30d • Research product
Does video game playing stimulate mindfulness?
How much can everyday commercial video games contribute to mindfulness? This new study by Díaz-Chica, Tapia-Frade, and Santos suggests a more nuanced answer than a simple yes or no.
The authors surveyed 225 mostly Spanish participants (17–66 years), assessing both their video game habits and their mindfulness trait using the Five Facets of Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ). Overall, simply being a gamer or not did not differentiate people’s global mindfulness scores: players and non-players scored similarly on the FFMQ.
The interesting story emerges when looking at how long and how people play, and whether they also meditate or have ADHD. Longer experience with video games is slightly associated with higher mindfulness scores in non-meditators, particularly in three facets: describing inner experiences, not judging inner experiences, and non-reactivity to thoughts and feelings. In other words, for people who do not meditate, years of gaming practice might modestly support some components of the mindfulness trait.
At the same time, the picture is not uniformly positive. As gaming experience grows, the “observing” facet (attending to internal and external experiences) tends to decrease, especially among non-meditators, and longer single sessions relate inversely to “acting with awareness,” particularly in players with ADHD. These patterns resonate with studies that link intensive gaming with attentional difficulties and more “autopilot” behavior.
For practitioners using games in education, training, or therapeutic settings, these findings reinforce the idea that commercial games can be one ingredient in a broader mindfulness- and attention-related design, but they are not a substitute for structured contemplative practice. Targeting specific facets—like non-judgment or non-reactivity—may be more realistic than expecting games to boost “mindfulness” as a whole.
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ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAYS:
Use games to train specific mindfulness facets. When integrating games into your practice (education, coaching, therapy), focus on facets such as describing inner experience, non-judgment, and non-reactivity rather than “mindfulness” in general, for example by debriefing emotions, thoughts, and in-game decisions explicitly after play.
Be especially intentional with non-meditators. For people who do not meditate, long-term gaming experience may modestly support non-judgment and non-reactivity; you can amplify this by pairing gameplay with guided reflection prompts that invite noticing and accepting thoughts and feelings arising during play.
Watch session length and attentional load. Longer sessions and intensive patterns can undermine observing and acting-with-awareness, particularly in players with attentional vulnerabilities (e.g., ADHD), so design shorter, focused sessions with clear attentional goals instead of long marathons.
Combine games with formal mindfulness practice. Results suggest that meditation still plays a distinct role: meditating gamers do not show the same “benefits” from gaming alone and may even see some facets (like non-judgment) better supported by meditation than by games; use games as a complement, not a replacement.
Use debriefing to counter “autopilot” play. Because intensive gaming can foster mechanical, low-awareness behavior, build structured debriefs (e.g., “What did you notice in your body?”, “When did you go on autopilot?”) around sessions to bring attentional skills back online and connect gameplay to real-life awareness.
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Citation:Díaz-Chica, Ó., Tapia-Frade, A., & Santos Fernández, D. (2025). Does video game playing stimulate mindfulness? Human Technology, 21(3), 530–547. https://doi.org/10.14254/1795-6889.2025.21-3.3
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Does video game playing stimulate mindfulness?
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