The Impacts of Background Music on the Effects of Loving-Kindness Meditation on Positive Emotions
Loving-kindness meditation (LKM) has been widely used in promoting mental health, with positive emotions as an important mechanism. The current study explored the impact of background music on the effects and difficulties of LKM practice. Two hundred participants were randomly divided into six group...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2024-03-01
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| Series: | Behavioral Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/14/3/204 |
| _version_ | 1797242050542829568 |
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| author | Quan Tang Jing Han Xianglong Zeng |
| author_facet | Quan Tang Jing Han Xianglong Zeng |
| author_sort | Quan Tang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Loving-kindness meditation (LKM) has been widely used in promoting mental health, with positive emotions as an important mechanism. The current study explored the impact of background music on the effects and difficulties of LKM practice. Two hundred participants were randomly divided into six groups, wherein LKM plus music with harmony only, LKM plus music with harmony and melody, and LKM without music were presented in a different order during the intermediate three days of a five-day LKM intervention. Participants reported three types of positive emotions (pro-social, low-arousal, and medium-arousal positive emotions) and the difficulties during meditation (lack of concentration and lack of pro-social attitudes) after each of three sessions. The results of MANOVA indicated that compared to the session without music, incorporating music could evoke more low-arousal positive emotions and pro-social positive emotions without altering the difficulties. However, the results did not reveal significant differences in the effects of music with harmony and music with harmony and melody on both emotions and difficulties. Additionally, practice effects may have influenced the generation of medium-arousal positive emotions and the difficulty of concentration, but the results were inconsistent across groups. Our findings suggest potential benefits for practitioners of LKM in incorporating music during the meditation process, and the directions for future research were further discussed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T18:33:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1eb7d754a1f442d286c8be2db991a668 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-328X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T18:33:03Z |
| publishDate | 2024-03-01 |
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| series | Behavioral Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-1eb7d754a1f442d286c8be2db991a6682024-03-27T13:21:30ZengMDPI AGBehavioral Sciences2076-328X2024-03-0114320410.3390/bs14030204The Impacts of Background Music on the Effects of Loving-Kindness Meditation on Positive EmotionsQuan Tang0Jing Han1Xianglong Zeng2Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education (Beijing Normal University), Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, ChinaBeijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education (Beijing Normal University), Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, ChinaBeijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education (Beijing Normal University), Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, ChinaLoving-kindness meditation (LKM) has been widely used in promoting mental health, with positive emotions as an important mechanism. The current study explored the impact of background music on the effects and difficulties of LKM practice. Two hundred participants were randomly divided into six groups, wherein LKM plus music with harmony only, LKM plus music with harmony and melody, and LKM without music were presented in a different order during the intermediate three days of a five-day LKM intervention. Participants reported three types of positive emotions (pro-social, low-arousal, and medium-arousal positive emotions) and the difficulties during meditation (lack of concentration and lack of pro-social attitudes) after each of three sessions. The results of MANOVA indicated that compared to the session without music, incorporating music could evoke more low-arousal positive emotions and pro-social positive emotions without altering the difficulties. However, the results did not reveal significant differences in the effects of music with harmony and music with harmony and melody on both emotions and difficulties. Additionally, practice effects may have influenced the generation of medium-arousal positive emotions and the difficulty of concentration, but the results were inconsistent across groups. Our findings suggest potential benefits for practitioners of LKM in incorporating music during the meditation process, and the directions for future research were further discussed.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/14/3/204loving-kindness meditationbackground musicpositive emotionsself-help interventionscompassion |
| spellingShingle | Quan Tang Jing Han Xianglong Zeng The Impacts of Background Music on the Effects of Loving-Kindness Meditation on Positive Emotions Behavioral Sciences loving-kindness meditation background music positive emotions self-help interventions compassion |
| title | The Impacts of Background Music on the Effects of Loving-Kindness Meditation on Positive Emotions |
| title_full | The Impacts of Background Music on the Effects of Loving-Kindness Meditation on Positive Emotions |
| title_fullStr | The Impacts of Background Music on the Effects of Loving-Kindness Meditation on Positive Emotions |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Impacts of Background Music on the Effects of Loving-Kindness Meditation on Positive Emotions |
| title_short | The Impacts of Background Music on the Effects of Loving-Kindness Meditation on Positive Emotions |
| title_sort | impacts of background music on the effects of loving kindness meditation on positive emotions |
| topic | loving-kindness meditation background music positive emotions self-help interventions compassion |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/14/3/204 |
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