Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Psychological Effects of Meditation for Healthy Practitioners: an Update

  • REVIEW
  • Published:
Mindfulness Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In recent years, interest in the effects of meditation has increased considerably, which might have had an impact on the outcomes as well as on the methods used. The present meta-analysis summarizes the effects of meditation for healthy practitioners for the years 2011 to 2015, thereby complementing a previous summary that covered the four decades before. We found a global effect size for studies with conventional controls of \( \overset{-}{r} \) = .27 (n = 54), comparable to the earlier analysis, as well as a smaller but apparently stable effect of \( \overset{-}{r} \) = .17 when meditation groups were compared to active controls (n = 16 studies). As in the previous summary, results were strongest for relationship issues and relatively strong for measures of intelligence and the self-concept, but effects were markedly smaller for negative emotions and anxiety. Also, in contrast to the previous analysis, meditation experience and length of meditation training correlated positively with the strength of meditation effects. Unfortunately, most studies still appear to have been conducted without sufficient theoretical background, and dependent measures seem largely to have been chosen ad hoc. We emphasize that meditation research will only make real progress if more effort is spent on developing precise theories and measurement devices.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13

Similar content being viewed by others

References

References marked with an asterisk (*) indicate studies included in the meta-analysis. Among the references in the meta-analysis, those marked with a dagger (†) indicate studies that compared a meditation group against an active control group

  • Amihai, I., & Kozhevnikov, M. (2014). Arousal vs. relaxation: a comparison of the neurophysiological and cognitive correlates of Vajrayana and Theravada meditative practices. PloS One, 9(7), e102990. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0102990.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • *Baas, M., Nevicka, B., & Ten Velden, F. S. (2014). Specific mindfulness skills differentially predict creative performance. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 40, 1092–1106. doi:10.1177/0146167214535813.

  • *†Baird, B., Mrazek, M. D., Phillips, D. T., & Schooler, J. W. (2014). Domain-specific enhancement of metacognitive ability following meditation training. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 143, 1972–1979. doi:10.1037/a0036882.

  • *†Banks, J. B., Welhaf, M. S., & Srour, A. (2015). The protective effects of brief mindfulness meditation training. Consciousness and Cognition, 33, 277–285. doi:10.1016/j.concog.2015.01.016.

  • Barlow, D. H., Nock, M. K., & Hersen, M. (2009). Single case experimental designs: strategies for studying behavior change (3rd ed.). Boston: Pearson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bergomi, C., Tschacher, W., & Kupper, Z. (2013). The assessment of mindfulness with self-report measure: existing scales and open issues. Mindfulness, 4, 191–202.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • *Bergomi, C., Tschacher, W., & Kupper, Z. (2015). Meditation practice and self-reported mindfulness: a cross-sectional investigation of meditators and non-meditators using the Comprehensive Inventory of Mindfulness Experiences (CHIME). Mindfulness, 6, 1411–1421. doi:10.1007/s12671-015-0415-6.

  • *Bilderbeck, A., Farias, M., Brazil, I., Jakobowitz, S., & Wikholm, C. (2013). Participation in a 10-week course of yoga improves behavioural control and decreases psychological distress in a prison population. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 47, 1438–1445. doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2013.06.014.

  • Borenstein, M., Hedges, L. V., Higgins, J. P. T., & Rothenstein, H. R. (2010). A basic introduction to fixed-effect and random-effects models for meta-analysis. Research Synthesis Methods, 1, 97–111.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • *Cardeña, E., Sjöstedt, J. O., & Marcusson-Clavertz, D. (2015). Sustained attention and motivation in Zen meditators and non-meditators. Mindfulness, 6, 1082–1087. doi:10.1007/s12671-014-0357-4.

  • *†Carissoli, C., Villani, D., & Riva, G. (2015). Does a meditation protocol supported by a mobile application help people reduce stress? Suggestions from a controlled pragmatic trial. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 18, 46–53. doi:10.1089/cyber.2014.0062.

  • *Charoensukmongkol, P. (2014). Benefits of mindfulness meditation on emotional intelligence, general self-efficacy, and perceived stress: evidence from Thailand. Journal of Spirituality in Mental Health, 16, 171–192. doi:10.1080/19349637.2014.925364.

  • Cleveland, W. S. (1985). The elements of graphing data. Pacific Grove: Wadsworth & Brooks/Cole.

    Google Scholar 

  • *Colzato, L., Ozturk, A., & Hommel, B. (2012). Meditate to create: the impact of focused-attention and open-monitoring training on convergent and divergent thinking. Frontiers in Psychology, 3, 116. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00116.

