Powered by compassion: The effect of loving-kindness meditation on entrepreneurs' sustainable decision-making
Yuval Engel, A. Ramesh, N. Steiner
Journal of Business Venturing November 1, 2020 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusvent.2019.105986 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Experimental study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Entrepreneurs |
| Intervention | Loving-Kindness Meditation |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | Brief Loving-Kindness Meditation increased compassion among entrepreneurs, which in turn predicted higher sustainable decision-making. |
Abstract
Abstract As environmental degradation and climate change continue to threaten our livelihood, entrepreneurs have a crucial role to play in promoting environmental regeneration and infusing their ventures with sustainable decision-making. Building on advances in research on social and sustainable entrepreneurship, we propose that compassion is an important predictor of entrepreneurial decisions involving an ethical balancing act between concerns for environmental and economic sustainability. We further draw on emerging evidence in psychology, pointing to meditative practice as a powerful and accessible source of compassion. In two experimental studies, we test and find support for a mediation model predicting that, compared to an active control group, entrepreneurs engaging in a brief Loving-Kindness Meditation report an increase in compassion and, in turn, higher sustainable decision-making. On the basis of these findings, we offer contributions to research on the psychological drivers of sustainable entrepreneurship and to the literature about meditation and compassion in entrepreneurship.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Cancer patients (clinical intervention study) | 2003 | Mixed methods: scale development, correlational, quasi-experimental, laboratory, experience-sampling, and clinical intervention study | |
| Loving-kindness meditation increases social connectedness. | 2008 | Controlled laboratory experiment | |
| Mindfulness and mind-wandering: Finding convergence through opposing constructs. | 2012 | Two studies: correlational study and experimental study | |
| Mental Training Enhances Attentional Stability: Neural and Behavioral Evidence | 2009 | Experimental study | |
| Mindfulness meditation and substance use in an incarcerated population. Incarcerated population | 2006 | Quasi-experimental with treatment-as-usual control condition |
Citations in the library
Cited by 6
- The positive impact of mindfulness interventions on the explicit and implicit affective attitudes toward vegetarian foods Frontiers in Psychology October 4, 2023
- Breath, Love, Walk? The Impact of Mindfulness Interventions on Climate Policy Support and Environmental Attitudes Sustainability July 3, 2023
- Contemplative pathways to personal sustainability transformations: technique and practice of loving kindness Sustainability Science September 8, 2026
- Effects of loving-kindness meditation on prosocial behavior: empirical and meta-analytic evidence Journal of Social Marketing May 7, 2024
- Revisiting The Contemplative Life in The Contemporary Era Jurnal Filsafat Indonesia April 30, 2024
and 1 more in the library
Cites 16
- Open hearts build lives: Positive emotions, induced through loving-kindness meditation, build consequential personal resources. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology October 27, 2008
- Contemplating Mindfulness at Work Journal of Management November 19, 2015
- Neural correlates of attentional expertise in long-term meditation practitioners Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences June 28, 2007
- Loving-kindness and compassion meditation: potential for psychological interventions. Clinical Psychology Review July 26, 2011
- The psychological effects of meditation: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin May 14, 2012
and 11 more in the library