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RESEARCH ARTICLE

The Benefi ts of Meditation Vis-à-Vis Emotional Intelligence, Perceived Stress and Negative Mental Health Li-Chuan Chu*†

School of Health Policy and Management, Chung Shan Medical University, Taiwan, ROC

Summary

This paper evaluates the benefi ts of meditation in regard to emotional intelligence (EI), perceived stress and nega-

tive mental health with cross-sectional and experimental studies. It fi rst studied 351 full-time working adults with

different amounts of experience in meditation for these factors in order to test the hypothesis that their differences

in them were based on differences in meditation experience, and found that those participants with greater medita-

tion experience exhibited higher EI, and less perceived stress and negative mental health than those who had less

or none. It then randomly divided 20 graduate students with no previous experience of meditation into a mindful-

ness meditation group (n = 10) and a control group (n = 10), and measured them for the same variable pre- treatment and post-treatment to test the hypothesis that meditation training improves people’s state, and found

that those who completed the mindfulness meditation training demonstrated signifi cant improvements compared

Keywords

meditation; emotional intelligence; perceived stress; negative mental health; mindfulness

*Correspondence

Li-Chuan Chu, School of Health Policy and Management, Chung Shan Medical University, 100, Sec. 2., Da-Qing St, Taichung, 402.

Taiwan, ROC. †Email: [email protected]

Published online in 29 September 2009 Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com) DOI: 10.1002/smi.1289

Discovering methods for enhancing EI, reducing

perceived stress and promoting mental health simulta-

neously has become a salient area of research. Medita-

tion would seem to be one of the most effective coping

strategies. A substantial amount of research has found

that meditation is not only benefi cial to mental health

(Baer et al., 2008; Carmody & Baer, 2008; Shapiro,

1992) and the regulation of cognitive and emotional

functioning (Baer, Smith, Hopkins, Krietemeyer, &

Toney, 2006; Segal, Williams, & Teasdale, 2002;

Teasdale, 1999; Teasdale et al., 2000), but is also effec-

tive in eliminating perceived stress and related symp-

toms (Carmody & Baer, 2008; Chang et al., 2004).

Other studies have found that practicing meditation

Introduction

Many studies have linked perceived stress, and other

negative mental and emotional states to adverse health

outcomes (Burns, Drayson, Ring, & Carroll, 2003).

Researchers have recently begun examining the impact

of emotional intelligence (EI) on people’s mental health

or as a factor moderating stress, and have found that

people with higher EI suffer less subjective stress and

experience better health and well-being (Ciarrochi,

Deane, & Anderson, 2002; Donaldson-Feilder & Bond,

2004; Goldman, Kraemer, & Salovey, 1996; Mayer &

Salovey, 1995; Slaski & Cartwright, 2002; Tsaousis &

Nikolaou, 2005).

The Benefi ts of Meditation L.-C. Chu

can enhance EI, tolerance, sociability, empathy, positive

states of mind, positive values, happiness and joy and

positive thinking (Baer et al., 2006; Beddoe & Murphy,

2004; Block-Lerner, Adair, Plumb, Rhatigan, & Orsillo,

2007; Chang et al., 2004; Gelderloos, Goddard,

Ahlstrom, & Jacoby, 1987; Griggs, 1976; Hanley &

Spates, 1978; Lutz, Brefczynski-Lewis, Johnstone, &

Davidson, 2008a; Shapiro, 1992; Shapiro, Schwartz,

& Bonner, 1998), or have found that it can decrease

anger, anxiety, hostility and depression, and relapses

into depression signifi cantly (Dua & Swinden, 1992;

Hayes, 2004; Segal, Williams, Teasdale, & Kabat-Zinn,

2007; Segal et al., 2002; Shapiro et al., 1998; Teasdale,

1999; Teasdale et al., 2000).

These benefi ts of meditation may be attributed to its

nature. Lutz, Slagter, Dunne and Davidson (2008b)

found that meditation practices’ pot ential regulatory

functions on attention and emotional processes can

cultivate such ends as well-being and emotional balance.

Shapiro (1982) categorized meditation’s attention

strategies as being: (a) concentrative meditation; (b)

mindfulness meditation; and (c) integrated meditation,

which involves shifting back and forth between the fi rst

two.

