Mind-Body Practices and the Self: Yoga and Meditation Do Not Quiet the Ego but Instead Boost Self-Enhancement.
Jochen E Gebauer, Andreas D Nehrlich, Dagmar Stahlberg, Constantine Sedikides, Anke Hackenschmidt, Doreen Schick, Clara A Stegmaier, Cara C Windfelder, Anna Bruk, Johannes Mander
Psychological Science June 22, 2018 DOI: 10.1177/0956797618764621 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Experimental longitudinal study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 255 |
| Population | Yoga students and meditators in Germany |
| Interventions | Yoga Meditation |
| Duration | Experiment 1: 15 weeks; Experiment 2: 4 weeks |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Humans Yoga Stress, psychological Emotions Adult Middle aged Germany Female Self-control Open data Self-enhancement Self-centrality |
| Key findings | Across two experiments, self-enhancement bias was higher after yoga and meditation practice than in control conditions, mediated by greater self-centrality. Greater self-enhancement bias also mediated the practices' well-being benefits. The authors argue that neither yoga nor meditation fully quiets the ego; instead, they boost self-enhancement. |
Abstract
Mind-body practices enjoy immense public and scientific interest. Yoga and meditation are highly popular. Purportedly, they foster well-being by curtailing self-enhancement bias. However, this "ego-quieting" effect contradicts an apparent psychological universal, the self-centrality principle. According to this principle, practicing any skill renders that skill self-central, and self-centrality breeds self-enhancement bias. We examined those opposing predictions in the first tests of mind-body practices' self-enhancement effects. In Experiment 1, we followed 93 yoga students over 15 weeks, assessing self-centrality and self-enhancement bias after yoga practice (yoga condition, n = 246) and without practice (control condition, n = 231). In Experiment 2, we followed 162 meditators over 4 weeks (meditation condition: n = 246; control condition: n = 245). Self-enhancement bias was higher in the yoga (Experiment 1) and meditation (Experiment 2) conditions, and those effects were mediated by greater self-centrality. Additionally, greater self-enhancement bias mediated mind-body practices' well-being benefits. Evidently, neither yoga nor meditation fully quiet the ego; to the contrary, they boost self-enhancement.
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 14
- From Self-Esteem to Selflessness: An Evidence (Gap) Map of Self-Related Processes as Mechanisms of Mindfulness-Based Interventions Frontiers in Psychology November 22, 2021
- Pattern Theory of Selflessness: How Meditation May Transform the Self-Pattern Mindfulness August 1, 2024
- Going beyond ourselves: the role of self-transcendent experiences in wisdom. Cognition & Emotion February 1, 2023
- What Mindfulness, and for Whom? And Why Might it Work? Mindfulness September 16, 2023
- Does Mindfulness Decrease or Increase Egoic Functioning? Diverging Evidence From Different Study Designs Mindfulness May 1, 2024
and 9 more in the library
Cites 3
- Mind the Hype: A Critical Evaluation and Prescriptive Agenda for Research on Mindfulness and Meditation Perspectives on Psychological Science October 10, 2017
- The psychological effects of meditation: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin May 14, 2012
- The meeting of meditative disciplines and western psychology: A mutually enriching dialogue. American Psychologist 2006