Divergent effects of brief contemplative practices in response to an acute stressor: A randomized controlled trial of brief breath awareness, loving-kindness, gratitude or an attention control practice
PLoS ONE December 12, 2018 M. Hirshberg, Simon B. Goldberg, S. Schaefer et al. 33 citations
Different styles of brief contemplative practices produce distinct effects on affect and behavior, especially under stress. In a randomized experiment with 156 undergraduates, gratitude training improved positive affect more than breath awareness, while loving-kindness reduced implicit negative affect more than a control condition. However, gratitude training also increased reactivity to a cold pressor stressor: participants reported it as more aversive and showed greater increases in negative affect. Those with greater gains in implicit positive affect after gratitude training later rated neutral faces as less likable and were less likely to donate time to help others. These findings suggest that even brief introductory practices can have divergent outcomes, which may be amplified by stress.