147 students were assessed on absorption, hypnotic susceptibility, and three measures of “psychological well-being” (self-esteem, depressive affect, psychosomatic symptoms) and were then invited to participate without cost in a program to learn meditation. Those completing the four-session training program were followed for 5 mo. by phone and mail. Analysis indicated that (a) meditating volunteers scored higher on the pretest absorption measure than non-volunteers, (b) 91% of the volunteers had stopped meditating 1 mo. after training, and (c) the pretest self-esteem and psychosomatic symptoms measures predicted attrition from meditation. The implications of these findings for meditation research are discussed.
References
1.
BaekelandF.LundwallL.Dropping out of treatment: A critical review. Psychological Bulletin, 1975, 82, 738–783.
2.
BloomfieldH. H.CainM. P.JaffeL. T.KuryR. B.TM discovering inner energy and overcoming stress. New York: Dell, 1975.
3.
DavtdsonR. J.GolemanD. J.SchwartzG. E.Attentional and affective concomitants of meditation: A cross-sectional study. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1976, 85, 235–238.
4.
HilgardE. R.Hypnosis and personality. Chicago: Univer. of Chicago Press, 1970.
5.
HjelleL. A.Transcendental Meditation and psychological health. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1974, 39, 623–628.
6.
KanellakosD. P.LucasJ. S. (Eds.) The psychobiology of Transcendental Meditation. Reading, PA: Benjamin, 1974.
7.
LeshT.Zen meditation and the development of empathy in counselors. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 1970, 10, 39–74.
8.
NystolM. S.GardeM.The self-concepts of regular transcendental meditators, dropout meditators, and nonmeditators. Journal of Psychology, 1979, 103, 15–18.
9.
RosenbergM.Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univer. Press, 1965.
10.
ShorR. E.OrneE. C.Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press, 1962.
11.
SmithJ. C.Meditation as psychotherapy: A review of the literature. Psychological Bulletin, 1975, 82, 558–564.
12.
SmithJ. C.Psychotherapeutic effects of Transcendental Meditation with controls for expectation of relief and daily sitting. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1976, 44, 630–637.
13.
SmithJ. C.Personality correlates of continuation and outcome in meditation and erect sitting control treatments. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1978, 46, 272–279.
14.
SpanosN. P.McPeakeJ. D.Involvement in everyday imaginative activities, attitudes toward hypnosis, and hypnotic suggestibility. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1975, 31, 594–598.
15.
SpanosN. P.RiversS. M.GottliebJ.Hypnotic responsivity, meditation, and laterality of eye movements. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1978, 87, 566–569.
16.
SpanosN. P.StamH. J.RiversS. M.RadtkeH. L.Meditation, expectation and performance on indices of nonanalytic attending. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 1980, 28, 244–251.
17.
TellegenA.AtkinsonG.Openness to absorbing and self-altering experiences (“absorption”), a trait related to hypnotic' susceptibility. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1974, 83, 286–297.
18.
Van NuysD.Meditation, attention and hypnotic susceptibility: A correlational study. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 1973, 21, 59–69.
19.
WalrathL. C.HamiltonD. W.Autonomic correlates of meditation and hypnosis. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 1975, 17, 190–197.