Concentrative meditation fi xes the mind on a specifi c

object, such as the sensation of breathing. When people

who are meditating notice that their attention has wan-

dered away from the chosen object, they tell themselves

that it is all right to be distracted, disengage their atten-

tion from the distracters and then return their attention

to the chosen object. Novice meditators contend with

more distractions, while advanced meditation practitio-

ners have an especially acute ability to notice when their

minds have wandered. They also invoke their regulative

skills increasingly less frequently, and their ability to

sustain focus therefore becomes progressively more

effortless (Lutz et al., 2008b). Such a path of concentra-

tion can lead to states of happiness and peace (Engler,

1984), a sense of physical lightness or vigour and a

decrease in the need for sleep and emotional reactivity

(Lutz et al., 2008b) by decreasing interest in other

thoughts and creating non-engagement with mental

activity (i.e. meta-cognitive awareness).

Mindfulness meditation, however, does not focus on

objects; non-reactive metacognitive monitoring; or

non-reactive awareness of automatic cognitive and

emotional interpretations of sensory, perceptual and

endogenous stimuli (Lutz et al., 2008b). People engaged

in mindfulness meditation try to cultivate a new rela-

tionship with internal experiences by regulating such

things as attention, awareness of present experiences,

emotions and thoughts through non-judgmental

acceptance of those emotions and thoughts without

avoiding them or overengaging with them (Baer et al.,

2006; Bishop et al., 2004; Kabat-Zinn, 1990; Kumar,

2005).

Mindfulness and EI, as defi ned by Salovey and Mayer

(1990), are similar in that both are meta-cognitive and

meta-mood constructs, that is, they both emphasize

people’s abilities to perceive, understand and regulate

their thoughts and emotions (Donaldson-Feilder &

Bond, 2004). Some studies supported the potential

importance of mindfulness to EI more generally. Spe-

cifi cally, Ciarrochi, Blackledge, Bilich and Bayliss (2007)

indicated that mindfulness-based EI training could

improve EI. Kabat-Zinn (1993) and Welwood (1996)

argued that mindfulness promotes attunement, con-

nection and closeness in relationships. Baer, Smith and

Allen (2004); Baer et al. (2006); and Brown and Ryan

(2003) showed that the components of EI, which are

social skills and perspective taking, interpersonal close-

ness, cooperative response patterns and marital partner

satisfaction (Schutte, Malouff, & Bobik, 2001), are

signifi cantly related to mindfulness. Davidson and

Harrington (2002) also suggested that the greater

insight into self, others and human nature, along with

an easing of ego-based concerns that is afforded by

mindfulness, encourages a more compassionate con-

cern for others. Consistent with the proposition, Beitel,

Ferrer and Cecero’s (2005) initial correlational

evidence supported this notion (see Brown, Ryan, &

Creswell, 2007, for review).

In addition, individuals can develop self-awareness,

which is one of the major tenets of EI, by practicing

mindfulness meditation. This means that they could be

mindful about their environment and whatever is hap-

pening in the here and now, rather than focusing too

much on the past and the future (Epstein, 1990).

This practice can destroy notions of a permanent,

intact self, and is accompanied by the development of

a mindfulness through the experience of meditation

would become an increasingly effortless surrender to

the fl ow of experience without any emotional distur-

bance (Epstein, 1990; Lutz et al., 2008b). Ryan and Deci

(2000) found that this mindfulness can capture a

quality of consciousness from the clarity and vividness

of current experience and functioning, and might effec-

tively disengage individuals from automatic thoughts,

L.-C. Chu The Benefi ts of Meditation

habits and unhealthy behavioural patterns, thus foster-

ing informed and self-endorsed behavioural regulation,

something which has long been associated with the

enhancement of well-being.

According to self-determination theory (Deci &

Ryan, 1985; Ryan & Deci, 2000), which posits that com-

pared with automatic processing, controlled processing

often precludes the consideration of options that would

be more congruent with needs and values (Ryan, Kuhl,

& Deci, 1997). Open awareness may effectively facilitate

the choosing of behaviour that is consistent with one’s

needs, values and interests (Deci & Ryan, 1980). Mind-

fulness can therefore facilitate well-being through self-

regulated activity and the fulfi llment of the basic

psychological need for autonomy, defi ned as self-

endorsed or freely chosen activity (Brown & Ryan,

2003; Hodgins & Knee, 2002).

From the perspective of emotional regulation, sub-

stantial evidence exists that both the avoidance of emo-

tions and overengagement with them are associated

with poor physical and psychological health outcomes

(Beevers, Wenzlaff, Hayes, & Scott, 1999; Gross, 2002;

Nolen-Hoeksema, 2000; Ottenbreit & Dobson, 2004;

Wenzlaff & Luxton, 2003). Thought suppression and

avoidant coping attempt to regulate negative thoughts

and emotions, but these strategies often exacerbate

problems and contribute to depression (Beevers et al.,

1999; Ottenbreit & Dobson, 2004; Wenzlaff & Luxton,

2003).

