Relative Effects of Meditation vs other Activities on Ratings of Relaxation and Enjoyment of Others

Abstract

Subjects rated extent of relaxation and enjoyment of interpersonal relations for each day during a 4-wk. baseline period. The next week, subjects engaged in a different activity on each of 4 days for 20 min.: meditation, progressive relaxation, enjoyment of others as much as they could, and sitting down and trying to feel good. This sequence was repeated during the next 2 wk. At the end of each day, subjects rated their relaxation and the degree of enjoyment of other people. Analysis indicated that meditation produced significantly lower ratings of tension than did a baseline or control condition. Meditation, however, was not better than some alternative techniques, e.g., concentrating on trying to enjoy oneself or others, and subjects were more likely to engage in these alternative techniques than in meditation. Meditation had no effect on ratings of social relations.