Effect of Transcendental Meditation versus resting on physiological and subjective arousal.
D S Holmes, S Solomon, B M Cappo, J L Greenberg
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology June 1983 DOI: 10.1037//0022-3514.44.6.1245 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Controlled experimental comparison Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 20 |
| Population | 10 highly trained and experienced meditators and 10 subjects with no training or experience with meditation |
| Intervention | Meditation |
| Duration | Four successive days, with 5 minutes relaxation, 20 minutes meditation or rest, and 5 minutes relaxation each day |
| Measures | Heart rate, skin resistance, respiration rate, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, subjective cognitive arousal, subjective somatic arousal, subjective relaxation |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | Meditators tended to have higher heart rates and diastolic blood pressure than nonmeditators before meditating or resting. Meditation was associated with generally reduced arousal, but while meditating, meditators did not show lower arousal than nonmeditators did while resting. The authors state that these controlled results place qualifications on previously reported findings. |
Abstract
On four successive days, 10 highly trained and experienced meditators were asked to relax for 5 minutes, meditate for 20 minutes, and then relax for 5 minutes. In contrast, 10 other subjects who had no training or experience with meditation were asked to relax for 5 minutes, rest for 20 minutes, and then relax for 5 minutes. Physiological arousal (heart rate, skin resistance, respiration rate, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure) and subjective arousal (cognitive, somatic, relaxation) were measured throughout the experiment. Results indicated that (a) prior to meditating or resting, meditators tended to have higher heart rates and diastolic blood pressure than did nonmeditators, (b) meditation was associated with generally reduced arousal, but (c) while meditating, meditators did not evidence lower levels of arousal than nonmeditators did while resting. This investigation employed controls, which were not used in previous investigations, and the results place qualifications on previously reported results. The results have implications for the study of personality functioning, stress management, and psychotherapy.
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 5
- Mind the Hype: A Critical Evaluation and Prescriptive Agenda for Research on Mindfulness and Meditation Perspectives on Psychological Science October 10, 2017
- Short-term autonomic and cardiovascular effects of mindfulness body scan meditation Annals of Behavioral Medicine November 15, 2006
- A Viable Model and Self-Report Measure of Spiritual Intelligence International Journal of Transpersonal Studies 2009
- Yoga and meditation for nontraditional populations Carolina Digital Repository August 13, 2019
- Recovery from stress: an experimental examination of focused attention meditation in novices. Journal of Behavioral Medicine May 30, 2018
Cites 8
- Meditation as an intervention in stress reactivity. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 1976
- The Physiology of Meditation and Mystical States of Consciousness Perspectives in biology and medicine March 1, 1976
- Evaluation of Transcendental Meditation as a Method of Reducing Stress Science June 18, 1976
- Sleep During Transcendental Meditation Science January 23, 1976
- Sleep during Transcendental Meditation Perceptual and Motor Skills June 1, 1975
and 3 more in the library