Open AccessMind training, stress and behaviour—A randomised experiment
Author(s) -
Yonas Alem,
Hannah Behrendt,
Michèle Bélot,
Anikó Bíró
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0258172
Subject(s) - mindfulness , mindfulness based stress reduction , stress reduction , stress (linguistics) , stress management , clinical psychology , meditation , psychology , psychological stress , randomized controlled trial , medicine , theology , linguistics , philosophy
In this paper, we evaluate the effects of a psychological training, called Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) on stress and risk and time preferences. MBSR is a well-known psychological technique, which is believed to improve self-control and reduce stress. We conduct the experiment with 139 participants, half of whom receive the MBSR training, while the other half are asked to watch a documentary series, both over 4 consecutive weeks. Using a range of self-reported and physiological measures (such as cortisol measures), we find evidence that mindfulness training reduces perceived stress, but we only find weak evidence of effects on risk and inter-temporal attitudes.