Is Self-Centered a Refutation of the Ego-Quieting Hypothesis in Contemplative Practices?
Lorena Arahuete, Daniel Pinazo
Social Psychology May 1, 2024 DOI: 10.1027/1864-9335/a000550 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Experimental study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 800 |
| Population | Human participants |
| Intervention | meditation |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Citations | 2 |
| Key findings | Meditation quiets the ego, or tends to do so, when attention is focused on a self threatened by a thought-based context. |
Abstract
Abstract: The self-centrality principle holds that contemplative practices activate self-salience, encouraging moral self-enhancement, rather than the expected effect of acceptance hypothesized by the ego-quieting principle ( Gebauer et al., 2018 ). However, meditation may favor ego-quieting by inhibiting the disposition to judge and/or react to defend more equanimously a self that feels threatened ( Brown et al., 2007 ). In this study, we propose that meditation helps to reduce behaviors based on self-interest by limiting the defensive sense of the ego when the self is salient. We carry out three experimental studies to test this proposal. The first one tests the effect of meditation on a salient self with a proximal threat to their physical survival ( N = 400). The second study tests the effect of meditation in the case of distal defensiveness in a salient self whose physical survival is threatened ( N = 200). The third study evaluates the effect of proximal defensiveness when the integrity of the self-concept of the salient self is threatened ( N = 200). Our results provide evidence that practicing meditation quiets the ego, or tends to do so, when attention is focused on a self-threatened by a context based on a thought.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Cancer patients (clinical intervention study) | 2003 | Mixed methods: scale development, correlational, quasi-experimental, laboratory, experience-sampling, and clinical intervention study | |
| Loving-kindness meditation increases social connectedness. | 2008 | Controlled laboratory experiment | |
| Mindfulness and mind-wandering: Finding convergence through opposing constructs. | 2012 | Two studies: correlational study and experimental study | |
| Mental Training Enhances Attentional Stability: Neural and Behavioral Evidence | 2009 | Experimental study | |
| Mindfulness meditation and substance use in an incarcerated population. Incarcerated population | 2006 | Quasi-experimental with treatment-as-usual control condition |
Citations in the library
Cites 8
- The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 2003
- Mindfulness: Theoretical Foundations and Evidence for its Salutary Effects Psychological Inquiry October 19, 2007
- The meeting of meditative disciplines and western psychology: A mutually enriching dialogue. American Psychologist 2006
- A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of the Effects of Meditation on Empathy, Compassion, and Prosocial Behaviors. Mindfulness June 1, 2018
- Reducing defensive responses to thoughts of death: Meditation, mindfulness, and Buddhism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology August 24, 2017
and 3 more in the library