Empathy and compassion can be blocked when suffering is perceived in out-group members. A brief, 10-minute mindfulness intervention focused on breathing body sensations was tested against an active control in 83 participants who watched videos of suffering. The intervention did not significantly increase empathic distress or compassion overall, but participants reported significantly higher empathic distress and compassion toward out-group members. The ability to focus on breathing mediated the intervention's effects on ratings of compassion, relief, and distress. These preliminary findings suggest attentional processes may be a mechanism through which brief mindfulness practices influence social and affective responses.
A brief, guided mindfulness meditation did not directly increase compassion or reduce personal distress in novice meditators watching videos of people in distress. However, the meditation did enhance compassionate responses indirectly through a chain of effects: it first increased mindfulness (focused attention on breathing and bodily sensations), which then improved decentration (the ability to observe thoughts and feelings without over-identifying with them), and this in turn boosted compassion. The study involved 80 meditation-naive adults randomly assigned to either a single mindfulness meditation or an active control condition. The authors conclude that even a short mindfulness practice can foster compassion by strengthening mindfulness precursors and decentration, but more research is needed to establish causality.