The case for mindfulness‐based approaches in the cultivation of empathy: Does nonjudgmental, present‐moment awareness increase capacity for perspective‐taking and empathic concern?

Block-Lerner, Jennifer; Adair, Carrie; Plumb, Jennifer C.; Rhatigan, Deborah L.; Orsillo, Susan M.

doi:10.1111/j.1752-0606.2007.00034.x

Cited by 240 publications

(209 citation statements)

References 87 publications

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“…Our study does not corroborate the theorized beneficial effect of mindfulness on empathy (e.g., Block-Lerner et al, 2007), and it contrasts with previous research showing that a short mindfulness exercise can enhance mind reading and empathic responding (Tan et al, 2014). What may explain our finding that mindfulness did not raise empathy overall?…”

Section: Theoretical Implicationscontrasting

confidence: 57%

“…Moreover, mindful awareness of one's own emotions leads to a better understanding of emotional processes in general. Such understanding helps people understand the emotions of others (Block-Lerner et al, 2007;Salzberg, 2011). For example, when people witness another person being socially rejected, being mindfully aware helps them understand their own worry, anger, and disgust in there here-and-now, and prevents them from getting caught up in these emotions.…”

Section: How Does Mindfulness Enhance Empathy?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When people become nonjudgmentally aware of the present moment, they shift their attention from being immersed in their thoughts and feelings and viewing them as fixed parts of the self, to dis-identifying with their thoughts and feelings and viewing them from a distance as floating states of the mind (i.e., decentering; Shapiro, Carlson, Astin, & Freedman, 2006;Teasdale et al, 2002). When people perceive their own thoughts and feelings as floating states of mind, they are less likely to be caught up in them, which helps them become more broadly aware of the present moment, including the possible mental states of others (Block-Lerner et al, 2007). Moreover, mindful awareness of one's own emotions leads to a better understanding of emotional processes in general.…”

Section: How Does Mindfulness Enhance Empathy?mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Does mindfulness meditation increase empathy? An experiment

et al. 2017

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Section: Theoretical Implicationscontrasting

confidence: 57%

Section: How Does Mindfulness Enhance Empathy?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: How Does Mindfulness Enhance Empathy?mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Does mindfulness meditation increase empathy? An experiment

et al. 2017

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“…Mindfulness-based interventions, including Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (Kabat-Zinn 1990), Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT; Segal, Williams, and Teasdale 2002), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT; Linehan 1993a), and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT; Hayes, Strosahl, and Wilson 1999), have demonstrated some effectiveness in improving coping with chronic pain (Chiesa and Serretti 2011b); reducing symptoms of depression (Brown et al 2007;Chiesa and Serretti 2011a;Keng et al 2011) and major depressive episode relapses (Chiesa and Serretti 2011a;Keng et al 2011); anxiety including panic and agoraphobia, OCD, and PTSD (Keng et al 2011;Roemer and Orsillo 2009); and BPD, including inpatient hospitalization, self-injurious behavior, and suicidal ideation (Keng et al 2011;Rizvi, Steffel, and Carson-Wong 2013). Mindfulness assists in the development of the ability to regulate emotions (Arch and Craske 2006;Coffey, Hartman, and Fredrickson 2010;Farb et al 2010), tolerate distress (Coffey et al 2010), and handle interpersonal situations effectively (Block-Lerner, Adair, Plumb, Rhatigan, and Orsillo 2007;Wachs and Cordova 2007), improving mental health in cognitive, affective, and behavioral spheres (Brown et al 2007;Roemer and Orsillo 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Staying Present: Incorporating Mindfulness into Therapy for Dissociation

