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The effects of mindfulness and kindness meditation on teacher emotional abilities, compassion, and prosocial behavior Floman, James L.
Abstract
Teachers evidence high rates of occupational burnout and turnover. Accordingly, the present study evaluated the feasibility and acceptability of digital meditation practices for teachers. The effects of digital meditation on teacher affect and mindfulness, and on teacher emotion skills, compassion, and prosocial behavior also were examined. Participants were K-12 teachers from Western Canada (N = 121). Teachers were randomly assigned to mindfulness meditation (MM), kindness meditation (KM), or music relaxation (MR; active control) training for six weeks (approximately one hour a week). Teachers reported the digital MM, KM, and MR practices to be highly engaging, and moderately efficacious and enjoyable. Within-group increases in positive affect (d = 0.42) and mindfulness skills (ds = 0.42–0.45) were found in the MM group. Within-group reductions in negative affect (ds = -0.81, -0.83, -0.89) and stress (ds = -0.54, -0.49, -0.68) were found in the MM, KM, and MR groups, respectively. However, neither MM nor KM improved affect or mindfulness compared to the MR control. Thus, the within-group effects may (to some extent) reflect placebo effects and/or demand characteristics. Regarding the effects of training on emotion skills, compassion, and prosocial behavior, only one finding was observed. KM increased prosocial behavior (decreased altruistic punishment; d = -0.56) compared to MM in an online economic game. From pre-test to post-test KM reduced, whereas MM iatrogenically heightened, altruistic punishment. Exploratory analyses were conducted that also tested the effects of training on emotion skills, compassion, and prosocial behavior in the female subsample (n = 96) (the male subsample was too small – n = 22 – to conduct gender-by-group interactions or male-only analyses). In female teachers, KM promoted prosocial behavior in online economic games: KM versus the MR control increased altruistic giving (d = 0.57), and KM versus MM decreased altruistic punishment (d = -0.77). Overall, the feasibility and acceptability of digital meditation (and music relaxation) practices for teachers was supported. However, the efficacy of digital meditations as tools to foster adaptive teacher social-emotional behavior received limited support. Studies utilizing more intensive interventions that employ longitudinal designs are needed to determine the social-emotional efficacy of digital meditation for educators.
Item Metadata
| Title |
The effects of mindfulness and kindness meditation on teacher emotional abilities, compassion, and prosocial behavior
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| Creator | |
| Publisher |
University of British Columbia
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| Date Issued |
2018
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| Description |
Teachers evidence high rates of occupational burnout and turnover. Accordingly, the present study evaluated the feasibility and acceptability of digital meditation practices for teachers. The effects of digital meditation on teacher affect and mindfulness, and on teacher emotion skills, compassion, and prosocial behavior also were examined. Participants were K-12 teachers from Western Canada (N = 121). Teachers were randomly assigned to mindfulness meditation (MM), kindness meditation (KM), or music relaxation (MR; active control) training for six weeks (approximately one hour a week). Teachers reported the digital MM, KM, and MR practices to be highly engaging, and moderately efficacious and enjoyable. Within-group increases in positive affect (d = 0.42) and mindfulness skills (ds = 0.42–0.45) were found in the MM group. Within-group reductions in negative affect (ds = -0.81, -0.83, -0.89) and stress (ds = -0.54, -0.49, -0.68) were found in the MM, KM, and MR groups, respectively. However, neither MM nor KM improved affect or mindfulness compared to the MR control. Thus, the within-group effects may (to some extent) reflect placebo effects and/or demand characteristics. Regarding the effects of training on emotion skills, compassion, and prosocial behavior, only one finding was observed. KM increased prosocial behavior (decreased altruistic punishment; d = -0.56) compared to MM in an online economic game. From pre-test to post-test KM reduced, whereas MM iatrogenically heightened, altruistic punishment. Exploratory analyses were conducted that also tested the effects of training on emotion skills, compassion, and prosocial behavior in the female subsample (n = 96) (the male subsample was too small – n = 22 – to conduct gender-by-group interactions or male-only analyses). In female teachers, KM promoted prosocial behavior in online economic games: KM versus the MR control increased altruistic giving (d = 0.57), and KM versus MM decreased altruistic punishment (d = -0.77). Overall, the feasibility and acceptability of digital meditation (and music relaxation) practices for teachers was supported. However, the efficacy of digital meditations as tools to foster adaptive teacher social-emotional behavior received limited support. Studies utilizing more intensive interventions that employ longitudinal designs are needed to determine the social-emotional efficacy of digital meditation for educators.
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| Genre | |
| Type | |
| Language |
eng
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| Date Available |
2018-01-24
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| Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
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| Rights |
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
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| DOI |
10.14288/1.0363153
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| URI | |
| Degree | |
| Program | |
| Affiliation | |
| Degree Grantor |
University of British Columbia
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| Graduation Date |
2018-02
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| Campus | |
| Scholarly Level |
Graduate
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| Rights URI | |
| Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International