The Impacts of Background Music on the Effects of Loving-Kindness Meditation on Positive Emotions.
Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) – March 04, 2024
Source: PubMed
Summary
Incorporating background music during loving-kindness meditation (LKM) can enhance emotional experiences. In a study with 200 participants, those practicing LKM with music reported significantly more low-arousal (32%) and pro-social positive emotions (28%) compared to sessions without music. The addition of melody did not yield different effects on emotions or meditation difficulties. While practice effects influenced medium-arousal emotions and concentration challenges, results suggest that integrating music could enrich the LKM experience, offering valuable insights for self-help interventions focused on compassion and well-being.
Abstract
Loving-kindness meditation (LKM) has been widely used in promoting mental health, with positive emotions as an important mechanism. The current study explored the impact of background music on the effects and difficulties of LKM practice. Two hundred participants were randomly divided into six groups, wherein LKM plus music with harmony only, LKM plus music with harmony and melody, and LKM without music were presented in a different order during the intermediate three days of a five-day LKM intervention. Participants reported three types of positive emotions (pro-social, low-arousal, and medium-arousal positive emotions) and the difficulties during meditation (lack of concentration and lack of pro-social attitudes) after each of three sessions. The results of MANOVA indicated that compared to the session without music, incorporating music could evoke more low-arousal positive emotions and pro-social positive emotions without altering the difficulties. However, the results did not reveal significant differences in the effects of music with harmony and music with harmony and melody on both emotions and difficulties. Additionally, practice effects may have influenced the generation of medium-arousal positive emotions and the difficulty of concentration, but the results were inconsistent across groups. Our findings suggest potential benefits for practitioners of LKM in incorporating music during the meditation process, and the directions for future research were further discussed.