Mindfulness and mentalization: comparative study of their unique and overlapping effects on psychological and interpersonal functioning

• Mindfulness and mentalization are distinct yet related psychological processes. • Both competencies predict lower psychological distress. • Both competencies predict higher life satisfaction and quality of interpersonal relationships. • Other-related mentalization predicts higher quality of interpersonal relationships. • Self- and other- related mentalization predict higher life satisfaction. Mindfulness and mentalization are two psychological processes central to the regulation of emotions. Despite their shared prominence in evidence-based practices, few studies have directly examined their unique and complementary contributions to psychological and interpersonal functioning. In this study, 271 participants from the general population ( M = 31.47, SD = 12.16) completed an online questionnaire, and their data were analyzed using hierarchical multiple linear regression models. As hypothesized, mindfulness and mentalization emerged as conceptually distinct yet related psychological processes, each independently associated with lower psychological distress, greater life satisfaction and higher quality of interpersonal relationships. When considering the facets of mentalization (i.e., self-related mentalization, other-related mentalization and motivation to mentalize), self-related mentalization predicted reduced psychological distress, whereas other-related mentalization predicted greater life satisfaction and quality of interpersonal relationships. Mindfulness accounted for a comparable portion of the variance in interpersonal functioning as mentalization, suggesting that mindful awareness may serve as a foundation for reflective processes that enable understanding of self and others. These findings highlight the roles of mindfulness and mentalization in promoting both psychological and interpersonal functioning. Implications, limitations and directions for future research are discussed.