From Hostility to Understanding: Can a Brief Loving-Kindness Meditation Amplify Affective Empathy and Attenuate Hostile Attributions Toward Norm-Violating Social Behavior?
Moritz-Maximilian Harbig, Heidi Mauersberger
Open MIND June 25, 2026 DOI: 10.17605/osf.io/qxbck (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Randomized mixed design (between: intervention condition; within: situational context), online experiment Preregistered Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 200 |
| Population | Adult participants recruited for an online experiment |
| Intervention | Loving-Kindness Meditation |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | Loving-Kindness Meditation, compared to breath-focus control, increases affective empathy and reduces hostile attribution bias toward persons in ambiguous norm-violating situations, suggesting a brief intervention can alter social-cognitive responses. |
Abstract
This preregistered online experiment (n ≈ 200) investigates whether a brief Loving-Kindness Meditation (LKM), compared to an active breath-focus control condition, increases affective empathy and reduces hostile attribution bias (HAB) toward persons depicted in ambiguous norm-violating social situations. Stimulus materials consist of 12 vignettes paired with standardized Anger-Sadness morph faces. The study employs a randomized mixed design (between: intervention condition; within: situational context) and constitutes a conceptual extension of Mauersberger et al. (2025).