A new study challenges the idea that a brief breathing meditation can quickly override automatic biases, finding that relaxation training can be effective in reducing split-second decision-making based on stereotypes.
Study: The effects of mindful breathing meditation on stereotypic expression in two randomized, controlled, double-blind trials. Image credit: PeopleImages / Shutterstock.com
In a recent study published in the journal pro swanresearchers at the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany, evaluated whether short, mindful breathing meditations reduced the expression of social stereotypes.
The cognitive science behind implicit bias
In the brain, fixed mindsets allow individuals to process input from the environment quickly, thereby reducing cognitive demands. The unintentional activation of established associations characterizes automatic routinization without the need for deliberate effort, whereas controlled processes are not limited by cognitive abilities and are therefore more intentional and flexible.
Stereotypes are deeply rooted in the human mind. Stereotypes have instantaneous reactions that can lead to serious systemic problems such as racism and health care disparities. Recent research suggests that stereotype bias may arise from an individual’s willingness or ability to control automatically activated associations, thus highlighting the importance of cognitive control, a process that relies on conflict monitoring and executive function.
Can mindfulness overturn automated stereotypes?
Mindfulness meditation has become popular as a powerful technique to further enhance cognitive control. Mindfulness practices like breathing meditation require practitioners to identify cognitive processes, such as thoughts, feelings, and emotions, that are interfering with an individual’s focus on the current breathing task.
Proponents argue that practicing focused awareness by directing your attention to your breath may strengthen your brain’s ability to detect and suppress automatic habits. These cognitive benefits have been confirmed in both intervention and cross-sectional studies, with meditation training successfully improving conflict monitoring and resolution.
Ten minutes of meditation training has also been shown to reduce automatic activation of racial and age biases. However, long-term findings are mixed. Specifically, eight weeks of mindfulness-based training for law enforcement officers had no effect on reaction delays or behavior when black or white individuals held guns or non-hazardous objects.
Exploring the psychological effects of short mindfulness training
The current study used data from two randomized, double-blind, controlled trials to investigate how brief individual sessions of state mindfulness affect participants’ moment-to-moment choices. One group received mindful breathing techniques, an active control group practiced progressive muscle relaxation (PMR), and a passive control group listened to a neutral history podcast.
After completing the intervention, study participants completed a reaction time task to assess prejudice. These include a computer-based shooting task in which participants quickly identify whether a black or white target is holding a gun or an innocuous object such as a phone. Experiment 2 involved an avoidance task in which participants approached or avoided a German or Turkish target holding a knife or a harmless object.
Statistical analysis was performed using Bayesian hierarchical drift-diffusion modeling (DDM). It used experimental data to calculate the delta, or drift rate, which measures how efficiently a person extracts visual evidence. Alpha reflects threshold separation or overall decision-making attention, allowing researchers to examine the psychological stages involved in making each decision.
Relaxation exercises are better than meditation at reducing bias
In the shooting task, stereotypical drift rate showed a statistically significant interaction between measurement point and training condition. This finding suggests that mindful breathing meditation increased the accumulation of stereotypical evidence rather than reducing prejudice.
PMR relaxation reduced the effect of target ethnicity on evidence accumulation, but breathing meditation induced greater stereotype bias than the relaxation group. This increase in bias after meditation was primarily due to the lack of improved performance on stereotype-consistent trials. For example, when faced with a white target with a gun or a German target with a knife, the meditation group struggled to resolve cognitive discrepancies, thereby exhibiting higher cognitive conflict.
conclusion
Research shows that mindful meditation not only fails to reduce cognitive biases, but may even worsen stereotypes. The mechanisms underlying these findings remain unclear. However, short-term meditation appears to enhance conflict monitoring, reflecting the brain’s sensitivity to the gap between stereotypes and reality, and does not provide sufficient executive control to resolve these thoughts.
The increased self-awareness that emerges after meditation may amplify sensitivity to social identities and norms, which may result in atypical behaviors becoming more prominent. Comparatively, relaxation techniques like PMR may reduce physiological stress and free up cognitive resources that support more intentional control over automatic responses.
Future research is needed to assess whether sustained mindfulness training over a significantly longer period of time increases the cognitive demands required to make unbiased decisions.
