Brief loving-kindness meditation reduces racial bias, mediated by positive other-regarding emotions

A short-term loving-kindness meditation (LKM) induction reduced implicit racial prejudice toward the targeted racial group but not toward an untargeted group. The reduction was mediated by other-regarding positive emotions, increased controlled processing, and decreased automatic processing on the Implicit Association Test. Non-other-regarding positive emotions showed no correlation with bias. The findings suggest that positive emotions functionally differentiate in their effects on bias, and that LKM can reduce prejudice even when it increases a broad range of positive emotions.

Study at a glance

Abstract

AbstractThe relationship between positive emotions and implicit racial prejudice is unclear. Interventions using positive emotions to reduce racial bias have been found wanting, while other research shows that positive affect can sometimes exacerbate implicit prejudice. Nevertheless, loving-kindness meditation (LKM) has shown some promise as a method of reducing bias despite increasing a broad range of positive emotions. A randomised control trial (n = 69) showed that a short-term induction of LKM decreased automatic processing, increased controlled processing, and was sufficient to reduce implicit prejudice towards the target’s racial group but not towards a group untargeted by the meditation. Furthermore, the reduction in bias was shown to be mediated by other-regarding positive emotions alongside increased control and decreased automaticity on the IAT. Non-other-regarding positive emotions conversely showed no correlation with bias. The study is the first to show that a short-term positive emotional induction can reduce racial prejudice, and aids the understanding of how positive emotions functionally differentiate in affecting bias.