Zerubavel

Messman-Moore

2013

Mindfulness

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Dissociation involves retreating from the experience of the present moment through various processes, while mindfulness cultivates the ability to stay in the present moment. We argue that mindfulness is thus uniquely well suited for treatment of dissociation. This paper delineates the theoretical relationship between mindfulness and dissociation, discussing how incorporating mindfulness into psychotherapy can improve outcomes for dissociative clients. Mindfulness can provide clients with specific techniques for enhancing prediction of and control over dissociation through building awareness of dissociative processes and offering a tool for staying in the present moment. Mindfulness reduces reliance on avoidance, which in turn diminishes the need for dissociation. In addition, taking the position of the observer, which is a key feature of mindfulness, is itself a capability associated with dissociation. We discuss the application of mindfulness to three types of dissociative processes: detachment (e.g., depersonalization, derealization), absorption (e.g., daydreaming, "blanking out"), and compartmentalization (e.g., amnesia, conversion symptoms). Three mechanisms underlying the effectiveness of integrating mindfulness into treatment of dissociation are proposed: (1) the techniques of mindfulness (e.g., observing, staying present), (2) the metacognitions of mindfulness (e.g., acceptance, nonjudgment), and (3) the emergent processes of mindfulness (e.g., reperceiving, dialectical thinking). Challenges to implementation of mindfulness with dissociative clients are also explored. Information and recommendations are provided to guide applications to intervention.

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“…Block-Lerner, Adair, Plumb, Rhatigan, & Orsillo (2007) suggest that mindfulness increases empathic concern, which is other oriented feelings of sympathy or concern, and is closely linked with perspective taking-the cognitive ability to take on the psychological perspective of another person. They argue that the two are closely correlated and that increases in empathic concern are likely to also signal increases in perspective taking.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mindfulness Reduces the Correspondence Bias

Hopthrow

Hooper

Mahmood

et al. 2017

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology

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This is the accepted version of the paper.This version of the publication may differ from the final published version. Permanent repository link:http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/16691/ Link to published version: http://dx.doi.org/10. 1080/17470218.2016.1149498 Copyright and reuse: City Research Online aims to make research outputs of City, University of London available to a wider audience. Copyright and Moral Rights remain with the author(s) and/or copyright holders. URLs from City Research Online may be freely distributed and linked to. University of Witten/Herdecke, GermanyThe corresponding author is Dr Tim Hopthrow t.hopthrow@kent.ac.uk 2 AbstractThe Correspondence Bias (CB) refers to the idea that people sometimes give undue weight to dispositional rather than situational factors when explaining behaviors and attitudes. Three experiments examined whether mindfulness, a non-judgmental focus on the present moment, could reduce the CB. Participants engaged in a brief mindfulness exercise (the raisin task), a control task or an attention to detail task before completing a typical CB measure involving an attitude-attribution paradigm. The results indicated that participants in the mindfulness condition experienced a significant reduction in the CB compared to participants in the control or attention to detail conditions. These results suggest that mindfulness training can play a unique role in reducing social biases related to person perception. Keywords: Correspondence Bias, Mindfulness, Fundamental Attribution Error 3 MINDFULNESS REDUCES THE CORRESPONDENCE BIASIndividuals sometimes overlook the constraints of the situation and attend to dispositional attributes when judging the cause of others' behavior, a tendency known as the correspondence bias (CB; Haney & Zimbardo, 2009;Gawronski, 2004;Gilbert & Malone, 1995;Ross, 1977). In short, people have a tendency to think others are how they act. For example, when a person steps in front of us while we are walking, we might initially think he/she is "rude" rather than "rushing to the hospital". This error can have important consequences, as perceivers are more likely to react negatively toward people whom they directly blame for their actions (Alicke, 2000).Jones and Harris (1967) used an attitude attribution paradigm in one of the first studies to examine the CB. They wrote two speeches, one speech that was 'pro' Fidel Castro, and a second speech that was 'anti' Fidel Castro. Participants were informed they that were required to read one of the two speeches, and that the speeches had been written by fellow students. Subsequently, participants were required to rate the speechwriter's attitude toward Castro. Unsurprisingly, the researchers found that participants' rating of the speechwriter's attitude toward Castro corresponded to the speech position (pro or anti). Importantly, this occurred even when the participant was informed that a debate coach had chosen the position that the speechwriter wrote from. In other words, participants tended to overlook the situatio...

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The case for mindfulness‐based approaches in the cultivation of empathy: Does nonjudgmental, present‐moment awareness increase capacity for perspective‐taking and empathic concern?

Cited by 240 publications

References 87 publications

Does mindfulness meditation increase empathy? An experiment

Does mindfulness meditation increase empathy? An experiment

Staying Present: Incorporating Mindfulness into Therapy for Dissociation

Mindfulness Reduces the Correspondence Bias

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