Interpersonal success rests on the mind’s remarkable ability to decode and comprehend other people’s mental states. In a challenging social landscape, mindreading is the conduit through which relationships are forged, cultivated, and sustained. Both admirable (e.g., empathy, compassion) and unsavory (e.g., deception, manipulation) aspects of the human condition rest squarely on the ability to read minds.
The utility of this skill is most apparent when one considers the plight of individuals for whom mindreading is a decidedly problematic activity (e.g., autism spectrum disorder). But what of the converse situation, rather than focusing on impairments in mindreading, is it possible to identify factors that may enhance our mind-reading ability?
A recent study explored the possibility that mindfulness-based meditation may improve people’s mindreading skills. Following a 5-minute mindfulness induction, participants with no prior meditation experience completed tests that assessed mindreading and empathic understanding. The results revealed that brief mindfulness meditation enhanced both mental state attribution and empathic concern, compared to participants in the control group. These findings suggest that mindfulness may be a powerful technique for facilitating core aspects of social-cognitive functioning.
The above text is taken from Tan, L. B., Lo, B. C., & Macrae, C. N. (2014). Brief Mindfulness Meditation Improves Mental State Attribution and Empathizing. PLOS ONE, 9(10), e110510. Click here to read the full text.
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