Loving Kindness: A Two-Stage Model of the Effects of Meditation on Empathy, Compassion, and Altruism

By J. Kristeller, T. Johnson. 2005

164 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract. We explore the role of meditative practice in cultivating experiences of compassion, empathy, and altruism and address an apparent paradox: Meditation often is associated with solitary retreat, if not preoccupation with one's own concerns. How, then, does such a practice promote compassion for others? We propose a two-stage model. The first stage involves disengagement from usual preoccupation with self-reinforcing, self-defeating, or self-indulgent behaviors and reactions; the second involves a focused engagement with a universal human capacity for altruistic experience, love, and compassion. Reference is made to the limited research literature and to clinical applications of loving kindness (metta) meditation in cultivating these processes.

Subfields: Clinical Psychology, Experimental and Cognitive Psychology, Health

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/0f37742c24e95ab0c0589e5f35ebadafda13a5f1

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In Clinical Psychology

In Experimental and Cognitive Psychology

In Health

Citations in the corpus

The psychological effects of meditation: a meta-analysis. (2012, background): “A third major type of meditation is meditation with form, often called guided meditation (Kristeller & Johnson, 2005; Kristeller & Rikhye, 2008).”
An examination of patience and well-being (2012, background): “Palys and Little (1983) maintain that goal enjoyability, difficulty, social support, and temporal importance are associated with life satisfaction. Sheldon, Ryan, Deci, and Kasser (2004) provide evidence that goal content and motives affect quality of life in a 1-year prospective study of change in ”
Exploring self‐compassion and empathy in the context of mindfulness‐based stress reduction (MBSR) (2010, background): “Engagement in meditative practices has been posited to enhance qualities of empathy and self-compassion (Kristeller & Johnson, 2005) and qualities fostered by mindfulness are considered necessary preconditions for self-compassion and empathy to take root (Beddoe & Murphy, 2004; Block-Lerner, Adair,…”
An Investigation of the Relations Between Altruism, Empathy, and Spirituality (2012, methodology): “With regard to spiritual experience, the current findings bolster the view of altruism as being an expression of self-transcendence (Krebs, 1991; Kristeller & Johnson, 2005; Piliavin & Charng, 1990; Post, 2003; Post et al., 2002).”
Mindfulness-based stress reduction effects on moral reasoning and decision making (2012, background): “Another reason mindfulness may increase moral reasoning is through its cultivation of compassion and empathy (Kristeller & Johnson, 2005).”