  • Cumming, G., & Finch, S. (2005). Inference by eye: confidence intervals and how to read pictures of data. American Psychologist, 60, 170–180.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dahl, C. J., Lutz, A., & Davidson, R. J. (2015). Reconstructing and deconstructing the self: cognitive mechanisms in meditation practice. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 19, 515–523.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • *Daubenmier, J., Sze, J., Kerr, C., Kemeny, M., & Mehling, W. (2013). Follow your breath: respiratory interoceptive accuracy in experienced meditators. Psychophysiology, 50, 777–789. doi:10.1111/psyp.12057.

  • *†Ding, X., Tang, Y. Y., Tang, R., & Posner, M. I. (2014). Improving creativity performance by short-term meditation. Behavioral and Brain Functions, 10, 9. doi:10.1186/1744-9081-10-9.

  • *†Ding, X., Tang, Y. Y., Deng, Y., Tang, R., & Posner, M. I. (2015). Mood and personality predict improvement in creativity due to meditation training. Learning and Individual Differences, 37, 217–221. doi:10.1016/j.lindif.2014.11.019.

  • Duval, S., & Tweedie, R. (2000). Trim and fill: a simple funnel-plot–based method of testing and adjusting for publication bias in meta-analysis. Biometrics, 56, 455–463.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Eberth, J., & Sedlmeier, P. (2012). The effects of mindfulness meditation: a meta-analysis. Mindfulness, 3, 174–189.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Egger, M., Smith, G. D., Schneider, M., & Minder, C. (1997). Bias in meta-analysis detected by a simple graphical test. British Medical Journal, 315, 629–634.

  • Faul, F., Erdfelder, E., Lang, A. G., & Buchner, A. (2007). G*Power3: a flexible statistical power analysis program for the social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences. Behavior Research Methods, 39, 175–191.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Feuerstein, G. (2001). The yoga tradition: its history, literature, philosophy and practice. Prescott: Hohm Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fox, K. C. R., Dixon, M. L., Nijeboer, S., Girn, M., Floman, J. L., Lifshitz, M., Ellamil, M., Sedlmeier, P., & Christoff, K. (2016). Functional neuroanatomy of meditation: a review and meta-analysis of 78 functional neuroimaging investigations. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 65, 208–228.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • *Frank, J. L., Reibel, D., Broderick, P., Cantrell, T., & Metz, S. (2015). The effectiveness of mindfulness-based stress reduction on educator stress and well-being: results from a pilot study. Mindfulness, 6, 208–216. doi:10.1007/s12671-013-0246-2.

  • *Froeliger, B., Garland, E., Modlin, L., & McClernon, F. (2012). Neurocognitive correlates of the effects of yoga meditation practice on emotion and cognition: a pilot study. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience, 6, 48. doi:10.3389/fnint.2012.00048.

  • *Gard, T., Taquet, M., Dixit, R., Hölzel, B. K., de Montjoye, Y. A., Brach, N., et al. (2014). Fluid intelligence and brain functional organization in aging yoga and meditation practitioners. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 6, 76. doi:10.3389/fnagi.2014.00076.

  • *Geary, C., & Rosenthal, S. (2011). Sustained impact of MBSR on stress, well-being, and daily spiritual experiences for 1 year in academic health care employees. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 17, 939–944. doi:10.1089/acm.2010.0335.

  • Gotink, R. A., Chu, P., Busschbach, J. J. V., Benson, H., Fricchione, G. L., & Hunink, M. G. M. (2015). Standardised mindfulness-based interventions in healthcare: an overview of systematic reviews and meta-analyses of RCTs. PloS One, 10(4), e0124344. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0124344.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Goyal, M., Singh, S., Sibinga, E. M., Gould, N. F., Rowland-Seymour, A., Sharma, R., et al. (2014). Meditation programs for psychological stress and well-being: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Internal Medicine, 174, 357–368.

  • *Greenberg, J., Reiner, K., & Meiran, N. (2012). “Mind the trap”: mindfulness practice reduces cognitive rigidity. PLoS ONE, 7(5), e36206. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0036206.

  • *Greeson, J. M., Juberg, M. K., Maytan, M., James, K., & Rogers, H. (2014). A randomized controlled trial of Koru: a mindfulness program for college students and other emerging adults. Journal of American College Health, 62(4), 222–233. doi:10.1080/07448481.2014.887571.

