Kindness is lesser preferable than happiness: investigating interest in different effects of the loving-kindness and compassion meditations.
Yanhe Deng, Taoyuan Du, Xianglong Zeng, Wen Wang
BMC psychology April 26, 2025 DOI: 10.1186/s40359-025-02771-4 via PubMed
Summary
People are less interested in cultivating kindness than in boosting their own happiness, even when signing up for loving-kindness and compassion meditation training. Two studies—one with 583 university students and another with 1,075 participants in a four-week online training—found that kind attitudes were the least desired outcome among potential trainees. Higher interest in meditations focused on subjective well-being predicted increases in personal happiness. The findings suggest that a hedonic bias, prioritizing personal happiness over kindness, is reinforced by trainees themselves, raising philosophical and ethical questions for modern positive psychology.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 1,658 |
| Population | University students and online participants in a 4-week loving-kindness and compassion meditation training |
| Topics | Buddhism |
| Keywords | Compassion meditation Hedonism Loving-kindness meditation Philosophy |
| Citations | 1 |
| Registration | NCT06424951 |
| Key finding | Trainees showed less desire for cultivating kind attitudes compared to enhancing personal happiness, and higher interest in happiness-focused meditation predicted increases in personal happiness. |
Abstract
The primary purpose of the Loving-kindness and Compassion Meditations (LKCM) in Buddhism was the cultivation of kindness, but many modern LKCM trainings focused on happiness, and even used the "kindness for happiness" strategy that advocate cultivation of kindness for the benefit of happiness. This study investigated whether cultivating kindness was lesser desired than enhancing happiness for potential trainees, and it impacts on LKCM training. Study 1 recruited 583 university students, study 2 involved 1075 participants from a 4-week online LKCM training. The measures included interest in meditation trainings that focused on emotional happiness, kind attitudes and other effects. Two studies cohesively supported kind attitudes were the least desired effects, and study 2 showed that higher interest in meditations on Subjective well-being predicted increases in personal happiness. In summary, this study provided first evidence that trainees' preference on potential effects of LKCM existed and linked with effects of training. It suggested the hedonic bias in modern positive psychology is facilitated by trainees, and encouraged further attention in the philosophical and ethical issues in the trainings. The intervention program has been retrospectively registered with the PRS on May 17, 2024, under registration number NCT06424951.