Meditation, Personality, and Workplace Stress
Andrew J. Waters, Linda Shanock
UNC Charlotte Undergraduate Research Journal October 18, 2022 DOI: 10.55370/urj.v2i1.1424 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 40 |
| Population | Employees in the workplace |
| Intervention | Meditation |
| Duration | Two weeks |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | Meditation frequency significantly reduced stress, but conscientiousness and neuroticism did not significantly influence participants' perceptual change in stress. The authors suggest that frequency of practice matters and that organizations may benefit from allowing employee choice in meditation frequency and style. |
Abstract
The prevalence of stress occurs across various levels of the workplace can affect employees at any level of an organization. This study explored the role of meditation frequency on stress reduction in the workplace. Previous research emphasizes the role of personality traits in perceiving stressful situations (Childs et al., 2014), and this study investigated if conscientiousness and neuroticism personality traits helped to limit or enhance stress reduction. A sample of 40 participants was given the choice of both how frequently they choose to meditate and what style of meditation they chose to practice over two weeks. Results showed that meditation frequency had a significant impact on stress reduction. Additionally, the role of personality traits did not provide a significant impact on the participant's perceptual change in stress. The findings suggest that the frequency of meditation practice matters, and, in practical terms, future organizational policies may promote employee choice on meditation frequency and style.
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Using Self-Report Assessment Methods to Explore Facets of Mindfulness Undergraduate students | 2006 | Observational cohort | |
| Effectiveness of a meditation-based stress reduction program in the treatment of anxiety disorders Patients with generalized anxiety disorder or panic disorder with or without agoraphobia | 1992 | Observational cohort | n = 22 |
| Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness Participants with extensive Insight meditation experience and matched controls | 2005 | Observational cohort | n = 20 |
| Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity Experienced meditators and matched meditation-naive controls | 2011 | Observational cohort | |
| Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice Long-term Buddhist practitioners and controls | 2004 | Observational cohort |
Citations in the library
Cites 8
- Mindfulness Meditation and Psychopathology Annual Review of Clinical Psychology December 11, 2018
- Focused attention, open monitoring and loving kindness meditation: effects on attention, conflict monitoring, and creativity – A review Frontiers in Psychology September 23, 2014
- A Workplace Mindfulness Intervention May Be Associated With Improved Psychological Well-Being and Productivity. A Preliminary Field Study in a Company Setting Frontiers in Psychology February 28, 2018
- What Is Meditation? Proposing an Empirically Derived Classification System Frontiers in Psychology October 15, 2019
- Mindfulness training reduces loneliness and increases social contact in a randomized controlled trial Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences February 11, 2019
and 3 more in the library