Reactions of transcendental meditators and nonmeditators to stress films. A cognitive study.
N Kanas, M J Horowitz
Archives of General Psychiatry December 1977 DOI: 10.1001/archpsyc.1977.01770240057004 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Experimental study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 60 |
| Population | Meditators and nonmeditators, including a group who had signed up to be initiated into Transcendental Meditation |
| Intervention | Transcendental Meditation |
| Key findings | Meditators did not show less stress response to stress films than nonmeditators. Subjects who had signed up for TM initiation rated themselves as significantly more stressed and emotionally distressed than controls or meditators on several self-rating scales. Meditators who meditated during the experiment showed a trend toward less stress response than those told not to meditate, significant on only one subjective stress measure. |
Abstract
To experimentally test the claimed stress-reducing effects of Transcendental Meditation (TM), two stress films were shown to a group of 60 meditators and nonmeditators. Stress response was observed through the use of cognitive and affective measures employing content analysis techniques and self-ratings. The meditators did not show less stress response than the nonmeditators. On several self-rating scales, a group of subjects who had signed up to be initiated into TM rated themselves significantly more stressed and emotionally distressed than either a control group or meditators. There was a trend for meditators who meditated during the experiment to show less stress response to the films than meditators who were told not to meditate; however, this difference was significant on only one measure, a subjective stress scale.
Citations in the library
Cited by 3
- Cognitive and Emotional Differences between Short- and Long-Term Vipassana Meditators Imagination, Cognition and Personality September 1, 1998
- Overview: clinical and physiological comparison of meditation with other self-control strategies. American Journal of Psychiatry March 1982
- Transcendental meditation and progressive relaxation: Their psychological effects Journal of Clinical Psychology October 1, 1981
Cites 4
- Physiological Effects of Transcendental Meditation Science March 27, 1970
- MYSTICAL STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease June 1, 1972
- Autonomic Stability and Transcendental Meditation Psychosomatic Medicine July 1, 1973
- A critique of Gellhorn and Kiely's mystical states of consciousness. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease September 1, 1974