BUFFALO, NY – Mindfulness training is not only an effective meditation tool, it is a big business in the United States. Programs and other training methods raise billions of dollars annually and their popularity continues to increase. Despite this widespread desire to be more mindful, can these techniques make some people more selfish? According to a new study, there are some surprising disadvantages to training in awareness, especially if you are a more independent person.
Habits and meditation usually reduce stress and anxiety. It can also increase emotional well-being. Researchers at the University of Buffalo say about one in five employers now offer workers some form of attention.
Despite the good intentions, study authors looked at how this training influences a variety of pro-social behaviors that can help or benefit others. The study found that training, which teaches people to look inside their own thoughts and feelings, does not always yield the same results as individuals looking outside to others.
“Mindfulness can make you selfish,” says Michael Poulin, PhD, associate professor of psychology, in a university release. “It’s a qualified fact, but it’s also accurate.”
‘Mindfulness has increased prosocial behavior for people who tend to see themselves as more dependent on each other. But for people who tend to consider themselves more independent, awareness does reduce prosocial behavior. ”
Mindfulness is ‘an instrument, not a prescription’
Poulin says this does not mean that the training does not work or will not create a better mental state for users.
“It would be an oversimplification,” Poulin adds. “Research suggests that awareness works, but this study shows that it is a tool, not a prescription, that requires more than a plug-and-play approach if practitioners want to avoid the possible pitfalls.”
According to the study, the difference here is between the difference between independent and interdependent ways of thinking. While some people think of themselves in independent terms (such as “I do it”), others actually use more plural or interdependent terms (“we do it”).
The most striking example of this is the difference between Western and East Asian countries. Poulin notes that Westerners usually consider themselves independent people. In Asia, however, the population tends to view their communities as more dependent on each other.
Since awareness practices have their origins in East Asian culture, researchers suspect that these techniques have more beneficial benefits in those societies. Western countries that are mindful of preserving a Western philosophy of life remove the intended context.
“Despite these individual and cultural differences, there is also variability within each person, and any individual at different times may think of themselves in one way or another, in the singular or plural,” the study author explained.
People also grow less charitable?
In one experiment, researchers studied 366 people and determined their characteristic levels of independence versus interdependence. After that, they gave the group instructions on how to do an awareness or a forced exercise. Before they left, the team told each person about an opportunity to fill out envelopes for a charity.
The results show that mindfulness training has led to less prosocial behavior among more independent participants.
In a second test, researchers encouraged 325 people to somehow lean by participating in an exercise that makes people think of themselves as independent or interdependent. The Buffalo team then gave this group the same instructions as the first experiment. Afterwards, however, researchers asked participants if they would sign up to chat online with charity donations.
According to these results, awareness training has led to those who lean toward independence being 33 percent less likely to volunteer. On the other hand, those who lean toward interdependence in exercise were 40 percent more likely to offer their time.
Poulin believes that this shows that training in awareness should be accompanied by more instructions on how people can think of themselves in terms of their social circles and communities.
“We need to think about how to get the best out of awareness,” Poulin concludes. “We need to know how to use the tool.”
The study is scheduled to appear in the journal Psychological Science.