The Effects of Audio-Guided Mindful Meditation on Physical Aggression Perpetration: Is It Effective for Everyone?
Thomas J Shaw, Kaitlyn Westerhold, Allison Tobar-Santamaria, Lindsay Mongan, Dominic Parrott, Meagan J Brem
Violence and victims July 15, 2026 DOI: 10.1891/vv-2025-0024 (opens in new tab) via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractA brief, guided mindful meditation exercise reduced aggression among college students with high dispositional mindfulness but not among those with low dispositional mindfulness. One hundred two students completed a shock-based laboratory aggression task after being randomly assigned to either a 15-minute audio-guided meditation or a control condition. Participants with high dispositional mindfulness showed significantly less aggression in the meditation condition compared to the control condition (d = .64). Those with low dispositional mindfulness showed a non-significant increase in aggression in the meditation condition (d = .45). The findings suggest that baseline ability to nonjudgmentally observe the present moment influences whether a brief mindfulness intervention reduces aggression.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 102 |
| Population | College students (56.1% women; 78.9% White) |
| Intervention | audio-guided mindful meditation |
| Duration | One-time 15-minute session |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Taylor aggression paradigm College students Dispositional mindfulness |
| Key finding | Participants with high dispositional mindfulness displayed significantly less aggression after a brief guided meditation, while those with low dispositional mindfulness showed a non-significant increase in aggression. |
Abstract
We examined whether the effects of a brief, guided mindful meditation (MM) exercise on aggression perpetration differed based on an individual's baseline ability to nonjudgmentally observe the present moment (i.e., dispositional mindfulness). One hundred two college students (56.1% women; 78.9% White) completed the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) and were randomly assigned to either a one-time 15-minute audio-guided meditation, mindful condition, or control condition before completing a shock-based laboratory aggression paradigm involving provocation by an ostensible opponent. All participants were coded as having either high or low levels of dispositional mindfulness based on a mean split of their MAAS score. Results indicated that participants with high levels of dispositional mindfulness displayed significantly less aggression in the MM condition relative to the control condition (d = .64). In contrast, participants with low levels of dispositional mindfulness displayed more aggression in the mindful condition relative to the control condition (d = .45), although this effect was not statistically significant. These findings suggest that individuals' baseline ability to nonjudgmentally observe the present moment has important implications for determining who may and may not benefit from audio-guided MM as a brief intervention for aggression.