Does mindfulness meditation increase empathy? An experiment
Anna Ridderinkhof, E. D. de Bruin, E. Brummelman, Susan M. Bögels
January 2, 2017 DOI: 10.1080/15298868.2016.1269667 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Experimental study |
|---|---|
| Intervention | Mindfulness exercise |
| Duration | Five-minute exercise |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | A five-minute mindfulness exercise produced no improvement over relaxation or mind-wandering controls on mind reading, empathic responding, or prosocial behavior. Mindfulness effects were independent of autistic traits, but people higher in autistic traits showed increased prosocial behavior across conditions. Mindfulness improved mind reading in non-narcissistic people while reducing it in narcissistic people, leading the authors to question whether brief mindfulness is sufficient for building empathy. |
Abstract
Abstract Cultivating empathy is a presumed benefit of mindfulness, but this possibility has rarely been investigated experimentally. We examined whether a five-minute mindfulness exercise would cultivate empathy relative to two equally brief control exercises: relaxation and mind-wandering. We further examined whether mindfulness would be especially beneficial for people with autistic or narcissistic traits. Results showed no effect of mindfulness relative to both control conditions on mind reading, empathic responding, or prosocial behavior. Mindfulness effects were independent of autistic traits. Unexpectedly, people higher in autistic traits did show increased prosocial behavior across conditions. Intriguingly, mindfulness improved mind reading in non-narcissistic people, but reduced it in narcissistic people. These findings question whether a brief mindfulness exercise is sufficient for building empathy.
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 21
- Effects of Loving-Kindness Meditation on Doctors’ Mindfulness, Empathy, and Communication Skills International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health April 12, 2021
- Efficacy of mHealth aided 12-week meditation and breath intervention on change in burnout and professional quality of life among health care providers of a tertiary care hospital in north India: a randomized waitlist-controlled trial. Frontiers in Public Health 2023
- What Mindfulness, and for Whom? And Why Might it Work? Mindfulness September 16, 2023
- Believing in the Powers of Mindfulness: A Thematic Narrative Approach and the Development of a New Scale Mindfulness June 21, 2023
- Shared meditation involving cancer patients, health professionals and third persons is relevant and improves well-being: IMPLIC pilot study BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies May 18, 2022
and 16 more in the library
Cites 25
- The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 2003
- Mindfulness training as a clinical intervention: A conceptual and empirical review. Clinical Psychology Science and Practice 2003
- Mechanisms of mindfulness Journal of Clinical Psychology December 29, 2005
- Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Stress Management in Healthy People: A Review and Meta-Analysis The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine May 1, 2009
- Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression August 21, 2006
and 20 more in the library