Meditation Could Boost Compassion, Study Suggests



Meditation doesn't just make you a better person mentally and physically, but it could also make you a better person when it comes to compassion.

A new study from Northeastern University and Harvard University researchers shows that meditation can improve compassion and do-gooder behavior. The new findings are published in the journal Psychological Science.

For the study, researchers tested study participants' compassionate behavior after they underwent meditation sessions. Specifically, they did eight-week-long training sessions in two meditation types, after which they were tested to see if they would help someone (who was really an actor) in pain and using crutches while sitting in a fake waiting room.

Researchers found that only 15 percent of people who did not undergo meditation training helped the person with the crutches. But up to half of those who went through the training helped the person.

"The truly surprising aspect of this finding is that meditation made people willing to act virtuous -- to help another who was suffering — even in the face of a norm not to do so," study researcher David DeSteno, a psychological scientist at Northeastern University, said in a statement. "The fact that the other actors were ignoring the pain creates a 'bystander-effect' that normally tends to reduce helping. People often wonder 'Why should I help someone if no one else is?'"

Recently, a study in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience showed that meditation's effect on brain processing of emotions may take place even when a person isn't meditating.

Specifically, they found that the amygdala's response to emotional stimuli is altered by meditation.

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  • Good For Teens' Mental Health

    a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/11/gratitude-teens-happier_n_1749118.html"Grateful teens are happier/a, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association this year.

    Researchers also found that teens who are grateful -- in the study, defined as having a a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/11/gratitude-teens-happier_n_1749118.html"positive outlook on life/a -- are more well-behaved at school and more hopeful than their less-grateful peers.

    "More gratitude may be precisely what our society needs to raise a generation that is ready to make a difference in the world," study researcher Giacomo Bono, Ph.D., a psychology professor at California State University, said in a statement.

  • Boosts Well-Being

    Being constantly mindful of all the things you have to be thankful for can boost your well-being, research suggests.

    In a series of experiments detailed in a 2003 study in a href="http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/pdfs/GratitudePDFs/6Emmons-BlessingsBurdens.pdf"the emJournal of Personality and Social Psychology/em/a, daily exercise practices and listing off all the things you are thankful for are linked with a brighter outlook on life and a greater sense of positivity.

    "There do appear to exist benefits to regularly a href="http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/pdfs/GratitudePDFs/6Emmons-BlessingsBurdens.pdf"focusing on one's blessings/a," the researchers wrote in the study. "The advantages are most pronounced when compared with a focus on hassles or complaints, yet are still apparent in comparison with simply reflecting the major events in one’s life, on ways in which one believes one is better off than comparison with others, or with a control group."

  • Linked With Better Grades

    Grateful high-schoolers have a href="http://people.hofstra.edu/jeffrey_j_froh/spring%202010%20web/10.1007_s10902-010-9195-9[1].pdf"higher GPAs/a -- as well as better social integration and satisfaction with life -- than their not-grateful counterparts, according to a 2010 study in the emJournal of Happiness Studies/em.

    Researchers also found that grateful teens were less depressed or envious.

    "When combined with previous research, a clearer picture is beginning to emerge about the a href="http://people.hofstra.edu/jeffrey_j_froh/spring%202010%20web/10.1007_s10902-010-9195-9[1].pdf"benefits of gratitude/a in adolescents, and thus an important gap in the literature on gratitude and well-being is beginning to be filled," researchers wrote.

  • Makes You A Better Friend To Others

    According to a 2003 study in the a href="http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/pdfs/GratitudePDFs/6Emmons-BlessingsBurdens.pdf"the emJournal of Personality and Social Psychology/em/a, gratitude could also boost pro-social behaviors, such as helping other people who have problems or lending emotional support to another person.

  • Helps You Sleep Better

    Writing down what you're thankful for as you drift off to sleep can help you get better ZZs, according to a study in the a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1758-0854.2011.01049.x/abstract"journal emApplied Psychology: Health and Well-Being/em/a.

    Specifically, researchers found that when people spent 15 minutes jotting down what they're grateful for in a journal before bedtime, they a href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/minding-the-body/201111/how-gratitude-helps-you-sleep-night"fell asleep faster/a and stayed asleep longer, emPsychology Today/em reported.

  • Strengthens Your Relationship

    Being thankful for the little things your partner does could make your relationship stronger, according to a study in the journal emPersonal Relationships/em.

    emThe Telegraph/em reported on the study, which showed that journaling about the a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/sex/7756775/Gratitude-for-little-things-is-key-to-relationships.html"thoughtful things your partner did/a was linked with a beneficial outcome on the relationship.

  • Benefits The Heart

    A 1995 study in the emAmerican Journal of Cardiology/em showed that a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7484873"appreciation and positive emotions/a are linked with changes in heart rate variability.

    blockquote[This] may be beneficial in the treatment of hypertension and in reducing the likelihood of sudden death in patients with congestive heart failure and coronary artery disease./blockquote

  • Is Good For Team Morale

    Athletes are a href="http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true_ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ811262ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=noaccno=EJ811262"less likely to burn out/a and more likely to experience high life satisfaction and team satisfaction when they are grateful, according to a 2008 study in the journal emSocial Indicators Research/em of high-schoolers.

  • Linked WIth Better Immune Health

    Gratefulness is linked with optimism, which in turn is linked with a href="http://women.webmd.com/features/gratitute-health-boost"better immune health/a, WebMD reported.

    For example, a University of Utah study showed that stressed-out law students who were optimistic had more immune-boosting blood cells than people who were pessimistic, according to WebMD.

  • Protects You From Negative Emotions That Come With Extreme Loss

    WebMD reported that negative events can boost gratitude, and that gratitude can help to a href="http://women.webmd.com/features/gratitute-health-boost"boost feelings of belonging/a and decrease feelings of stress.

    For example, a survey showed that feelings of gratitude were at high levels after 9/11, according to WebMD.

  • What It Means to Practice Gratitude

    Question: What does it mean to practice 'gratitude' and why should I do it?

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