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Do Contemplative Moments Matter? Effects of Informal Meditation on Emotions and Perceived Social Integration

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Abstract

Objectives

In contrast to formal meditation, which involves setting aside other activities to engage in contemplative practice, informal meditation can happen at any moment within the flow of daily activities. Whether informal meditation practice improves well-being is unclear. The purpose of this investigation was to test hypotheses about the day-to-day socioemotional profiles and dose–response relations, both within persons and between persons, associated with informal meditation practice.

Methods

Midlife adults (N = 231), new to meditation, were randomized to learn either mindfulness meditation or loving–kindness meditation in a 6-week workshop that taught both formal and informal meditation practices. The frequency of informal meditation practice was measured daily for 9 weeks. Likewise, formal meditation, emotions, and perceptions of social integration were also measured daily.

Results

Multilevel models of daily reports over a 9-week period revealed significant dose–response relations between the frequency of informal meditation and positive emotions and perceived social integration—both within persons and between persons (positive emotions: within-person b = 0.05, 95% CI [0.03, 0.07], between-person b = 0.35, 95% CI [0.20, 0.51]; social integration: within-person b = 0.11, 95% CI [0.07, 0.14], between-person b = 0.41, 95% CI [0.12, 0.70]). Effects were comparable for the distinct informal practices of mindfulness and loving–kindness, and were statistically independent of the effects of formal meditation practice.

Conclusions

The present research demonstrated that, distinct from formal meditation practice, informal meditation practice is linked to both positive emotions and social integration in a dose–response manner.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the study participants who devoted time and energy across months to be involved in this research.

Funding

This investigation was supported by a research grant awarded to Barbara L. Fredrickson by the National Cancer Institute (R01CA170128) of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Barbara L. Fredrickson, Cara Arizmendi, Patty Van Cappellen & Ann M. Firestine

  2. Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Campus Box 3270, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-3270, USA

    Barbara L. Fredrickson

  3. Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

    Patty Van Cappellen

  4. Duke Integrative Medicine, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

    Mary M. Brantley

  5. Office of Religious Life, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

    Sumi L. Kim

  6. Chaplain’s Office, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA

    Sumi L. Kim

  7. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

    Jeffrey Brantley

  8. Insight Meditation Society, Barre, MA, USA

    Sharon Salzberg

Authors
  1. Barbara L. Fredrickson
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  2. Cara Arizmendi
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  3. Patty Van Cappellen
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  4. Ann M. Firestine
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  6. Sumi L. Kim
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  7. Jeffrey Brantley
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  8. Sharon Salzberg
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Contributions

BLF designed the study, secured funding, and wrote the paper. CA analyzed the data and wrote sections of the paper. PVC collaborated with the study design and edited the final manuscript. AMF collaborated on the assessment strategy and oversaw all data collection and procedural fidelity. MMB and SLK designed and taught the meditation workshops and collaborated on the assessment strategy. JB and SS oversaw the design of the mediation workshops and collaborated on the assessment strategy. All authors approved of the final version of the submitted manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Barbara L. Fredrickson.

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Disclaimer

The funding agency played no role in study design, data collection, data analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Institutional Review Board (Non-Biomedical) of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Fredrickson, B.L., Arizmendi, C., Van Cappellen, P. et al. Do Contemplative Moments Matter? Effects of Informal Meditation on Emotions and Perceived Social Integration. Mindfulness 10, 1915–1925 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-019-01154-2

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