Abstract
Objectives
Mindfulness meditation is based on Buddhist teachings and meditation practices that promote a reduced identification with thoughts and mental states. Mindfulness meditation is also suggested to promote self-other integration, either by decreasing preference for self-related processing or by rebalancing self and other-related processing. However, it is not clear how meditation practice influences attachment to self and more specifically sense of agency. Hence, we investigated how mindfulness meditation (Vipassana or insight meditation) practice influences an implicit measure of sense of agency known as intentional binding effect with self- vs other-associated stimuli by comparing long-term meditators with non-meditators.
Methods
This study had two phases. The first phase consisted of a perceptual matching task using self-related and other-related shape-label pairings so that participants can learn the shape-label associations. In the second phase, participants performed an intentional binding task with the same self-associated and other-associated stimuli displayed as target outcome of self-generated action.
Results
While meditators did show faster responses to self vs other shape-label processing similar to non-meditators, they did not show stronger binding (reduced temporal estimation between action and outcome shape) for self-associated compared with other-associated outcome.
Conclusions
The results indicate that even though meditators preferentially process self-related information, they are less attached to self-associated stimuli as indicated by an implicit measure of sense of agency. These results have implications for theories of action and agency based on contemplative traditions that emphasize less attachment to outcomes of our actions.
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Acknowledgments
We thank the mindfulness meditators and non-meditators who participated in the study. Salvatore G. Chiarella and Mukesh Makwana are co-first authors.
Funding
SGC, LS, LC, and AR have been supported by the grant from BIAL Foundation (Portugal) on the project “Aware Mind-Brain: bridging insights on the mechanisms and neural substrates of human awareness and meditation.” SGC and AR have also been supported by the grant from Sapienza University of Rome on the project “Neurocognitive and molecular effects of mind-body practices: an integrated approach” number RG11715C7FE81576.
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SGC: conceptualized and designed the study, performed material preparation and data collection, performed data analysis, wrote the first draft, and collaborated in the writing and editing of the final manuscript. MM: proposed, conceptualized, and designed the study, performed data analysis, wrote the first draft, and collaborated in the writing and editing of the final manuscript. LS: performed material preparation and data collection, provided feedback on data analysis, and collaborated in the writing and editing of the final manuscript. MH: performed material preparation and data collection and collaborated in the writing and editing of the final manuscript. LC: performed material preparation and data collection and collaborated in the writing and editing of the final manuscript. AR: proposed the study, contributed to the conception and design of the study, and collaborated in the writing and editing of the final manuscript. NS: contributed to the conception and design of the study, supervised data analysis, wrote the first draft, and collaborated in the writing and editing of the final manuscript.
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The research involves human participants and the method has been approved by the Institutional Ethics Review Board.
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All authors state their compliance with the Code of Ethics of the World Medical Association (Declaration of Helsinki). They also agree to the ethical standards of the Faculty of Psychology’s Ethical Commission of the Sapienza University of Rome. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Psychology at the Sapienza University of Rome.
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Chiarella, S.G., Makwana, M., Simione, L. et al. Mindfulness Meditation Weakens Attachment to Self: Evidence from a Self vs Other Binding Task. Mindfulness 11, 2411–2422 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-020-01457-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-020-01457-9