Baer et al. (2006) found that most of the fi ve princi-

pal facets of mindfulness, which are observing, describ-

ing, acting with awareness, not judging inner experiences

and not reacting to inner experiences, are signifi cantly

related to meditation experience and well-being, unlike

experiential avoidance and thought suppression. Mind-

fulness meditation can therefore prevent depression

relapse by interrupting destructive cycles of avoidance

and overengagement (Segal et al., 2002; Teasdale, 1999;

Teasdale et al., 2000), and has therefore become a useful

clinical intervention, non-clinical intervention or both

for improving psychological and physical functioning

by promoting emotional regulation (Arch & Craske,

2006; Brown & Ryan, 2003; Hayes & Feldman, 2004;

Kumar, Feldman, & Hayes, 2008; Ramel, Goldin,

Carmona, & McQuaid, 2004).

In light of the preceding review of the literature,

meditation not only has a direct effect in terms of gen-

erating a relaxation response to balance the state of its

practitioners’ psychological health, but it also has an

indirect effect through the enhancement of their psy-

chological well-being by storing up high EI and main-

taining a positive attitude towards perceived stress.

Lutz et al. (2008b) suggested that an important area

for future research into meditation practices is their

observed ability to invoke an emotional state of

empathy, affection and compassion for others. In line

with this suggestion, this study’s objective was to dis-

cover the benefi ts of meditation for EI, perceived stress

and mental health through cross-sectional and experi-

mental studies. To this end, we fi rst examined the rela-

tionship between meditation experience and these

dependent variables by employing a cross-sectional

study. We then appraised the improvement effects in

terms of these dependent variables after training in

mindfulness meditation by conducting an experimental

study.

Study 1: a cross-sectional study

Aims and hypotheses

According to the review of the literature, we hypothe-

sized that meditation experience is positively associated

with EI, and negatively associated with perceived stress

and negative mental health. The participants who had

greater meditation experience exhibited higher EI and

less perceived stress, and negative mental health than

those who had less or none.

Method

Participants and procedure

We used a cross-sectional survey research design and

convenience sampling to collect data. The study’s par-

ticipants were full-time working adults employed by

public and private enterprises in Taiwan. We distrib-

uted 500 questionnaires, directing 250 mostly towards

students of the Puzhong Meditation Center of the

Chung Tai Chan Monastery who had jobs. The sample

returned 351 responses, 156 from men and 195 from

women, with a mean age of 36.83 years [standard devia-

tion (SD) 8.28], an effective questionnaire rate of

70 per cent. In terms of position ranks, the majority of

par ticipants were from non-manager (60 per cent),

and the rest were from manager (40 per cent) in

organizations.

In addition, the participants had a wide range of

meditation experience. Thirty-eight (10.8 per cent) had

more than 5 years of experience meditating with the

The Benefi ts of Meditation L.-C. Chu

Chung Tai Chan Monastery, 22 (6.3 per cent) had 3–5

years, 41 (11.7 per cent) had 1–3 years, 44 (12.5 per

cent) had less than 1 year and 206 (58.7 per cent) had

no meditation experience. The participants completed

a battery of structured questionnaires that included

items measuring meditation experience, EI (Schutte

et al., 1998), perceived stress (Cohen, Kamarck, &

Mermelstein, 1983) and negative mental health

(Goldberg & Hillier, 1979). They were employed in

such industry sectors as high-tech, fi nance and insur-

ance, business and professional services, traditional

manufacturing and government (i.e. civil servants and

teachers).

Measures

Meditation experience

We defi ned meditation experience as having at least

20 min regular daily practice of either concentrative,

mindfulness or integrated meditation. It was an open-

ended single item asking how many years the respon-

dent had been meditating before receiving the

questionnaire.

We assessed EI by using the emotional intelligence

scale (EIS) (Schutte et al., 1998). This 33-item self-

report scale, based on the original model by Salovey and

Mayer (1990), has been widely used to assess a variety

of characteristics of EI, including the appraisal and

expression, regulation and utilization of emotion.

