REACTIONS OF TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATORS AND NONMEDITATORS TO STRESS FILMS - A COGNITIVE STUDY

• NCJ Number: 67063
• Journal: Archives of General Psychiatry Volume: 34 Issue: 12 Dated: (1977) Pages: 1431-1436
• Author(s): N KANAS; M J HOROWITZ
• Date Published: 1977
• Length: 6 pages
• Grant Number(s): RR-05755-02; 24,341
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Health, Education, and Welfare; National Institutes of Health
• Corporate Author: American Medical Assoc
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

THIS EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION (TM) EXAMINES ITS EFFECT ON IMMEDIATE COGNITIVE AND EMOTIONAL RESPONSE TO A STRESSFUL STIMULUS.

Abstract

THE TWO HYPOTHESES STATED THAT (1) AFTER BEING SHOWN A STRESS FILM, PERSONS WHO HABITUALLY PRACTICED TM WOULD HAVE LOWER LEVELS OF STRESS RESPONSE THAN NONMEDITATORS (USING GROUP COMPARISONS TO EXAMINE THE LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF TM); AND THAT (2) A GROUP OF MEDITATORS (TEACHERS AND NONTEACHERS) WOULD SHOW LOWER LEVELS OF STRESS REACTION TO A STRESS FILM THAN A GROUP OF MEDITATORS WHO WERE TOLD NOT TO MEDITATE BUT TO SIT QUIETLY WITH THEIR EYES CLOSED FOR 10 MINUTES. ALL 58 SUBJECTS (PAID VOLUNTEERS) WATCHED TWO STRESS FILMS, AFTER WHICH THEY FILLED OUT STRESS AND AFFECT SCALES AND WROTE DOWN ALL THE THOUGHTS THEY COULD REMEMBER HAVING HAD WHILE PERFORMING A TONE DISCRIMINATION TASK. AFTER SEEING THE SECOND FILM, HALF THE MEDITATORS WERE ALLOWED TO MEDITATE FOR 10 MINUTES, WHILE A MATCHED GROUP OF MEDITATORS AND NONMEDITATORS WERE INSTRUCTED TO SIT QUIETLY WITH THEIR EYES CLOSED. THE FIRST HYPOTHESIS WAS TESTED USING THE COGNITIVE AND AFFECTIVE DATA FROM FOUR GROUPS: CONTROL, PREMEDITATOR, NONTEACHING MEDITATOR, AND MEDITATION TEACHER. THE SECOND HYPOTHESIS COMPARED THE MEDITATORS WHO MEDITATED VERSUS MEDITATORS WHO SAT WITH THEIR EYES CLOSED. ON BOTH COGNITIVE AND EMOTIONAL MEASURES, TM PRACTITIONERS DID NOT SHOW LESS COGNITIVE STRESS RESPONSE TO THE FILMS THAN THE CONTROLS AND PREMEDITATORS. MOREOVER, PREMEDITATORS RATED THEMSELVES AS SIGNIFICANTLY MORE EMOTIONALLY DISTRESSED THAN THE OTHER GROUPS. ALTHOUGH THE SECOND HYPOTHESIS WAS ALSO NOT SUPPORTED BY THE COGNITIVE DATA AND AFFECT SCALES, THERE WAS A NONSIGNIFICANT TREND FOR THE MEDITATING MEDITATORS TO SHOW LESS EMOTIONAL STRESS RESPONSE TO THE FILMS THAN THE SITTING MEDITATORS. THIS TREND ACHIEVED SIGNIFICANCE ON THE STRESS SCALE, SHOWING THAT MEDITATORS BELIEVED THAT TM HELPED THEM DEAL WITH STRESS. REFERENCES AND TABULAR DATA ARE PROVIDED.