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Sacred vs. Secular Mindfulness Meditation: The Influence of Presentation Priming on Therapeutic Effectiveness

Shelley R. Upton, Tyler L. Renshaw, Amanda Morice

July 31, 2021 preprint DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/q4987 (opens in new tab)

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Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Randomized controlled trial
Population College students
Intervention Mindfulness meditation
Topics Anxiety Meditation
Keywords Clinical psychology Psychotherapist Intervention counseling Affect linguistics Differential effects
Key findings Secular-primed mindfulness was significantly more effective than sacred-primed mindfulness for increasing happiness.

Abstract

Mindfulness is a traditional, sacred Buddhist practice that has entered the mainstream of applied psychology and become secularized. This study examined the differential influence of the presentation priming of mindfulness meditation—as either a “sacred Buddhist practice” (sacred condition) or a “scientifically proven tool” (secular condition)—on its therapeutic effectiveness in a general sample of college students. We hypothesized that participants in both mindfulness conditions would demonstrate better therapeutic outcomes (i.e., decreased psychological distress and increased subjective wellbeing) compared to those in a passive control condition. We also hypothesized that participants in the secular-primed mindfulness condition would demonstrate superior therapeutic outcomes compared to those in the sacred-primed mindfulness condition. ANCOVA were run using outcome pretest scores as the covariates and outcome posttest scores as the dependent variables. Results indicated a main effect of condition on depression, anxiety, stress, negative affect, positive affect, happiness, and optimism—suggesting that both mindfulness conditions were therapeutically effective compared to the control condition. Follow-up pairwise comparisons showed that the secular-primed intervention was significantly more effective than the sacred-primed intervention for increasing happiness—suggesting differential therapeutic effectiveness as a function of priming. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Comparable studies

Other randomized controlled trials on meditation, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
Alterations in Brain and Immune Function Produced by Mindfulness Meditation Healthy employees in a work environment 2003 Randomized controlled trial n = 41
Prevention of relapse/recurrence in major depression by mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. Recovered recurrently depressed patients 2000 Randomized controlled trial n = 145
Open hearts build lives: Positive emotions, induced through loving-kindness meditation, build consequential personal resources. Working adults 2008 Randomized controlled trial n = 139
Short-term meditation training improves attention and self-regulation Undergraduate Chinese students 2007 Randomized controlled trial n = 40
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression: Replication and Exploration of Differential Relapse Prevention Effects. Recovered recurrently depressed patients 2004 Randomized controlled trial n = 73

Citations in the library

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Anxiety Meditation Addiction Buddhism Depression