  • *Grégoire, S., & Lachance, L. (2015). Evaluation of a brief mindfulness-based intervention to reduce psychological distress in the workplace. Mindfulness, 6, 836–847. doi:10.1007/s12671-014-0328-9.

  • Grossman, P., & Van Dam, N. T. (2011). Mindfulness, by any other name …: trials and tribulations of sati in western psychology and science. Contemporary Buddhism, 12, 219–239.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • *He, X., Shi, W., Han, X., Wang, N., Zhang, N., & Wang, X. (2015). The interventional effects of loving-kindness meditation on positive emotions and interpersonal interactions. Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment, 11, 1273–1277. doi:10.2147/NDT.S79607.

  • *Hindman, R. K., Glass, C. R., Arnkoff, D. B., & Maron, D. D. (2015). A comparison of formal and informal mindfulness programs for stress reduction in university students. Mindfulness, 6, 873–884. doi:10.1007/s12671-014-0331-1.

  • *Hölzel, B., Carmody, J., Vangel, M., Congleton, C., Yerramsetti, S., Gard, T., & Lazar, S. (2010). Mindfulness practice leads to increases in regional brain gray matter density. Psychiatry Research, 191, 36–43. doi:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2010.08.006.

  • Hölzel, B. K., Lazar, S. W., Gard, T., Schuman-Olivier, Z., Vago, D. R., & Ott, U. (2011). How does mindfulness meditation work? Proposing mechanisms of action from a conceptual and neural perspective. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 6, 537–559.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • *Hosemans, D. (2015). Meditation: a process of cultivating enhanced well-being. Mindfulness, 6, 338–347. doi:10.1007/s12671-013-0266-y.

  • *Hunsinger, M., Livingston, R., & Isbell, L. (2014). Spirituality and intergroup harmony: meditation and racial prejudice. Mindfulness, 5, 139–144. doi:10.1007/s12671-012-0159-5.

  • Hunter, J. E., & Schmidt, F. L. (1990). Methods of meta-analysis. Newbury Park: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hunter, J. E., & Schmidt, F. L. (2004). Methods of meta-analysis: correcting error and bias in research findings (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • *Hurk, P., Wingens, T., Giommi, F., Barendregt, H., Speckens, A., & Schie, H. (2011). On the relationship between the practice of mindfulness meditation and personality: an exploratory analysis of the mediating role of mindfulness skills. Mindfulness, 2, 194–200. doi:10.1007/s12671-011-0060-7.

  • *Iqbal, N., Singh, A., & Aleem, S. (2016). Effect of dynamic meditation on mental health. Journal of Religion and Health, 55, 241–254. doi:10.1007/s10943-015-0082-x.

  • *Jazaieri, H., Jinpa, G., McGonigal, K., Rosenberg, E., Finkelstein, J., Simon-Thomas, E., et al. (2012). Enhancing compassion: a randomized controlled trial of a compassion cultivation training program. Journal of Happiness Studies, 14, 1113–1126. doi:10.1007/s10902-012-9373-z.

  • *Jazaieri, H., McGonigal, K., Jinpa, T., Doty, J. R., Gross, J. J., & Goldin, P. R. (2014). A randomized controlled trial of compassion cultivation training: effects on mindfulness, affect, and emotion regulation. Motivation and Emotion, 38, 23–35. doi:10.1007/s11031-013-9368-z.

  • *†Jensen, C. G., Vangkilde, S., Frokjaer, V., & Hasselbalch, S. G. (2012). Mindfulness training affects attention: or is it attentional effort? Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 141, 106–123. doi:10.1037/a0024931.

  • *Jislin-Goldberg, T., Tanay, G., & Bernstein, A. (2012). Mindfulness and positive affect: cross-sectional, prospective intervention, and real-time relations. Journal of Positive Psychology, 7, 349–361. doi:10.1080/17439760.2012.700724.

  • *Jo, H. G., Wittmann, M., Hinterberger, T., & Schmidt, S. (2015). The readiness potential reflects intentional binding. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8, 421. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2014.00421.

  • *Josefsson, T., Larsman, P., Broberg, A., & Lundh, L.-G. (2011). Self-reported mindfulness mediates the relation between meditation experience and psychological well-being. Mindfulness, 2, 49–58. doi:10.1007/s12671-011-0042-9.

  • *†Kang, Y., Gray, J. R., & Dovidio, J. F. (2014). The nondiscriminating heart: lovingkindness meditation training decreases implicit intergroup bias. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 143, 1306–1313. doi:10.1037/a0034150.

