Meditation

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Scientific Evidence / Studies

A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of the Effects of Meditation on Empathy, Compassion, and Prosocial Behaviors - PMC [1]
- Note: I quoted quite a bit below from the study and probably should put some scientific worded parts that a reader without experience or knowledge of reading studies and would have difficulty in reading the quotes, into my own words/bullet points without changing original meaning or just cut small parts of the quotes out
- “Randomized controlled trials in any population were included (26 studies with 1,714 subjects)”
- “Outcome measures included self-reported emotions (e.g., composite scores, validated measures) and observed behavioral outcomes (e.g., helping behavior in real-world and simulated settings)”
- “Results demonstrated small to medium effects of meditation on self-reported (SMD = .40, p < .001) and observable outcomes (SMD = .45, p < .001) and suggest psychosocial and neurophysiological mechanisms of action. Subgroup analyses also supported small to medium effects of meditation even when compared to active control groups”
- “Our search yielded 479 results. After excluding duplicates (n = 282), unpublished manuscripts (n = 18), non-RCTs (n = 52), non-meditation interventions (n = 18), and studies that did not quantitatively measure pro-social outcomes (n = 43) or only measured self-focused compassion (n = 40), there were 26 studies that met our eligibility criteria.”
- “[…] across the 26 included studies (total N = 1,714). Most studies (n = 22) were conducted in non-clinical adult populations using a primarily LKM or CM intervention (n = 10) or both mindfulness and LKM combined (n = 8). […] All studies measured outcomes shortly after the end of the intervention; only 4 studies incorporated a longer-term follow-up (range = 8 – 52 weeks post intervention).”
- “Eleven studies showed a low risk of bias, 12 showed a medium risk, and 3 showed high risk”
- “Most studies (11 out of 14; 79%) found support for improvements in observable outcomes following meditation as compared to the control intervention, with no clear difference in results by study quality. There were 7 low-risk studies that measured observable pro-social outcomes and all of them reported improvements following meditation”
- “The majority of studies (14 out of 19; 74%) found significant improvements in self-reported outcomes following meditation compared to the control intervention for at least one pro-social outcome (e.g., empathy, compassion, or pro-social behavior). These results did not appear to appreciably vary depending on the study’s level of risk of bias. […] Both studies that included a long-term follow-up found that improvements were maintained over time”
- “A total of 18 studies provided sufficient data on self-reported outcomes for meta-analysis. These studies allowed for 19 comparisons because one study used two control groups. […] Publication bias was not suspected based on the funnel plot and because the number of studies needed to make the results non-significant was 165”
- Synthesis of Results for Potential Mechanisms: “Fourteen studies reported results for potential mediators of effects of meditation on pro-social outcomes. Six of these studies conducted formal mediation analyses […] . Formal mediation results revealed that increased social and emotional connectedness mediated the effects of compassion meditation and charitable donations (Ashar et al., 2016); increased positive affect mediated the effect of LKM on explicit bias toward marginalized groups (Hutcherson et al., 2008); decreased stress mediated the effect of LKM on bias (Kang et al., 2014); and greater home practice and decreased stress mediated the effect of meditation on compassion (Oman et al., 2010). Kok et al. (2013) tested more complex structural models and found that loving kindness meditation led to improvements in positive emotions, which led to improvements in social connectedness, which led to improvements in vagal tone. Shapiro et al. (1998) found that greater meditation compliance led to decreased anxiety, which led to greater empathy.”
  - “Eight studies did not conduct formal mediation analyses but explored correlations between changes in pro-social outcomes and changes in other variables that suggest potential mechanisms of action (Jazaieri et al., 2013; Keefe, 1979; Kemeny et al., 2012; Mascaro et al., 2013; Rosenberg et al., 2015; Velásquez et al., 2015; Wallmark et al., 2013; Weng et al., 2013). Almost all (7 out of 8) examined the relationship between amount of home practice/meditation adherence and pro-social outcomes: 5 found that greater meditation practice was correlated with greater pro-social outcomes (Jazaieri et al., 2013; Keefe, 1979; Rosenberg et al., 2015; Velásquez et al., 2015; Wallmark et al., 2013) and 2 found no significant correlation (Kemeny et la., 2012; Mascaro et al., 2013). One study also found that increases in mindfulness and self-compassion, and decreases in stress, were significantly correlated with increases in empathy (Wallmark et al., 2013). Two studies used fMRI to explore correlations between pro-social outcomes and changes in neural function (Mascaro et al., 2013; Weng et al., 2013). Mascaro et al. (2013) found that improvements in empathy were correlated with increased activity in the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC). Weng et al. (2015) found that greater pro-social behavior (charitable donations) were correlated with changes in the inferior parietal cortex and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.”
- “The results of the current systematic review support the efficacy of meditation-based interventions for increasing empathy, compassion, and pro-social behaviors. Meditation interventions showed significantly greater improvements in at least one pro-social outcome as compared to control groups in 22 out of the 26 included RCTs (85%). Meta-analysis results indicated that meditation training had a small-medium and significant effect on both subjective and objective pro-social outcomes, which was similar across studies with active and inactive control groups if not slightly higher among those with active controls. Many studies were low-risk, with only 3 studies showing a high risk of bias and there were no clear differences in outcomes based on risk of bias. Effects for observable outcomes (e.g., real-world helping behavior, facial expressions) were somewhat stronger and more consistent than results for self-reported outcomes, though both showed significant improvements in the meta-analysis.”
- Limitations: “In the current systematic review, limitations include heterogeneity in the interventions and an inability to non-English studies, which may have biased the results and limits generalizability. Nonetheless, these results advance the scientific understanding of meditation for health outcomes and suggest that meditation training is a promising way to increase individual-level pro-social outcomes. Improving these pro-social outcomes has the potential to promote important societal changes needed today. Further research using more diverse samples and meditation practices is warranted.”
The psychological effects of meditation: a meta-analysis - PubMed [2]
- Meta-analysis of 163 studies
- Note: I am unable to read the article, only the abstract
- “In general, results were strongest (medium to large) for changes in emotionality and relationship issues, less strong (about medium) for measures of attention, and weakest (small to medium) for more cognitive measures.”
- “We conclude that to arrive at a comprehensive understanding of why and how meditation works, emphasis should be placed on the development of more precise theories and measurement devices.”

