Mindfulness Meditation Reduces Implicit Age and Race Bias

Listening to a brief mindfulness meditation audio increased state mindfulness and reduced implicit bias against older people and Black people, as measured by implicit association tests. The reduction in bias occurred because the meditation weakened automatically activated associations, not because it increased deliberate control. The findings suggest that even short mindfulness exercises can lessen automatic prejudices.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Research has shown that mindfulness can positively affect peoples’ lives in a number of ways, including relying less on previously established associations. We focused on the impact of mindfulness on implicit age and racial bias as measured by implicit association tests (IATs). Participants listened to either a mindfulness or a control audio and then completed the race and age IATs. Mindfulness meditation caused an increase in state mindfulness and a decrease in implicit race and age bias. Analyses using the Quad Model showed that this reduction was due to weaker automatically activated associations on the IATs.