  • *Koopmann-Holm, B., Sze, J., Ochs, C., & Tsai, J. (2013). Buddhist-inspired meditation increases the value of calm. Emotion, 13, 497–505. doi:10.1037/a0031070.

  • *Liu, X., Xu, W., Wang, Y., Williams, J. M. G., Geng, Y., Zhang, Q., & Liu, X. (2015). Can inner peace be improved by mindfulness training: a randomized controlled trial. Stress and Health, 31, 245–254. doi:10.1002/smi.2551.

  • Lord, F. M., & Novick, M. R. (1968). Statistical theories of mental test scores. Reading: Addison-Wesley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lumma, A. L., Kok, B. E., & Singer, T. (2015). Is meditation always relaxing? Investigating heart rate, heart rate variability, experienced effort and likeability during training of three types of meditation. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 97, 38–45.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lutz, A., Slagter, H. A., Dunne, J. D., & Davidson, R. J. (2008). Attention regulation and monitoring in meditation. Trends in Cognitive Science, 12, 163–169.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lutz, A., Jha, A. P., Dunne, J. D., & Saron, C. D. (2015). Investigating the phenomenological matrix of mindfulness-related practices from a neurocognitive perspective. American Psychologist, 70, 632–658.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • *Lykins, E., Baer, R., & Gottlob, L. (2012). Performance-based tests of attention and memory in long-term mindfulness meditators and demographically matched nonmeditators. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 36, 103–114. doi:10.1007/s10608-010-9318-y.

  • *Lynch, S., Gander, M., Kohls, N., Kudielka, B., & Walach, H. (2011). Mindfulness-based coping with university life: a non-randomized wait-list-controlled pilot evaluation. Stress and Health, 27, 365–375. doi:10.1002/smi.1382.

  • *†Malinowski, P., Moore, A. W., Mead, B. R., & Gruber, T. (2015). Mindful aging: the effects of regular brief mindfulness practice on electrophysiological markers of cognitive and affective processing in older adults. Mindfulness, 8, 1–17. doi:10.1007/s12671-015-0482-8.

  • *†May, C., Burgard, M., Mena, M., Abbasi, I., Bernhardt, N., Clemens, S., et al. (2011). Short-term training in loving-kindness meditation produces a state, but not a trait, alteration of attention. Mindfulness, 2, 143–153. doi:10.1007/s12671-011-0053-6.

  • McShane, B. B., Böckenholt, U., & Hansen, K. R. (2016). Adjusting for publication bias in meta-analysis: an evaluation of selection methods and some cautionary notes. Psychological Science, 11, 730–749.

    Google Scholar 

  • *Melloni, M., Sedeño, L., Couto, B., Reynoso, M., Gelormini, C., Favaloro, R., et al. (2013). Preliminary evidence about the effects of meditation on interoceptive sensitivity and social cognition. Behavioral and Brain Functions, 9, 47. doi:10.1186/1744-9081-9-47.

  • *†Menezes, C. B., & Bizarro, L. (2015). Effects of focused meditation on difficulties in emotion regulation and trait anxiety. Psychology & Neuroscience, 8, 350–365. doi:10.1037/pne0000015.

  • *†Mirams, L., Poliakoff, E., Brown, R., & Lloyd, D. (2012). Brief body-scan meditation practice improves somatosensory perceptual decision making. Consciousness and Cognition, 22, 348–359. doi:10.1016/j.concog.2012.07.009.

  • *Miyata, H., Okanoya, K., & Kawai, N. (2015). Mindfulness and psychological status of Japanese yoga practitioners: a cross-sectional study. Mindfulness, 6, 560–571. doi:10.1007/s12671-014-0288-0.

  • *Naranjo, J., & Schmidt, S. (2012). Is it me or not me: modulation of perceptual-motor awareness and visuomotor performance by mindfulness meditation. BMC Neuroscience, 13, 88. doi:10.1186/1471-2202-13-88.

  • *Neale-Lorello, D., & Haaga, D. A. (2015). The “observing” facet of mindfulness moderates stress/symptom relations only among meditators. Mindfulness, 6, 1286–1291. doi:10.1007/s12671-015-0396-5.

  • *Neff, K., & Pommier, E. (2013). The relationship between self-compassion and other-focused concern among college undergraduates, community adults, and practicing meditators. Self and Identity, 12, 160–176. doi:10.1080/15298868.2011.649546.

