Top

Tip

Swipe om te navigeren naar een ander artikel

20-09-2022 | ORIGINAL PAPER

Motivation for Meditation and Its Association with Meditation Practice in a National Sample of Internet Users

Auteurs: Zishan Jiwani, Sin U Lam, Richard J. Davidson, Simon B. Goldberg

Gepubliceerd in: Mindfulness

Abstract

Objectives

There is limited understanding of what motivates people to initiate and sustain meditation practice. This study investigates initial and current motivations for meditation, demographic variability in motivations, and associations with ongoing and lifetime meditation practice.

Methods

A national sample of internet users were recruited to examine initial and current motivations for meditation practice.

Results

Nine hundred fifty-three participants completed the initial screening and 470 (49.3%) reported exposure to meditation practice. Four hundred thirty-four (92.3%) completed a follow-up assessment. The participants most frequently reported mental health/stress alleviation as an initial motivation (n = 322, 74.2%) followed by spiritual (n = 122, 28.1%), physical health (n = 69, 15.9%), awakening/enlightenment (n = 64, 14.7%), cultural (n = 51, 11.8%), and other (n = 33, 7.6%). The participants reported a mean of 1.52 (SD = 0.83) initial motivations. Among those currently meditating, a significant increase in the number of motivations was found between initial and current motivations (1.60 [SD = 0.89] and 2.11 [SD = 1.16], for initial and current motivations, respectively, Cohen’s d = 0.45). The number of motivations was positively associated with meditation practice. Initial mental health motivation was found to be negatively associated with current and lifetime meditation practice, whereas spiritual motivation was found to be positively associated.

Conclusions

While meditation started as a tool for spiritual attainment, findings suggest that it is predominantly used in the USA for mental health support and to manage stress. Findings suggest that both type and number of motivations may relate to the course of practice.

American Psychiatric Association. (2021, December 20). One in four Americans plans a mental health New Year’s resolution for 2022. https://www.psychiatry.org/newsroom/news-releases/one-in-four-americans-plans-a-mental-health-new-year-s-resolution-for-2022

Barkham, M., Rees, A., Stiles, W. B., Shapiro, D. A., Hardy, G. E., & Reynolds, S. (1996). Dose–effect relations in time-limited psychotherapy for depression. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 64(5), 927–935. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.64.5.927 CrossRefPubMed

Benjamini, Y., & Hochberg, Y. (1995). Controlling the false discovery rate A practical and powerful approach to multiple testing. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series B (Methodological), 57(1), 289–300. CrossRef

Bodhi, B. (2005). In the Buddha’s Words: An anthology of discourses from the Pali Canon. United Kingdom: Wisdom Publications.

Breedvelt, J. J. F., Amanvermez, Y., Harrer, M., Karyotaki, E., Gilbody, S., Bockting, C. L. H., Cuijpers, P., & Ebert, D. D. (2019). The effects of meditation, yoga, and mindfulness on depression, anxiety, and stress in tertiary education students: A meta-analysis. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 10, 193. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00193 CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Britton, W. B. (2019). Can mindfulness be too much of a good thing? The value of a middle way. Current Opinion in Psychology, 28, 159–165. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2018.12.011 CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Buddharakkhita. (1985). The Dhammapada: The Buddha’s path of wisdom (1st BPS ed). Buddhist Publication Society.

Burke, A., Lam, C. N., Stussman, B., & Yang, H. (2017). Prevalence and patterns of use of mantra, mindfulness and spiritual meditation among adults in the United States. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 17(1), 316. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-017-1827-8 CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Carmody, J., Baer, R. A., Lykins, E. L. B., & Olendzki, N. (2009). An empirical study of the mechanisms of mindfulness in a mindfulness-based stress reduction program. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 65(6), 613–626. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.20579 CrossRefPubMed

Chen, H., Cohen, P., & Chen, S. (2010). How big is a big odds ratio? Interpreting the magnitudes of odds ratios in epidemiological studies. Communications in Statistics - Simulation and Computation, 39(4), 860–864. https://doi.org/10.1080/03610911003650383 CrossRef

Clarke, T. C., Barnes, P. M., Black, L. I., Stussman, B. J., & Nahin, R. L. (2018). Use of yoga, meditation, and chiropractors among U.S. adults aged 18 and Over. NCHS Data Brief, (325), 1–8.

Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203771587

Cohen, J. (1992). A power primer. Psychological Bulletin, 112(1), 155–159. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.112.1.155 CrossRefPubMed

Damdul, D. (2018). The blaze of non-dual Bodhicittas (4th ed.). Tibet House.

Edwards, M. K., & Loprinzi, P. D. (2018). Comparative effects of meditation and exercise on physical and psychosocial health outcomes: A review of randomized controlled trials. Postgraduate Medicine, 130(2), 222–228. https://doi.org/10.1080/00325481.2018.1409049 CrossRefPubMed

Gál, É., Ștefan, S., & Cristea, I. A. (2021). The efficacy of mindfulness meditation apps in enhancing users’ well-being and mental health related outcomes: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Journal of Affective Disorders, 279, 131–142. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2020.09.134 CrossRefPubMed

Galante, J., Galante, I., Bekkers, M.-J., & Gallacher, J. (2014). Effect of kindness-based meditation on health and well-being: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 82(6), 1101–1114. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0037249 CrossRefPubMed

Gelles, D. (2019, April 3). Overlooked no more: S.N. Goenka, who brought mindfulness to the West. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/03/obituaries/sn-goenka-overlooked.html. Accessed 12 Sept 2021.

Godlaski, A. J. (2018). Exploring intentions and outcomes in a contemplative classroom: A qualitative study. The Journal of Contemplative Inquiry, 5(1), Article 1. https://journal.contemplativeinquiry.org/index.php/joci/article/view/143

Goldberg, S. B., Lam, S. U., Britton, W. B., & Davidson, R. J. (2022). Prevalence of meditation-related adverse effects in a population-based sample in the United States. Psychotherapy Research, 32(3), 291–305. https://doi.org/10.1080/10503307.2021.1933646 CrossRefPubMed

Goldberg, S. B., Riordan, K. M., Sun, S., Kearney, D. J., & Simpson, T. L. (2020). Efficacy and acceptability of mindfulness-based interventions for military veterans: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 138, 110232. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2020.110232 CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Goldberg, S. B., Tucker, R. P., Greene, P. A., Davidson, R. J., Wampold, B. E., Kearney, D. J., & Simpson, T. L. (2018). Mindfulness-based interventions for psychiatric disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 59, 52–60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2017.10.011 CrossRefPubMed

H.G. (2018, April 13). An Asian religion gains popularity in the New World: Buddhism in America. The Economist (Online). http://www.proquest.com/docview/2031453895/abstract/7CC7E5DC057F410CPQ/1

Kabat-Zinn, J. (2011). Some reflections on the origins of MBSR, skillful means, and the trouble with maps. Contemporary Buddhism, 12(1), 281–306. https://doi.org/10.1080/14639947.2011.564844 CrossRef

Kaplan, A. (1985). Jewish meditation: A practical guide. Schocken Books.

Kirmayer, L. J. (2015). Mindfulness in cultural context. Transcultural Psychiatry, 52(4), 447–469. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363461515598949 CrossRefPubMed

Koncz, A., Demetrovics, Z., & Takacs, Z. K. (2021). Meditation interventions efficiently reduce cortisol levels of at-risk samples: A meta-analysis. Health Psychology Review, 15(1), 56–84. https://doi.org/10.1080/17437199.2020.1760727 CrossRefPubMed

Lachenbruch, P. A. (2014). McNemar test. Statistics reference online. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118445112.stat04876 CrossRef

Lomas, T., Medina, J. C., Ivtzan, I., Rupprecht, S., & Eiroa-Orosa, F. J. (2019). Mindfulness-based interventions in the workplace: An inclusive systematic review and meta-analysis of their impact upon wellbeing. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 14(5), 625–640. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2018.1519588 CrossRef

Palan, S., & Schitter, C. (2018). Prolific.ac—a subject pool for online experiments. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, 17, 22–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbef.2017.12.004 CrossRef

