Others in Mind: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Relationship Between Mindfulness and Prosociality

Mindfulness is associated with personal psychological benefits, and recently, there has been an increase in research regarding its prosocial effect. This article reports on a systematic review and meta-analysis of the link between dispositional mindfulness and prosociality and the effect of certain mindfulness interventions on prosociality.

A literature search was conducted to identify correlational studies that included a valid assessment of dispositional mindfulness or randomized controlled trials that conducted mindfulness interventions and measured overt prosocial outcomes among adults. Two separate random-effect models were set to examine the pooled effect sizes, and subsequent moderator analyses examined possible moderators to explain the heterogeneity in effect sizes across studies.

The literature search resulted in 31 eligible studies (N = 16,432). The meta-analysis of the correlational studies (K = 7) resulted in a small-to-medium pooled effect size, g = 0.380, 95% CI [0.19, 0.56], and the meta-analysis of the intervention studies (K = 24) resulted in a small-pooled effect size, g = 0.271, 95% CI [0.08, 0.45]. There was no significant difference between short-term and long-term, nor between ethics-based and non-ethics-based interventions. The effect sizes of online studies were unreliable. There was evidence of publication bias in both models.

This meta-analysis demonstrated the link between dispositional mindfulness and prosociality and the effectiveness of mindfulness interventions in increasing prosociality. While this effect might be short-lived, the preservation over time should be addressed by long-term follow-ups. This field of research would benefit from standardized protocols of intervention to prevent heterogeneity.

This study was not pre-registered.