Abstract
A prospective study was conducted to determine personality trait correlates of regularity of meditation practice and dropout over a 2-year follow-up period in outpatients referred for relaxation therapy. Patients were supervised on a monthly basis and classified as regular vs. irregular practitioners or dropouts at 3, 6, 12, and 24 months after they began meditating on a daily basis. Short-term (3-month) compliance was related to low levels of pretest sensitization, introversion, suggestibility, and neuroticism. Long-term (6- to 24-month) compliance was related only to repression and extraversion. By the end of 2 years, roughly half (54%) of the patients had terminated meditation altogether.
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Delmonte, M.M. Personality correlates of meditation practice frequency and dropout in an outpatient population. J Behav Med 11, 593–597 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00844908
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00844908