Peer, E., Brandimarte, L., Samat, S., & Acquisti, A. (2017). Beyond the Turk: Alternative platforms for crowdsourcing behavioral research. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 70, 153–163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2017.01.006 CrossRef

Pepping, C. A., Walters, B., Davis, P. J., & O’Donovan, A. (2016). Why do people practice mindfulness? An investigation into reasons for practicing mindfulness meditation. Mindfulness, 7(2), 542–547. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-016-0490-3 CrossRef

Pew Research Center. (2014). Religion in America: U.S. religious data, demographics and statistics. Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project. https://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/. Accessed 28 Sept 2021.

Schmidt, S. (2014). Opening up meditation for science: The development of a meditation classification system. In S. Schmidt & H. Walach (Eds.), Meditation – neuroscientific approaches and philosophical implications (Vol. 2). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-01634-4

Schopen, A., & Freeman, B. (1991). Meditation: The forgotten Western tradition. Counseling and Values, 36(2), 123–134. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-007X.1991.tb00969.x CrossRef

Sedlmeier, P., & Theumer, J. (2020). Why do people begin to meditate and why do they continue? Mindfulness, 11(6), 1527–1545. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-020-01367-w CrossRef

Shapiro, D. (1992). A preliminary study of long-term meditators: Goals, effects, religious orientation, cognitions. The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 24(1), 23–39.

Shiffman, S., Stone, A. A., & Hufford, M. R. (2008). Ecological momentary assessment. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 4(1), 1–32. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.3.022806.091415 CrossRefPubMed

Sirimanne, C. R. (2018). The unique perspective on intention (Cetanā ), ethics, agency, and the self in Buddhism. In B. Grant, J. Drew, & H. E. Christensen (Eds.), Research in ethical issues in organizations (Vol. 20, pp. 31–44). Emerald Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1529-209620180000020003

Stussman, B. J., Bethell, C. D., Gray, C., & Nahin, R. L. (2013). Development of the adult and child complementary medicine questionnaires fielded on the National Health Interview Survey. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 13(1), 328. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6882-13-328 CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Sumantry, D., & Stewart, K. E. (2021). Meditation, mindfulness, and attention: A meta-analysis. Mindfulness, 12(6), 1332–1349. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-021-01593-w CrossRef

Sun, L.-N., Gu, J.-W., Huang, L.-J., Shang, Z.-L., Zhou, Y.-G., Wu, L.-L., Jia, Y.-P., Liu, N.-Q., & Liu, W.-Z. (2021a). Military-related posttraumatic stress disorder and mindfulness meditation: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Chinese Journal of Traumatology, 24(4), 221–230. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cjtee.2021.05.003 CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Sun, S., Goldberg, S. B., Loucks, E. B., & Brewer, J. A. (2021b). Mindfulness-based interventions among people of color: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychotherapy Research, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/10503307.2021.1937369

U.S. Census Bureau. (2021, July). U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: United States. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045221. Accessed 28 Sept 2021.

Van Cappellen, P., Catalino, L. I., & Fredrickson, B. L. (2020). A new micro-intervention to increase the enjoyment and continued practice of meditation. Emotion, 20(8), 1332–1343. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000684 CrossRefPubMed

www.prolific.co. (2021, October 20). Representative samples FAQ. Prolific. https://researcher-help.prolific.co/hc/en-gb/articles/360019238413-Representative-Samples-FAQ

Zhang, Q., Wang, Z., Wang, X., Liu, L., Zhang, J., & Zhou, R. (2019). The effects of different stages of mindfulness meditation training on emotion regulation. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 13, 208. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2019.00208 CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Titel: Motivation for Meditation and Its Association with Meditation Practice in a National Sample of Internet Users
Auteurs: Zishan Jiwani
Sin U Lam
Richard J. Davidson
Simon B. Goldberg
Publicatiedatum: 20-09-2022
Uitgeverij: Springer US
Gepubliceerd in: Mindfulness
Print ISSN: 1868-8527
Elektronisch ISSN: 1868-8535
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-022-01985-6

Bohn Stafleu van Loghum

Tip