A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of the Effects of Meditation on Empathy, Compassion, and Prosocial Behaviors.
Level 1 - systematic review of randomized trials
Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
PubMed 30100929 · doi:10.1007/s12671-017-0841-8
What was done
Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials examining meditation effects on prosocial emotions and behaviors. Searches covered PubMed, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Embase, and Cochrane up to April 2016. The review included 26 RCTs with 1,714 subjects. Most evaluated healthy adults (n = 11), used compassion or loving-kindness meditation (n = 18), ran for 8–12 weeks (n = 12), took place in a group format (n = 17), and utilized wait-list or no-treatment controls (n = 15). Outcomes assessed included self-reported emotions and observed behavioral outcomes in real-world and simulated settings.
What was found
Meditation showed statistically significant small-to-medium effects on: - Self-reported prosocial emotions: SMD = 0.40, p < 0.001 - Observable prosocial behavioral outcomes: SMD = 0.45, p < 0.001 Subgroup analyses confirmed small to medium effects were maintained even when compared against active control groups.
Why it matters
This synthesis provides randomized evidence that compassion- and mindfulness-based practices can cultivate measurable increases in both prosocial feelings and actual helping behaviors.
Limits
Most trials relied on passive wait-list or no-treatment control groups (15 of 26 studies), which may inflate effect estimates relative to expectation-matched controls. Most participants were healthy adults, limiting direct generalizability to clinical populations, and individual trial sample sizes were relatively small (averaging ~66 participants per study). Long-term maintenance of behavioral changes was not reported.