Trait and State Equanimity: The Effect of Mindfulness-Based Meditation Practice
Résumé
Objectives: Buddhist and scientific theories have described equanimity as a general
outcome of mindfulness practices. Equanimity is a calm and balanced state of mind regardless
of the valence of situations or objects and is a decoupling between the evaluation of this
valence and the resulting common automatic approach or avoidance reactions. The relation
between the practice of mindfulness and equanimity still remain to be empirically explored.
Methods: We conducted a correlational study (N = 106) to investigate the relation
between hours of mindfulness practice among former mindfulness-based stress reduction
program participants and two components of equanimity: even-minded state of mind and
hedonic independence, using the EQUA-S. A second study (N = 86) investigated
experimentally the effect of two meditation practices on equanimity among novice
participants.
Results: The results of the first study revealed positive correlations between the
components of equanimity and both formal and informal mindfulness practices. Results from
the second study revealed that the increase in even-minded state of mind during the
experimental session was significantly greater in the mindfulness practice condition than in
the active control condition. Hedonic independence was not significantly affected by the short
mindfulness practice.
Conclusions: These results confirmed the importance of empirically studying equanimity
at both trait and state levels, and identifying its relation and specificities with meditation and
related phenomena.
Domaines
Psychologie
Origine : Fichiers produits par l'(les) auteur(s)
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