Contemplative Psychology: History, Key Assumptions, and Future Directions.
William van Gordon, Supakyada Sapthiang, Edo Shonin
Perspectives on Psychological Science 2022 DOI: 10.1177/1745691620984479 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Buddhist meditation Contemplation Contemplative psychology Emptiness Introspection Nonattachment Qigong Reflection Self-awareness Tai chi Transcendental meditation Yoga |
| Key points | Argues that contemplative psychology's disparate approach to investigating its core techniques and principles calls for a whole-discipline perspective to integrate its history, assumptions, and future directions. |
Abstract
Contemplative psychology is concerned with the psychological study of contemplative processes and practices, such as meditation, mindfulness, yoga, introspection, reflection, metacognition, self-regulation, self-awareness, and self-consciousness. Although contemplative psychology borders with other psychological and nonpsychological disciplines, some of its underlying assumptions distinguish it from other remits of psychological and scholarly inquiry, as do its component areas of empirical focus, conceptual nuances, and challenges. Furthermore, the discipline has tended to be somewhat disparate in its approach to investigating the core techniques and principles of which it is composed, resulting in a need for greater intradisciplinary and interdisciplinary awareness of the commonalities and differences of core contemplative psychology attributes. As a remedy to these issues, in this article, we adopt a whole-discipline perspective and aim to explicate contemplative psychology's history, breadth, key assumptions, challenges, and future directions.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. | 2004 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mechanisms of mindfulness | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective | 2011 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART): a framework for understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of mindfulness | 2012 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cited by 14
- Understanding the sense of self through robotics. Science robotics October 30, 2024
- Do contemplative practices make us more moral? Trends in Cognitive Sciences October 1, 2023
- Enhancing Traumatic Stress Recovery Through Nonattachment Principles: A Scoping Review Journal of Personalized Medicine December 9, 2025
- Nature-Based Contemplation for Spiritual Well-Being: A Pilot Study Exploring Acceptability and Potential Benefits Mindfulness October 13, 2025
- Integrating visible thinking and contemplative learning to foster reflective practice in pre-service teacher education Discover Education September 11, 2026
and 9 more in the library
Cites 13
- Mind the Hype: A Critical Evaluation and Prescriptive Agenda for Research on Mindfulness and Meditation Perspectives on Psychological Science October 10, 2017
- A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Yoga and Mindfulness Meditation in Prison International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology August 28, 2015
- Defining Contemplative Science: The Metacognitive Self-Regulatory Capacity of the Mind, Context of Meditation Practice and Modes of Existential Awareness Frontiers in Psychology November 17, 2016
- A phenomenology of meditation-induced light experiences: traditional buddhist and neurobiological perspectives Frontiers in Psychology 2014
- Exploring Emptiness and its Effects on Non-attachment, Mystical Experiences, and Psycho-spiritual Wellbeing: A Quantitative and Qualitative Study of Advanced Meditators. Explore 2019
and 8 more in the library