Cognition & Emotion
May 13, 2013
Patty van Cappellen, Vassilis Saroglou, Caroline Iweins et al.
184 citations
Spirituality is typically studied as a response to hardship, but this research explores whether it can also arise from positive emotions that transcend the self, such as admiration and elevation. In two experiments, inducing these emotions—using different methods—boosted participants' spirituality compared to neutral or merely happy (mirth) states. The effect was especially strong among non-religious participants. The increase in spirituality was explained by shifts in basic worldviews: a stronger belief that life is meaningful and that others and the world are benevolent. Spirituality may function not only as a coping mechanism but as part of an upward spiral with self-transcendent positive emotions.
Cognition & Emotion
February 1, 2023
Yena Kim, Howard C Nusbaum, Fan Yang
22 citations
Experiencing awe and flow significantly enhances moral character by promoting wisdom and humility. In a study with 605 adults, those predisposed to awe and flow demonstrated stronger wise reasoning (up to 30% higher) and greater epistemic humility compared to their happier counterparts. Individuals recalling awe-filled moments showed 25% better wise reasoning, while those experiencing flow exhibited 20% more humility. Interventions inducing awe (nature videos) and flow (music composition) further improved conflict resolution and self-awareness, highlighting the transformative power of self-transcendent experiences in fostering moral growth.
Cognition & Emotion
January 29, 2021
Simon B. Goldberg, Lisa Flook, Matthew J. Hirshberg et al.
6 citations
Brief mindfulness meditation (breath awareness) may impair cognitive performance after acute stress compared to other contemplative practices. In a randomized trial with 162 participants, those who practiced loving-kindness, gratitude, or an attentional control improved their working memory scores on the Operation Span task after the cold pressor stress test, while the breath awareness group did not. Changes in working memory were unrelated to changes in mood. The findings suggest that brief breath awareness training may not buffer against acute stress in meditation-naïve individuals and could even hinder cognitive performance relative to other practices.
Cognition & Emotion
June 1, 2026
Ashley N Howell, Audrey Darnbush
Among highly socially anxious young adults, higher fears of compassion were linked to poorer recognition of others' positive emotions after a brief relaxation exercise, but to better recognition after a brief loving-kindness meditation. No such interaction appeared for negative emotion recognition. Greater fear of expressing compassion was associated with more frequent negative labeling of positive emotional stimuli in the relaxation group, whereas this relation was virtually absent in the loving-kindness group. Loving-kindness inductions may temporarily reduce negative interpretation biases and improve perception of positive social signals in socially anxious individuals, especially those with heightened fears of compassion.
Cognition & Emotion
December 22, 2021
T. D. Stalmeier, Jelle Lubbers, M. Cladder-Micus et al.
Negative self-referential processing is well-studied in unipolar depression but less in bipolar disorder (BD). In 49 patients with BD from a randomized trial of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), those receiving MBCT plus treatment as usual (TAU, n=23) showed a reduction in negative self-referential memory bias over time compared with TAU alone (n=26). At baseline, all three measures of self-referential processing—positive and negative attributions and negative memory bias—were linked to depressive symptoms. The findings are preliminary and suggest that reducing negative self-referential memory bias may help prevent and treat depressive symptoms in BD through MBCT.
Cognition & Emotion
September 1, 2021
Catherine Juneau, Rebecca Shankland, Bärbel Knäuper et al.
People tend to automatically approach pleasant things and avoid unpleasant ones. Two experiments tested whether mindfulness practices and the personality trait of equanimity can reduce this tendency. In the first experiment, 84 participants were randomly assigned to a breathing meditation, a body-scan meditation, or an active control condition before completing an Approach/Avoidance Task. In the second experiment, 71 participants were grouped by high or low trait equanimity. Breathing meditation and higher equanimity each reduced automatic approach and avoidance biases, while body-scan meditation did not. The findings suggest that both brief mindfulness practice and stable equanimity can weaken automatic motivational responses to positive and negative stimuli.
Cognition & Emotion
August 1, 2021
Ruben E Laukkonen, Daniel J Ingledew, Hilary J Grimmer et al.
In a preregistered experiment, participants solved problems while squeezing a dynamometer to capture real-time feelings of insight. A strong positive relationship emerged between Aha moments and accuracy for problems requiring implicit processing. The intensity of the insight experience further predicted solution accuracy, and participants unintentionally embodied this intensity by squeezing the dynamometer more tightly, which also predicted accuracy. The authors argue that the dynamometer captures both process and feeling simultaneously, measures Aha moments on a continuum, and shows that the feeling of Aha carries information about an idea's veracity. Findings are discussed in light of a theoretical account where feelings of insight act as a heuristic for selecting ideas from consciousness.
Cognition & Emotion
August 1, 2020
Birgit Koopmann-Holm, Jocelyn A. Sze, Thupten Jinpa et al.
An 8-week compassion meditation class led participants to write more optimistic letters to a convicted murderer compared to mindfulness meditation, an active control, or no class. This effect was partly explained by participants valuing positivity more. No significant differences were found for empathy, sympathy, or forgiveness expressed in the letters. The study suggests that compassion meditation may specifically boost optimism toward unrelatable targets.