Document Type
Article
First Faculty Advisor
Kathryn Ostermeier
Keywords
Mindfullness; Mediation; Theology; Psychology; Neurology; Emotions
Abstract
Much research on mindfulness and meditation investigates the relationship between mindfulness practices and health in physiological, psychological, and neurological contexts and organizations have implemented mindfulness training programs, possibly after learning of the apparent benefits. Researchers should use caution when assessing the practice’s benefits and consider extraneous variables such as the possibility that meditators tend towards spirituality; theologians argue that underlying beliefs might contribute to mindfulness practitioners’ reactions to the physical and psychological changes that result from mindfulness practices. This study investigates if and how religious beliefs modify mindfulness’s emotional outcomes for Bryant University students. The findings suggest that mindfulness and negative emotions correlate positively, though the effect of students’ beliefs remains unclear. The difficulty in assessing students’ beliefs seemingly contributed to the inconclusive results on this front.
