Does your mindfulness benefit others? A systematic review and meta‐analysis of the link between mindfulness and prosocial behaviour

Abstract

Mindfulness-based meditation practices have received substantial scientific attention in recent years. Mindfulness has been shown to bring many psychological benefits to the individual, but much less is known about whether these benefits extend to others. This meta-analysis reviewed the link between mindfulness - as both a personality variable and an intervention - and prosocial behaviour. A literature search produced 31 eligible studies (N = 17,241) and 73 effect sizes. Meta-analyses were conducted using mixed-effects structural equation models to examine pooled effects and potential moderators of these effects. We found a positive pooled effect between mindfulness and prosocial behaviour for both correlational (d = .73 CI 95% [0.51 to 0.96]) and intervention studies (d = .51 CI 95% [0.37 to 0.66]). For the latter, medium-sized effects were obtained across varying meditation types and intensities, and across gender and age categories. Preliminary evidence is presented regarding potential mediators of these effects. Although we found that mindfulness is positively related to prosociality, further research is needed to examine the mediators of this link and the contexts in which it is most pronounced.

Ein achtsamer Blick auf den Achtsamkeits-Hype

“…Neben dem Gesundheitsbereich wird Achtsamkeit insbesondere im zwischenmenschlichen Kontext weithin als nützlich verstanden. Erst kürzlich erschien eine Meta-Analyse, die über 13 Studien hinweg einen positiven Effekt von Achtsamkeitsinterventionen auf prosoziale Reaktionen zeigt (Donald et al 2019). Die geringe Zahl an eingeflossenen Studien zeigt allerdings, dass dieser Forschungsbereich noch in den Kinderschuhen steckt (Creswell 2017).…”

“…Anstatt darüber zu diskutieren, ob es nun einen prosozialen Effekt von Achtsamkeit gibt oder nicht, sollte zunächst die theoretische Ebene im Fokus stehen: Warum sollte erhöhtes prosoziales Verhalten nach einer Achtsamkeitsübung überhaupt auftreten? Donald et al (2019) führen mehrere mögliche Erklärungen an: Davon bezieht sich eine auf generell erhöhte Aufmerksamkeit und eine andere auf erhöhtes Mitgefühl. Beide Erklärungen führen je nach Situation zu verschiedenen Vorhersagen.…”

A study protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial on mindfulness-based stress reduction: Studying effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction and an additional organisational health intervention on mental health and work-related perceptions of teachers in Dutch secondary vocational schools

“…suggested that small doses of mindfulness training (half-day training) are sufficient to increase job productivity, but that larger doses (six-week training) are needed to improve attentional focus at work, job satisfaction, and work-life balance. The systematic review by Donald et al [30] found a positive relationship between mindfulness (both operationalised as a personality variable and as an intervention) and prosocial behaviour.…”

How does mindfulness training improve moral cognition: A theoretical and experimental framework for the study of embodied ethics

“…Several researchers and Buddhist scholars, however, have underlined the joint nature of mindfulness and ethics; and mindfulness meditation's potential role in enhancing wholesome behaviors [39,40]. In line with these assertions, investigations into the relationship between mindfulness and ethics have successfully demonstrated mindfulness training dependent improvements in moral reasoning ability [41,42], prosociality [43,44], as well as an association between trait levels of mindfulness and ethical decision making [45]. Improvements in prosociality have also been documented following other contemplative tradition based interventions such as compassion training [46,47].…”