From Mindfulness to Non-attachment: A Science Mapping Study of Buddhist Psychology Research

Objectives Buddhist psychology research has expanded rapidly but remains conceptually heterogeneous and difficult to synthesize across partially connected clinical, contemplative, and well-being subfields. This study maps the thematic structure, intellectual foundations, temporal evolution, and collaboration patterns of Buddhist psychology scholarship to clarify dominant research streams and emerging frontiers. Methods Following a Bibliometric-Systematic Literature Review workflow, we searched the Web of Science Core Collection (1962–2025) using the topic query (“buddhist psychology” OR (buddh* NEAR/1 psycholog*)). From 219 retrieved records, we excluded non–peer-reviewed formats, early access, non-English records, and tangential items, yielding 142 English-language journal articles. We conducted science-mapping analyses in VOSviewer, combining keyword co-occurrence clustering and overlay (time-zone) visualization with co-citation, bibliographic coupling, and co-authorship network analysis (with interpretability thresholds such as minimum publications for authors and minimum document counts for countries). Results Keyword co-occurrence revealed four interlocking thematic hotspots: (1) mindfulness, acceptance, and self-compassion mechanisms in emotional distress (stress, anxiety, depression, mechanisms, validation); (2) Buddhist psychology and meditative awareness (meditation, consciousness, awareness, psychotherapy translation); (3) compassion and empathy for health and well-being (prosocial capacities in clinical, health, and organizational contexts); and (4) nonattachment and Buddhist-informed well-being pathways (letting go, stress reduction, flourishing). Temporal mapping indicated a shift from early conceptual emphases (religion, consciousness, phenomenology) toward intervention- and outcomes-oriented research, with recent growth in mechanisms, validation, meta-analysis, and nonattachment. Conclusions Buddhist psychology is consolidating into a mature applied science anchored by mindfulness, Buddhism, and meditation, while increasingly advancing distinctively Buddhist self-related constructs, particularly nonattachment. Future work should strengthen construct clarity, psychometric robustness, and mechanism-driven, context-sensitive testing across populations and settings.