mindedness. With fewer judgements and greater equanimity, pre-service teachers may be more likely to consider divergent thoughts and their potential biases, especially under stressful circumstances in teaching (Johnson et al. 2005). Lastly, based on the present findings, pre-service teachers may benefit from the cultivation of mindfulness, regardless of their gender.

Limitations and future directions

There are several limitations in the present study. Firstly, the study depends exclusively on self-reported instruments, which are susceptible to method biases such as social desirability (Podsakoff, MacKenzie, and Podsakof 2012). In addition, the internal consistency of mindful acceptance and cognitive maturity in critical thinking was low (Cronbach’s alpha = .61) at the acceptable level (Taber 2016). Future work may replicate the present findings using other instruments, such as the California Critical Thinking Dispositions Inventory (CCTDI; Facione, Facione, and Giancarlo 1992) and the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ; Baer et al. 2006), and adopt additional methods such as observational and physiological measures. Relatedly, although we adhered strictly to Brislin’s (1970) procedures in translating the FMI-8 and UF-EMI, we did not include any culturally relevant items of mindfulness nor critical thinking dispositions. Due to the small sample, we were also unable to examine the factor structure of these measures. Future studies should include a qualitative study to examine the cultural relevance of the items in depth. A larger sample is also needed to further investigate the factor structure of the measures in the Chinese context. Next, due to the brevity of the survey, we were unable to seek additional demographic information such as the participants’ educational background. Given that socioeconomic status is also related to critical thinking (e.g. Gelerstein et al. 2016; Huang et al. 2019; Lv et al. 2022), future studies should include sociodemographic variables to rule out their potential effects as covariates. Moreover, the absence of an experiment or mindfulness-based intervention limited the present study to draw any causal relations among the variables. Finally, the present study was cross-sectional. Future studies should use a longitudinal approach to draw conclusions on the temporal sequence between the variables.

Conclusion

The present study broadens the literature by highlighting the differential associations between pre-service teachers’ mindfulness and critical thinking dispositions. To the best of available information, the present study was one of the first to focus on the direct relation between mindfulness and critical thinking dispositions among pre-service teachers in the Chinese context. These findings are original and they inform policymakers about the importance of strengthening different aspects of mindfulness associated with critical thinking. Ultimately, increasing mindfulness and critical thinking dispositions not only can benefit pre-service teachers, but also their future students through enhanced professional teaching and education.

Ethics approval

The present study has been approved by the ethics committee at The Education University of Hong Kong (ID: PS18-U048BEd) and has been conducted in accordance with the ethical standards in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments.

Consent

Prior to the administration of the study, written informed consent was sought from all participants.

Data, materials and/or code availability

The dataset analysed in this article is not publicly available. Requests to access the dataset should be directed to [email protected].

Author contribution statement

Conceptualisation: Ming Chen and John H. M. Lam; Formal analysis: Ming Chen, John H. M. Lam, and Rebecca Y. M. Cheung; Writing – original draft preparation: Ming Chen; Writing – review and editing: Ming Chen, John H. M. Lam, and Rebecca Y. M. Cheung.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.