Schutte et al. (1998) found the scale to have high reli-

ability, with a Cronbach’s alpha coeffi cient of 0.9 for

the 33-item scale, and high validity. Petrides and

Furnham (2000a) identifi ed four interpretable factors

in the Schutte et al. measure, which were optimism and

mood regulation, appraisal of emotions, social skills

and the utilization of emotions. We measured each

item on a fi ve-point Likert scale, ranging from 1

(strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). The higher

scores were indicative of higher EI.

Perceived stress

We assessed this using the perceived stress scale

(PSS) (Cohen et al., 1983). This 14-item self-report

scale was designed to measure the degree to which

people appraise situations in their lives as stressful. Spe-

cifi cally, Cohen et al. (1983) designed PSS items to

provide a direct measure of the degree to which respon-

dents currently found their lives unpredictable, uncon-

trollable and overloaded. The PSS measure, which asks

subjects to rate how often they have felt or thought a

certain way during the preceding month, is measured

using a fi ve-point Likert scale ranging from 0 (never)

to 4 (very often). Higher scores indicate higher levels of

stress. This measure showed adequate reliability, with

Cronbach’s alpha coeffi cients of 0.84, 0.85 and 0.86

for two college student samples and one community

smoking-cessation programme sample, and, as pre-

dicted, has been correlated with life event scores,

depressive and physical symptomatology validity, the

utilization of health services, social anxiety and

smoking-reduction maintenance (Cohen et al., 1983).

Negative mental health

We assessed negative mental health by using the

general health questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28) scale

(Goldberg & Hillier, 1979). This 28-item self-report

scale asks respondents about such recently experienced

symptoms or behaviours as somatic symptoms, anxiety

and insomnia, social dysfunction and severe depres-

sion. Each subscale contains seven items rated on a

four-point Likert scale, with binary scoring (0–0–1–1)

ranging from 0 (not at all) to 1 (much more than

usual). The GHQ-28 is a commonly used instrument

with plenty of evidence of reliability and validity. The

higher scores indicate poorer mental health (Goldberg

& Hillier, 1979).

Control variables

Such demographic variables as gender, age, position

and industry, however, infl uence EI (Atkins & Stough,

2005; Goleman, 1995; Mayer, Salovey, & Caruso, 2002;

Palmer, Gardner, & Stough, 2003; Petrides & Furnham,

2000b; Schutte et al., 1998; Shih & Susanto, 2007; Slaski

& Cartwright, 2002; Van Rooy, Alonso, & Viswesvaran,

2005), perceived stress and mental health (Arber &

Cooper, 1999; Baum & Grunberg, 1991; Chang &

Lu, 2009; Farrer, Leach, Griffi ths, Christensen,

& Jorm, 2008; Liu, Spector, & Shi, 2008; Matthews,

Manory, & Power, 1999). We controlled for these

demographic variables before evaluating the predictive

validity of meditation experience on the outcomes of

interest.

Some of these control variables are set dummy vari-

ables for gender (1 = female, 0 = male), position (1 = manager, 0 = non-manager) and industry. We created

L.-C. Chu The Benefi ts of Meditation

four dummy variables to represent fi ve types of indus-

try, industry D1 being the high-tech industry with

code = 1, otherwise code = 0; industry D2 being the fi nance and insurance industry with code = 1, otherwise code = 0; industry D3 being the business and pro- fessional services industry with code = 1, otherwise code = 0; and industry D4 being the traditional manu- facturing industry with code = 1, otherwise code = 0.

Results

The results indicate that all of the measures had high

internal consistency, such as Cronbach’s alpha scores of

0.87 for the EIS, 0.85 for the PSS and 0.89 for the

GHQ-28. To test the hypothesis that meditation experi-

ence is positively associated with EI and negatively asso-

ciated with perceived stress and negative mental health,

we adopt hierarchical regression for examination. We

fi rst input employee’s gender, age, position and indus-

try as control variables. Then, meditation experience

was input to test its impact on the outcomes of interest.

Table I shows the results of the hierarchical regression

analyses. Models 1.1, 2.1 and 3.1 show that the control

variables accounted for signifi cant portion of the vari-

ance in EI (6 per cent), perceived stress (7 per cent) and

negative mental health (6 per cent). Age was sig-

nifi cantly positively associated with EI (β = 0.12, p < 0.05), and negatively associated with perceived stress

(β = −0.20, p < 0.01) and negative mental health (β = −0.16, p < 0.01), whereas position was signifi cantly positively associated with EI (β = 0.13, p < 0.05). As expected, older employees had higher EI, and less per-

ceived stress and negative mental health than younger

ones, whereas managers had higher EI than non-man-

agers. In addition, industry D2 was positively associated

with negative mental health (β = 0.15, p < 0.05), whereas industry D4 was negatively associated with EI (β = −0.14, p < 0.05). The fi nance and insurance industry had more negative mental health than the government

(i.e. civil servants and teachers), whereas the traditional

manufacturing industry had less EI than the govern-

ment (i.e. civil servants and teachers).