  • *O’Connor, L., Berry, J., Stiver, D., & Rangan, R. (2012). Depression, guilt, and Tibetan Buddhism. Psychology, 3, 805–809. doi:10.4236/psych.2012.329122.

  • Open Science Collaboration. (2015). Estimating the reproducibility of psychological science. Science, 349(6251), aac4716.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • *Oshita, D., Hattori, K., & Iwakuma, M. (2013). A Buddhist-based meditation practice for care and healing: an introduction and its application. International Journal of Nursing Practice, 19(S2), 15–23. doi:10.1111/ijn.12040.

  • *Pepping, C. A., O’Donovan, A., & Davis, P. J. (2014). The differential relationship between mindfulness and attachment in experienced and inexperienced meditators. Mindfulness, 5, 392–399. doi:10.1007/s12671-012-0193-3.

  • *†Perelman, A., Miller, S., Clements, C., Rodriguez, A., Allen, K., & Cavanaugh, R. (2012). Meditation in a deep south prison: a longitudinal study of the effects of Vipassana. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 51, 176–198. doi:10.1080/10509674.2011.632814.

  • *Pinazo, D., & Breso, E. (2015). The effects of a self-observation-based meditation intervention on acceptance or rejection of the other. International Journal of Psychology. Advance online publication. doi:10.1002/ijop.12223.

  • Puta, M., & Sedlmeier, P. (2014). The concept of tri-guna: A working model. In S. Schmidt & H. Walach (Eds.), Meditation: neuroscientific approaches and philosophical implications (pp. 317–364). Berlin: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • *Rahul, A. G., & Joseph, M. I. (2011). Variations in the dimensions of free floating anxiety amongst university students who practice meditation. Journal of the Indian Academy of Applied Psychology, 37, 283–290.

  • *†Roberts-Wolfe, D., Sacchet, M., Hastings, E., Roth, H., & Britton, W. (2012). Mindfulness training alters emotional memory recall compared to active controls: support for an emotional information processing model of mindfulness. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 6, 15. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2012.00015.

  • Rosenthal, R. (1979). The “file drawer problem” and tolerance for null results. Psychological Bulletin, 86, 638–641.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenthal, R., & Rosnow, R. L. (1991). Essentials of behavioral research: methods and data analysis (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenthal, R., & Rubin, D. B. (1979). Comparing significance levels of independent studies. Psychological Bulletin, 86, 1165–1168.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosnow, R. L., & Rosenthal, R. (2009). Effect sizes: why, when, and how to use them. Zeitschrift für Psychologie/Journal of Psychology, 217, 6–14. doi:10.1027/0044-3409.217.1.6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • *Santarnecchi, E., D’Arista, S., Egiziano, E., Gardi, C., Petrosino, R., Vatti, G., ... Rossi, A. (2014). Interaction between neuroanatomical and psychological changes after mindfulness-based training. PloS ONE, 9(10), e108359. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0108359.

  • Sauer, S., Walach, H., Schmidt, S., Hinterberger, T., Lynch, S., Büssing, A., & Kohls, N. (2013). Assessment of mindfulness: review on state of the art. Mindfulness, 4, 3–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt, F. L., Oh, I.-S., & Hayes, T. L. (2009). Fixed- versus random-effects models in meta-analysis: model properties and an empirical comparison of differences in results. British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology, 62, 97–128.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • *Schötz, E., Otten, S., Wittmann, M., Schmidt, S., Kohls, N., & Meissner, K. (2016). Time perception, mindfulness and attentional capacities in transcendental meditators and matched controls. Personality and Individual Differences, 93, 16–21. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2015.10.023.

  • Sedlmeier, P. (2014). Indian psychology and the scientific method. In R. M. M. Cornelissen, G. Misra, & S. Varma (Eds.), Foundations and applications of Indian psychology (pp. 53–79). Delhi: Pearson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sedlmeier, P. (2016). Die Kraft der meditation: was die Wissenschaft darüber weiß. [The power of meditation: what science knows about it]. Reinbek: Rowohlt Polaris.

  • Sedlmeier, P. & Renkewitz, F. (2013). Forschungsmethoden und Statistik: Ein Lehrbuch für Psychologen und Sozialwissenschaftler [Research methods and statistics: a textbook for psychologists and social scientists] (2. überarbeitete und erweiterte Auflage). München: Pearson.

