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Promoting altruism through meditation: An 8-week randomized controlled pilot study

Wallmark, Erik ; Safarzadeh, Kousha ; Daukantaité, Daiva LU and Maddux, Rachel LU (2013) In Mindfulness 4. p.223-234
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a Buddhist meditation intervention on empathy, perceived stress, mindfulness, self-compassion, and of particular interest, the dispositional tendency to feel empathic concern rather than personal distress when perceiving another as in need, termed altruistic orientation. Participants were randomly assigned to an intervention group (n = 20) or a waiting list control group (n = 22). Results indicated a trend towards increases in altruistic orientation in the intervention group—an increase that significantly correlated with meditation time, decreases in perceived stress, and increases in self-compassion and mindfulness. Additionally, compared to the controls, significant increases in... (More)
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a Buddhist meditation intervention on empathy, perceived stress, mindfulness, self-compassion, and of particular interest, the dispositional tendency to feel empathic concern rather than personal distress when perceiving another as in need, termed altruistic orientation. Participants were randomly assigned to an intervention group (n = 20) or a waiting list control group (n = 22). Results indicated a trend towards increases in altruistic orientation in the intervention group—an increase that significantly correlated with meditation time, decreases in perceived stress, and increases in self-compassion and mindfulness. Additionally, compared to the controls, significant increases in mindfulness and self-compassion and a significant decrease in perceived stress were obtained for the intervention group. (Less)
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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Empathy, Altruism, Stress, Mindfulness, Self-compassion, Meditation
in
Mindfulness
volume
4
pages
223 - 234
publisher
Springer
external identifiers
  • scopus:84881494344
ISSN
1868-8535
DOI
10.1007/s12671-012-0115-4
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
05603af9-a9eb-4a27-9548-db57c975cd0a
date added to LUP
2016-05-24 17:10:11
date last changed
2022-03-23 23:31:19
@article{05603af9-a9eb-4a27-9548-db57c975cd0a,
  abstract     = {{The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a Buddhist meditation intervention on empathy, perceived stress, mindfulness, self-compassion, and of particular interest, the dispositional tendency to feel empathic concern rather than personal distress when perceiving another as in need, termed altruistic orientation. Participants were randomly assigned to an intervention group (n = 20) or a waiting list control group (n = 22). Results indicated a trend towards increases in altruistic orientation in the intervention group—an increase that significantly correlated with meditation time, decreases in perceived stress, and increases in self-compassion and mindfulness. Additionally, compared to the controls, significant increases in mindfulness and self-compassion and a significant decrease in perceived stress were obtained for the intervention group.}},
  author       = {{Wallmark, Erik and Safarzadeh, Kousha and Daukantaité, Daiva and Maddux, Rachel}},
  issn         = {{1868-8535}},
  keywords     = {{Empathy; Altruism; Stress; Mindfulness; Self-compassion; Meditation}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{223--234}},
  publisher    = {{Springer}},
  series       = {{Mindfulness}},
  title        = {{Promoting altruism through meditation: An 8-week randomized controlled pilot study}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12671-012-0115-4}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/s12671-012-0115-4}},
  volume       = {{4}},
  year         = {{2013}},
}