Models 1.2, 2.2 and 3.2 indicate that meditation

experience accounted for an additional 2 per cent (p < 0.01) of the variance in EI, an additional 3 per cent

(p < 0.01) of the variance in perceived stress and an additional 2 per cent (p < 0.05) of the variance in nega- tive mental health. Besides, meditation experience was

signifi cantly positively associated with EI (β = 0.17, p < 0.01), and negatively associated with perceived stress

(β = −0.20, p < 0.01) and negative mental health (β = −0.14, p < 0.05). In other words, the participants who had greater meditation experience exhibited higher EI,

and less perceived stress and negative mental health

than those who had less or none. These fi ndings provide

support for our hypotheses.

Table I. Results of hierarchical regression analyses on emotional intelligence (EI), perceived stress and negative mental health†

Predictor EI Perceived stress Negative mental health

Model 1.1 Model 1.2 Model 2.1 Model 2.2 Model 3.1 Model 3.2

Gender 0.04 (0.66) 0.02 (0.42) 0.04 (0.81) 0.06 (1.10) 0.10 (1.85) 0.11 (2.05)*

Age 0.12 (1.97)* 0.06 (0.87) −0.20 (−3.29)** −0.13 (−1.99)* −0.16 (−2.67)** −0.11 (−1.72) Position 0.13 (2.17)* 0.16 (2.71)** −0.07 (−1.16) −0.11 (−1.80) −0.01 (−0.10) −0.03 (−0.54) Industry D1 −0.08 (−1.03) −0.06 (−0.89) 0.01 (0.10) −0.01 (−0.07) 0.07 (0.97) 0.06 (0.86) Industry D2 −0.11 (−1.67) −0.09 (−1.38) 0.10 (1.58) 0.08 (1.24) 0.15 (2.31)* 0.14 (2.06)* Industry D3 −0.05 (−0.73) −0.04 (−0.67) 0.02 (0.31) 0.01 (0.23) 0.07 (1.15) 0.07 (1.10) Industry D4 −0.14 (−2.20)* −0.16 (−2.51)** 0.10 (1.61) 0.12 (1.97)* 0.09 (1.48) 0.11 (1.72) Meditation

experience

0.17 (3.01)** −0.20 (−3.45)** −0.14 (−2.41)*

R2 0.06 0.08 0.07 0.10 0.06 0.08

Adjusted R2 0.04 0.06 0.05 0.08 0.04 0.05

R2 change 0.06** 0.02** 0.07** 0.03** 0.06** 0.02*

F 2.89** 3.72** 3.61** 4.75** 3.13** 3.50**

Gender was coded as 1, female and 0, male; position was coded as 1, manager and 0, non-manager; industry D1 was coded as 1, high-tech and

0, otherwise; industry D2 was coded as 1, fi nance and insurance and 0, otherwise; industry D3 was coded as 1, business and professional services

and 0, otherwise; industry D4 was coded as 1, traditional manufacturing and 0, otherwise; *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01. † Standardized coeffi cients are exhibited.

The Benefi ts of Meditation L.-C. Chu

In addition, gender was signifi cantly positively asso-

ciated with negative mental health (β = 0.11, p < 0.05), whereas industry D4 was signifi cantly positively ass-

ociated with perceived stress (β = 0.12, p < 0.05) after controlling for the main effect of the meditation

experience. As expected, female employees had more

negative mental health than male ones, whereas the

traditional manufacturing industry had higher per-

ceived stress than the government (i.e. civil servants

and teachers).

Study 2: an experimental study

Aims and hypotheses

This study used an experimental study design to

appraise improvement in terms of the three main

dependent variables of EI, perceived stress and negative

mental health after mindfulness meditation training.

We hypothesized that participants who accepted 8

weeks of mindfulness meditation training would show

signifi cant improvement in terms of these variables

compared with a control group who did not receive any

intervention.

