Short-Term Training in Mindfulness Predicts Helping Behavior Toward Racial Ingroup and Outgroup Members
Daniel R. Berry, Catherine S. J. Wall, Justin D. Tubbs, Fadel Zeidan, Kirk Warren Brown
Social Psychological and Personality Science November 18, 2021 DOI: 10.1177/19485506211053095 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Interventions | Mindfulness training Sham meditation training |
| Duration | 4-day training |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Ingroups and outgroups Trait Mindfulness meditation Developmental psychology Clinical psychology |
| Citations | 29 |
| Key findings | Mindfulness training increased helping behavior toward racial outgroup members but did not reduce preferential helping of racial ingroup members. |
Abstract
A randomized controlled trial tested whether mindfulness training would increase lab-based and in vivo spontaneous helping behaviors toward racial outgroup members. First, across conditions, those scoring higher in baseline trait mindfulness showed higher levels of preintervention lab-based and ecological momentary assessment (EMA)-based helping behavior. Next, short-term (4-day) training in mindfulness, relative to a well-matched sham meditation training, increased interracial helping behavior in a lab-based simulation. Finally, among people scoring lower in a basic form of trait mindfulness at baseline—that is, with greater room for improvement—mindfulness training predicted higher postintervention in vivo helping behavior reported via EMA. However, neither training condition alone attenuated preferential helping toward racial ingroup members. These findings indicate, for the first time, that mindfulness and its training fosters helping behavior toward strangers and acquaintances regardless of their racial ingroup or outgroup status, but preferential helping of racial ingroup members remains.
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
Cited by 7
- Mindfulness training reduces slippery slope effects in moral decision-making and moral judgment Scientific Reports February 20, 2023
- Does Brief Mindfulness Instruction Improve Intergroup Attitudes in an Interethnic Dyadic Perspective-giving and Perspective-taking Interaction? Race and Social Problems January 30, 2026
- Contemplative Practice and Responses to Mortality Salience: Evidence from Long-Term Sufi Meditators Behavioral Sciences August 26, 2026
- Awakening to Death: How Long-Term Sufi Meditation Shapes Prosocial Responses to Mortality Salience Research Square November 19, 2025
- Meditation, Not Information? A Survey Experiment Probing the Effects of Meditation Practice on Affective Polarization and Pro-Environmentalism Mindfulness February 1, 2025
and 2 more in the library
Cites 8
- The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 2003
- How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective Perspectives on Psychological Science October 14, 2011
- Investigating the phenomenological matrix of mindfulness-related practices from a neurocognitive perspective. American Psychologist October 1, 2015
- Mindfulness Meditation Reduces Implicit Age and Race Bias Social Psychological and Personality Science November 24, 2014
- Mindfulness increases prosocial responses toward ostracized strangers through empathic concern. Journal of Experimental Psychology General 2018
and 3 more in the library