Links and Resources

Headspace - Great, but paid service with singular and courses for guided and unguided meditations, sleepcasts (podcasts to help you fall asleep) and more. Headspace is for people of all levels. I find Headspace to be to expensive to me, despite how much I like their service and meditations.
- Meditation Made Simple by Headspace - Album on Spotify - I quite like and have used many times the 5 minute and 10 minute guided meditations (links in guided meditation section) that are on this album
- Headspace - YouTube Channel
Insight Timer - A platform full of guided meditations, unguided meditations, sleep sounds/music, meditation courses, meditation timers and a lot more. Insight Timer is for people of all levels. I have used this platform quite a bit a while ago and found and regularly did many guided meditations on here. This platform does have a premium plan, but the free plan gives you so much, you may not want/need the premium plan.
- Insight Timer - Google Play Store
- Insight Timer - Apple App Store

Types of Meditation/Meditation Techniques

Guided Meditation

This section is for guided meditations that are just described as that and aren’t described as being some other kind of meditation like sleep meditation, loving-kindness meditation, focused meditation, mindfulness meditation, etc.

Sionnach's Digital Garden

Meditation

Scientific Evidence / Studies

Links and Resources

Types of Meditation/Meditation Techniques

Guided Meditation

Mindfulness Meditation

Sleep Meditation

Pain Relief and Pain Maintenance Meditation

Scientific Evidence / Studies

Studies I Have Yet To Read

Meditation Adverse Effects

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