Method

Participants and procedure

Participants We fi rst posted the meditation experiment informa-

tion on the bulletin board system of the National

Central University (NCU) in Taiwan. Twenty graduate

students from the NCU with no previous experience of

meditation practice volunteered to participate. They

were students in management, economics, philosophy,

physics, mathematics and electrical engineering. We

assigned them randomly to either a mindfulness medi-

tation group (n = 10) or a control group (n = 10). One person in the control group dropped out during the

experiment. We therefore used data covering 19 sub-

jects (10 males and 9 females) in the analysis. The par-

ticipants’ mean age was 24.42 years. At the baseline, a

chi-square test revealed no signifi cant differences

between the meditation and control groups in terms of

such demographic variables as gender and department.

In addition, independent sample t-tests also indicated

no signifi cant differences between the meditation and

control groups in relation to such demographic vari-

ables as age. Not one of the subjects who joined this

study was ill at that time.

Procedure

We conducted the meditation programme over

an 8-week period. The participants were com pensated

NT$800 cash for their participation. The meditation

participants had to take part in this programme once a

week and continue with it for the full 8 weeks. Each

experimental participant engaged in an eight-session

meditation programme, with each session lasting

20 min. One week before the training began, we

instructed the participants in the meditation group how

to perform the mindfulness meditative practices that

we taught, which did not include the full package of

Kabat-Zinn’s mindfulness-based stress reduction

(1982, 1990) programme or Segal et al.’s mindfulness-

based cognitive therapy (2002) relapse-prevention pro-

gramme. For example, we did not include exercises

related to yoga and the body scan.

In brief, we instructed participants to sit upright and

comfortably, close their eyes, breathe through their

noses and attend to their breathing as a target of focused

conscious experience. After approximately 2 min, we

told the participants to count their breaths silently as a

means of further entraining their attention towards the

process of their breathing. The counting phase lasted

5 min. We then led the participants in a 15-min silent

meditation in which we instructed them to attend

towards their breathing without counting for the dura-

tion of the meditation. We also instructed them that if

they were aware that their attention had wandered from

their breathing, they should attempt to disengage their

attention from distracters and return their attention to

their breathing in a non-judgmental manner.

The control group subjects did not receive any relax-

ation training and were only told at the fi rst session to

sit down and simply relax their mood and body during

periods of inactivity.

Materials

We tested all participants in a psychology laboratory

over an 8-week period. They answered questions

concerned with such demographic characteristics as

gender, age and department. In addition, they also

completed a battery of self-report questionnaires which

included the EIS (Schutte et al., 1998), the PSS (Cohen

et al., 1983) and the GHQ-28 inventory (Goldberg

& Hillier, 1979; GHQ-28) both before and after the

experiment. These questionnaires were described in

study 1.

L.-C. Chu The Benefi ts of Meditation

Results

Table II presents a summary of the means and SDs for

the different groups in relation to the measures for

three main dependent variables. Independent t-tests

showed no signifi cant differences between the medita-

tion and control groups for the three main dependant

variables, but did for the utilization of emotions vari-

able [t (17) = 2.65, p < 0.05] in the pre-test measure. The meditation group had higher scores in regard to

the utilization of emotions than the control group in

the pre-test measure. However, the results of the inde-

pendent sample’s t-tests indicated that signifi cant dif-

ferences existed in the main dependent variables

between the meditation and control groups in the post-

test measures.

Compared with the fi nding of no signifi cant differ-

ences in the pre-test, the meditation group exhibited

higher scores in relation to such aspects of EI as opti-

mism/mood regulation [t (17) = 3.84, p < 0.01], the appraisal of emotions [t (17) = 3.44, p < 0.01] and social skills [t (17) = 3.74, p < 0.01] than the control group in the post-test measures. Moreover, the meditation

group also had lower scores in regard to perceived stress

[t (17) = −4.86, p < 0.001], such aspects of negative mental health as somatic symptoms [t (17) = −3.14, p < 0.01], anxiety and insomnia [t (17) = −4.70, p < 0.001], social dysfunction [t (17) = −3.07, p < 0.01] and severe depression [t (17) = −3.19, p < 0.01] than the control group in the post-test measures. As predicted,

the fi ndings indicate that a statistically signifi cant

improvement existed in the subjective evaluation of the

three main dependent variables of the meditation

group after the 8 weeks of mindfulness meditation

training.

Discussion

This study has examined the nature of meditation to

determine whether it helps to improve EI, perceived

stress and mental health, its three main dependent vari-

ables. Firstly, its cross-sectional study found that medi-

tation experience was signifi cantly associated with these

variables. As expected, meditation experience was posi-

tively associated with EI, which is in line with other

studies’ fi ndings that practicing meditation can enhance

EI (Baer et al., 2006), sociability (Hanley & Spates,

1978), empathy (Beddoe & Murphy, 2004; Block-

Lerner et al., 2007; Griggs, 1976; Lutz et al., 2008a;

Shapiro et al., 1998), positive states of mind (Chang

et al., 2004), positive values (Gelderloos et al., 1987),

happiness, joy and positive thinking (Shapiro, 1992).