  • Sedlmeier, P., & Srinivas, K. (2016). How do theories of cognition and consciousness in ancient Indian thought systems relate to current Western theorizing and research? Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 343. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00343.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Sedlmeier, P., Eberth, J., Schwarz, M., Zimmermann, D., Haarig, F., Jaeger, S., & Kunze, S. (2012). The psychological effects of meditation: a meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 138, 1139–1171.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sedlmeier, P., Eberth, J., & Schwarz, M. (2014). Meta-analyses and other methodological issues in meditation research: reply to Orme-Johnson and Dillbeck (2014). Psychological Bulletin, 140, 617–622.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sedlmeier, P., Eberth, J., & Puta, M. (2016). Meditation: future research and theory. In M. A. West (Ed.), The psychology of meditation: research and practice (2nd ed., pp. 285–310). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Sharf, R. (2014). Mindfulness and mindlessness in early Chan. Philosophy East & West, 64, 933–964.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • *†Shearer, A., Hunt, M., Chowdhury, M., & Nicol, L. (2016). Effects of a brief mindfulness meditation intervention on student stress and heart rate variability. International Journal of Stress Management, 23, 232–254. doi:10.1037/a0039814.

  • *†Shonin, E., Van Gordon, W., Dunn, T. J., Singh, N. N., & Griffiths, M. D. (2014). Meditation awareness training (MAT) for work-related wellbeing and job performance: a randomised controlled trial. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 12, 806–823. doi:10.1007/s11469-014-9513-2.

  • *†Silverstein, R., Brown, A.-C., Roth, H., & Britton, W. (2011). Effects of mindfulness training on body awareness to sexual stimuli: Implications for female sexual dysfunction. Psychosomatic Medicine, 73, 817–825. doi:10.1097/PSY.0b013e318234e628.

  • Simonsohn, U., Nelson, L. D., & Simmons, J. P. (2014). P-curve and effect size: correcting for publication bias using only significant results. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 9, 666–681.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • *Soler, J., Cebolla, A., Feliu-Soler, A., Demarzo, M. M., Pascual, J. C., Baños, R., & García-Campayo, J. (2014). Relationship between meditative practice and self-reported mindfulness: the MINDSENS composite index. PloS ONE, 9(1), e86622. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0086622.

  • *Teper, R., & Inzlicht, M. (2012). Meditation, mindfulness and executive control: the importance of emotional acceptance and brain-based performance monitoring. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 8, 85–92. doi:10.1093/scan/nss045.

  • Travis, F., & Shear, J. (2010). Focused attention, open monitoring and automatic self-transcending: categories to organize meditations from Vedic, Buddhist and Chinese traditions. Consciousness and Cognition: An International Journal, 19, 1110–1118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Aert, R. C. M., Wicherts, J. M., & van Assen, M. A. L. M. (2016). Conducting meta-analyses based on p values: reservations and recommendations for applying p-uniform and p-curve. Psychological Science, 11, 713–729.

    Google Scholar 

  • *Wallmark, E., Safarzadeh, K., Daukantaitė, D., & Maddux, R. (2012). Promoting altruism through meditation: an 8-week randomized controlled pilot study. Mindfulness, 4, 223–234. doi:10.1007/s12671-012-0115-4.

  • *Wittmann, M., Otten, S., Schötz, E., Sarikaya, A., Lehnen, H., Jo, H. G., et al. (2015). Subjective expansion of extended time-spans in experienced meditators. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 1586. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01586.

  • *Wong, W. P., Camfield, D. A., Woods, W., Sarris, J., & Pipingas, A. (2015). Spectral power and functional connectivity changes during mindfulness meditation with eyes open: a magnetoencephalography (MEG) study in long-term meditators. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 98, 95–111. doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2015.07.006.

  • Zhiyi, Ś. (2009). The essentials of Buddhist meditation (B. Dharmamitra, Trans.). Seattle: Kalavinka Press Original written 538-597 C.E.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank Anita Todd and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on a previous version of the paper.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Chemnitz University of Technology, 09107, Chemnitz, Germany

    Peter Sedlmeier, Caroline Loße & Lisa Christin Quasten

Authors
  1. Peter Sedlmeier
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Caroline Loße
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Lisa Christin Quasten
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

PS designed the study, supervised the literature search and the data analyses, and wrote the paper. CL and LCQ performed the literature search, analyzed the data, and prepared the figures.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Peter Sedlmeier.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Sedlmeier, P., Loße, C. & Quasten, L.C. Psychological Effects of Meditation for Healthy Practitioners: an Update. Mindfulness 9, 371–387 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-017-0780-4

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-017-0780-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation