From Selflessness to Fulfillment: The Role of Connectedness, Disidentification, and Impermanence in Cultivating Non-Attachment and Happiness in Regular Meditators

This study offers an empirical investigation of selflessness conceptualized across three core dimensions (connectedness, impermanence, and disidentification) within the framework of the SelfCenteredness/Selflessness Happiness Model (SSHM; Dambrun & Ricard, 2011). We examined whether these dimension predicts non-attachment, which in turn predicts authentic happiness, and explored alternative sequencing among the components. A sample of 214 regular meditation practitioners completed validated self-report measures, and five structural equation models were tested. Two models met acceptable fit criteria and were retained for interpretation. Across retained models, all three selflessness dimensions were associated with non-attachment, which consistently emerged as a strong proximal predictor of authentic happiness. Model comparisons further indicated that positioning disidentification as an intermediary process linking impermanence (and to a lesser extent connectedness) to non-attachment provided the most coherent representation of the data. An alternative configuration also supported an indirect pathway from disidentification to authentic happiness through impermanence and non-attachment, whereas the corresponding pathway through connectedness did not reach statistical significance. Taken together, these findings support the SSHM and suggest that selflessness-related dimensions may be hierarchically organized, with disidentification operating as a key process linking self-related insights to non-attachment and well-being. These results contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the mechanisms underlying authentic happiness and have implications for meditationbased and therapeutic approaches targeting selflessness