In addition, this study also found that meditation

experience was negatively associated with perceived

stress and negative mental health, which is in line with

other studies which have also found that meditation

can signifi cantly decrease perceived stress (Carmody &

Baer, 2008; Chang et al., 2004), anger (Dua & Swinden,

1992), anxiety (Hahn & Whalen, 1974; Shapiro et al.,

1998), hostility and depression (Hahn & Whalen,

1974), and relapses into depression (Hayes, 2004; Segal

et al., 2002, 2007; Teasdale, 1999; Teasdale et al., 2000).

Table II. Means and standard deviations (SDs) for the meditation and control groups regarding emotional intelligence (EI), perceived stress and negative mental health before and after training

Meditation group

(N = 10) Control group

(N = 9)

Pre-test

Mean (SD)

Post-test

Mean (SD)

Pre-test

Mean (SD)

Post-test

Mean (SD)

Optimism/mood regulation 3.62 (0.83) 4.11 (0.73)** 2.95 (0.88) 2.83 (0.73)

Appraisal of emotions 3.82 (0.70) 4.19 (0.64)** 3.49 (0.62) 3.16 (0.66)

Social skills 3.72 (0.60) 4.09 (0.38)** 3.37 (0.65) 3.07 (0.77)

Utilization of emotions 4.33 (0.67)* 4.35 (0.61)** 3.39 (0.87) 3.17 (0.76)

Perceived stress 2.04 (0.93) 1.31 (0.69)*** 2.36 (0.95) 2.75 (0.59)

Negative mental health

Somatic symptoms 1.33 (0.91) 0.40 (0.29)** 1.38 (0.85) 1.29 (0.84)

Anxiety and insomnia 1.04 (0.90) 0.33 (0.34)*** 1.51 (0.92) 1.63 (0.80)

Social dysfunction 1.17 (0.58) 0.80 (0.44)** 1.10 (0.46) 1.35 (0.32)

Severe depression 0.63 (0.71) 0.14 (0.18)** 0.70 (0.56) 0.81 (0.63)

* p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001.

The Benefi ts of Meditation L.-C. Chu

These benefi ts of meditation experience may be

attributed to meditation practices’ regulatory functions

on attention and emotional processes (Lutz et al.,

2008b). The development of concentration or mindful-

ness through the experience of meditation would

become increasingly effortless in sustaining focus or

surrendering to the fl ow of experience without emo-

tional disturbance (Epstein, 1990; Lutz et al., 2008b).

In order to measure the positive effects of meditation

accurately in relation to the three main dependent vari-

ables, we took the study a step further and examined

the improvement effects of mindfulness meditation

training in relation to these variables with an experi-

mental study. As predicted, the results indicated signifi -

cant improvement in the meditation group’s subjective

evaluation of the variables after an 8-week period of

training in mindfulness meditation techniques. Com-

pared with no signifi cant differences between the medi-

tation group and a control group in the pre-test, the

meditation group exhibited higher scores in relation to

such aspects of EI as optimism/mood regulation, the

appraisal of emotions and social skills in the post-test

measures than did the control group. Moreover, the

meditation group also exhibited lower scores in relation

to perceived stress and such symptoms of negative

mental health as somatic symptoms, anxiety and

insomnia, social dysfunction and severe depression in

the post-test measures than the control group. Overall,

these fi ndings supported this study’s hypotheses.

This study’s major contribution is that EI, perceived

stress and negative mental health can all be improved

simultaneously through the practice of meditation. It

also found that extended meditation practice sessions

appear to lead to higher EI, and less perceived stress and

negative mental health. Therefore, the fi ndings confi rm

that meditation not only generates a direct effect for

balancing its practitioners’ psychological state of health,

but also has an indirect effect in terms of enhancing

their psychological well-being by storing up high EI and

maintaining a positive attitude towards perceived

stress.

Limitations and future directions

In spite of these encouraging results, this study does

have a number of limitations.

