Department of Psychology, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA, USA.
Department of Psychology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
Cogn Emot. 2020 Aug;34(5):1028-1035. doi: 10.1080/02699931.2019.1703648. Epub 2019 Dec 19.
Past research reveals important connections between meditative practices and compassion. Most studies, however, focus on the effects of one type of meditation (vs. a no-intervention control) on a single expression of compassion (e.g. offering a seat) towards a relatable target (e.g. a person on crutches), without exploring possible mechanisms. Hence, few studies include different types of meditation, active controls, multiple ways to express compassion, unrelatable targets, and potential mediators. To this end, the present study compared the effects of mindfulness meditation with those of compassion meditation on different expressions of compassion towards a convicted murderer. Seventy-four participants were randomly assigned to a mindfulness meditation, compassion meditation, or active control class, or a no-class control. After an 8-week programme, we assessed compassion by giving participants the option of fulfilling a murderer's request that they write him and then coding those letters for empathy, sympathy, forgiveness, and optimism. Participants in the compassion meditation class wrote more optimistic letters compared to participants in the other three conditions, in part because they valued positivity more. No statistically significant differences emerged for the other expressions of compassion. We discuss the implications of these findings for our understanding of how meditation increases compassion towards unrelatable targets.
过去的研究揭示了冥想练习和同情心之间的重要联系。然而，大多数研究都集中在一种冥想（与无干预对照组相比）对单一同情心表达（例如为可共情的目标[例如，拄拐杖的人]让座）的影响上，而没有探索可能的机制。因此，很少有研究包括不同类型的冥想、积极对照、表达同情心的多种方式、不可共情的目标和潜在的中介因素。为此，本研究比较了正念冥想和慈悲冥想对不同表达方式的同情心的影响，对象是一名被判有罪的杀人犯。74 名参与者被随机分配到正念冥想、慈悲冥想或积极对照组或无对照组。在 8 周的方案后，我们通过让参与者选择满足杀人犯的要求，即给他写信，并对这些信件进行同理心、同情心、原谅和乐观的编码，来评估同情心。与其他三种条件相比，慈悲冥想组的参与者写的信更乐观，部分原因是他们更重视积极性。在其他表达同情心的方式上没有出现统计学上的显著差异。我们讨论了这些发现对我们理解冥想如何增加对不可共情的目标的同情心的影响。
