Motivation for Meditation and its Association with Meditation Practice in a National Sample of Internet Users.
Zishan Jiwani, Sin U Lam, J Davidson Richard, Simon B Goldberg
Mindfulness September 20, 2022 DOI: 10.1007/s12671-022-01985-6 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 470 |
| Population | U.S. internet users recruited nationally; 470 with meditation exposure |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Mental health Motivation National survey |
| Key findings | Mental health or stress relief was the most common initial motivation for meditation (74.2%), and current meditators reported more motivations than they started with (1.60 to 2.11, Cohen's d = 0.45). More motivations were positively associated with practice, while initial mental health motivation was negatively associated and spiritual motivation positively associated with current and lifetime practice. |
Abstract
Objectives: There is limited understanding of what motivates people to initiate and sustain a meditation practice. This study investigates initial and current motivations for meditation, demographic variability in motivations, and associations with ongoing and lifetime meditation practice.
Methods: A national sample of internet users were recruited to examine initial and current motivations for meditation practice.
Results: 953 participants completed initial screening and 470 (49.3%) reported exposure to meditation practice. 434 (92.3%) completed a follow-up assessment. Participants most frequently reported mental health/stress alleviation as an initial motivation (n = 322, 74.2%) followed by spiritual (n = 122, 28.1%), physical health (n = 69, 15.9%), awakening/enlightenment (n = 64, 14.7%), cultural (n = 51, 11.8%) and other (n = 33, 7.6%). Participants reported a mean of 1.52 (SD = 0.83) initial motivations. Among those currently meditating, a significant increase in the number of motivations was found between initial and current motivations (1.60 [SD = 0.89] and 2.11 [SD = 1.16]), for initial and current motivations, respectively, Cohen's d = 0.45). The number of motivations was positively associated with meditation practice. Initial mental health motivation was found to be negatively associated with current and lifetime meditation practice, whereas spiritual motivation was found to be positively associated.
Conclusions: While meditation started as a tool for spiritual attainment, findings suggest that it is predominantly used in the U.S. for mental health support and to manage stress. Findings suggest that both type and number of motivations may relate to the course of practice.
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Using Self-Report Assessment Methods to Explore Facets of Mindfulness Undergraduate students | 2006 | Observational cohort | |
| Effectiveness of a meditation-based stress reduction program in the treatment of anxiety disorders Patients with generalized anxiety disorder or panic disorder with or without agoraphobia | 1992 | Observational cohort | n = 22 |
| Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness Participants with extensive Insight meditation experience and matched controls | 2005 | Observational cohort | n = 20 |
| Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity Experienced meditators and matched meditation-naive controls | 2011 | Observational cohort | |
| Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice Long-term Buddhist practitioners and controls | 2004 | Observational cohort |