Mindfulness and compassion: an examination of mechanism and scalability.
Level 2 - randomized trial
Randomized controlled trial with an active control group
PubMed 25689827 · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0118221
What was done
Participants were assigned to complete a three-week, mobile app-based training course in either mindfulness meditation or cognitive skills (active control). Following training, each participant arrived at a lab and sat in the last open chair in a waiting area with two seated confederates. A third confederate on crutches and wearing a walking boot entered while displaying visible discomfort. The primary outcome was whether the participant gave up their seat to relieve the confederate's pain. Empathic accuracy was also measured.
What was found
Participants in the mindfulness meditation condition gave up their seats more frequently than those in the active control group. Mindfulness practice did not increase empathic accuracy. The abstract reports no numerical values, sample sizes, or test statistics.
Why it matters
This study provides experimental evidence that brief, scalable smartphone-based mindfulness training can foster prosocial helping behavior in a naturalistic setting, and indicates that this effect operates independently of improvements in decoding others' emotional states.
Limits
The abstract omits sample size, participant demographics, and numerical effect sizes. The assessment was limited to a single staged behavioral interaction immediately following the intervention, leaving long-term real-world persistence unexamined.
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