Firstly, the experimental results do not make clear

the long-term changes in the three main dependent

variables, which were assessed only at pre-treatment

and at post-treatment 8 weeks later. Such results did

not show whether the positive effects of higher EI, and

less perceived stress and negative mental health could

be maintained for a longer period after meditation

training. This is in line with the suggestion from Lutz

et al. (2008b) that future studies could be extended to

examine whether meditation training affects behaviour

outside of the laboratory, and transforms such basic

mental functions as emotions and attention in everyday

life.

Next, this study did not examine whether mindful-

ness is associated with its three main dependent vari-

ables, but focused instead on the benefi ts of meditation

in relation to them. Based on mindfulness theory and

related experimental studies, we hypothesized that the

participants who had long meditation experience would

exhibit higher EI, and less perceived stress and negative

mental health than those who had little or no medita-

tion experience. It is important that the discussion

about mindfulness and its potential relationship to EI,

perceived stress and negative mental health be extended

in the future.

Thirdly, sole reliance on the use of self-reporting as

a measure of psychological outcomes makes it diffi cult

to avoid the problem of common method bias in cross-

sectional studies. Although the problem of common

method bias could be balanced by the results of experi-

mental studies, it could also be solved by multi-raters

or by rating multi-periods in the future.

Fourthly, although we instructed the members of the

control group to attempt to relax their moods and

bodies, this was unlikely to make much improvement

on their states in regard to the three main dependent

variables, because this resting state was a non-medita-

tive state without specifi c cognitive content and with a

lack of awareness or clarity of mind. If just sitting

and resting allow a person to think more non-

constructively, muddled thinking may still be the result

of greater emotional, cognitive, physical or psychologi-

cal tension.

Finally, the generalization of the experimental study’s

fi ndings is limited because of the small sample size.

In addition, Slaski and Cartwright (2003) found that

managers who participated in a developmental EI train-

ing programme did register signifi cant increases in EI,

morale and quality of working life, and signifi cant

reductions in psychological symptoms, distress and

subjective stress. Therefore, future studies should

compare and evaluate the relative effectiveness of a

L.-C. Chu The Benefi ts of Meditation

variety of such stress interventions as training courses

in meditation and stress prevention on EI, perceived

stress and negative mental health.

Next, there are many styles of meditation that widely

differ from one another in their procedures, contents,

objects, beliefs and goals. Given these differences, it is

important that the analysis of whether any styles of

meditation was more predictive of EI be extended in

the future.

Our fi nal recommendation is that complementary

evidence be obtained by adding such psycho-physiolog-

ical measurements that could respond immediately and

precisely to individuals’ emotional states and stress

levels as electroence phalographs, electrocardiograms,

heart rate, electromyographs, skin conductance, skin

temperature, blood volume and respiration to the self-

report measures that we used.

Practical implications

Stress is a serious and an inevitable reality in a rapidly

globalizing world of international business and com-

petitive organizations. Employee stress and emotional

well-being have been iden tifi ed as important determi-

nants of organizational health, performance and pro-

ductivity. For example, Burton, Conti, Chen, Schultz,

& Edington (1999) found high levels of emotional dis-

tress to be among the most costly health problems

employers face in terms of absenteeism, disability and

failure to meet productivity standards. The effective

prevention and management of stress are therefore an

important issue for organizations.

As previous researchers have suggested, people who

have higher EI have more coping resources that refl ect

their ability to respond directly to challenges rather

than to feel threatened when confronted by stressful

events. These emotional resources are able to protect

people from the pathogenic effects of stressful events by

altering stressor appraisal. People exhibit better mental

health when they have less perceived stress (Burns et al.,

2003), so organizations could use EI measures as an

effective tool in employee selection in order to reduce

stress-related costs.

Next, because prevention is indeed better than cure,

the development of EI has great signifi cance for work

forces. As previous researchers have suggested, medita-

tion may be an activity that promotes better health by

reducing people’s perception of stress and enhancing

their EI. Most importantly, meditation practice costs

little and is easily administered. The practice of medita-

tion is therefore one of the most cost-effective coping

strategies for organizations.

Conclusion

This study showed that meditation is not only benefi -

cial to the state of its practitioners’ psychological health,

but is also effective in enhancing their psychological

well-being by storing up high EI and maintaining a

positive attitude towards perceived stress. In addition,

greater improvements in EI, perceived stress and nega-

tive mental health associated with longer durations of

meditation practice. We suggest that meditation prac-

tice could be incorporated in one’s daily routine career

or family.

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the stress laboratory of

Dr Henry S. R. Kao at NCU. In addition, we would like

to thank all the participants who willingly took part in

this study, without whose help it would not have been

possible.

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