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Studies Find Evidence That Meditation Is Demotivating (nytimes.com)
An anonymous reader shares an excerpt from a report written by behavioral scientists Kathleen D. Vohs and Andrew C. Hafenbrack: The practical payoff of mindfulness [meditation] is backed by dozens of studies linking it to job satisfaction, rational thinking and emotional resilience. But on the face of it, mindfulness might seem counterproductive in a workplace setting. To test this hunch, we recently conducted five studies, involving hundreds of people, to see whether there was a tension between mindfulness and motivation. As we report in a forthcoming article in the journal Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, we found strong evidence that meditation is demotivating.
Some of the participants in our studies were trained in a few of the most common mindfulness meditation techniques. They were instructed by a professional meditation coach to focus on their breathing or mentally scan their bodies for physical sensations, being gently reminded throughout that there was no right or wrong way to do the exercise. Other participants were led through a different exercise. Some were encouraged to let their thoughts wander; some were instructed to read the news or write about recent activities they had done. Then we gave everyone a task to do. Among those who had meditated, motivation levels were lower on average. Those people didn't feel as much like working on the assignments, nor did they want to spend as much time or effort to complete them. Meditation was correlated with reduced thoughts about the future and greater feelings of calm and serenity -- states seemingly not conducive to wanting to tackle a work project. The studies also found that meditation "neither benefited nor detracted from a participant's quality of work." Furthermore, Vohs and Hafenbrack found that a financial bonus for outstanding performance did not overcome the demotivating effect of mindfulness. "While the promise of material rewards will always be a useful tool for motivating employees, it is no substitute for internal motivation," the report reads.
Some of the participants in our studies were trained in a few of the most common mindfulness meditation techniques. They were instructed by a professional meditation coach to focus on their breathing or mentally scan their bodies for physical sensations, being gently reminded throughout that there was no right or wrong way to do the exercise. Other participants were led through a different exercise. Some were encouraged to let their thoughts wander; some were instructed to read the news or write about recent activities they had done. Then we gave everyone a task to do. Among those who had meditated, motivation levels were lower on average. Those people didn't feel as much like working on the assignments, nor did they want to spend as much time or effort to complete them. Meditation was correlated with reduced thoughts about the future and greater feelings of calm and serenity -- states seemingly not conducive to wanting to tackle a work project. The studies also found that meditation "neither benefited nor detracted from a participant's quality of work." Furthermore, Vohs and Hafenbrack found that a financial bonus for outstanding performance did not overcome the demotivating effect of mindfulness. "While the promise of material rewards will always be a useful tool for motivating employees, it is no substitute for internal motivation," the report reads.
they just realized that their work assignments weren't very meaningful?
I think these people just realized the actual value of what they were doing.
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
IMHO - Meditation viewed in a vacuum sans underlying Buddhist philosophy is incoherent, but unfortunately common. The Buddha taught that the point of meditation is to achieve awakening, which is done though the reduction of craving and aversion. By reducing ones fear of failure or desire for success one becomes more free from the suffering inexorably associated with fleeting pursuits, though they are arguably the primary drivers of our economic system. Motivation to pursue things that don't really increase your happiness (i.e. working like a dog to please your boss or to avoid feeling like a loser or to buy a Lambo) will dissipate the more one has the focus to see what really matters in life, which is what meditation will lead to if done correctly. Yet again, the NYT misses the point!
When one spends time doing meditation, one can start to see how stupid things are in the world around us. That can be demotivating. BUT, it can also open up new paradigms. Sitting still, doing nothing (except breathing of course), there is a lot of noise in our heads. After a while (time frame indeterminant), the noise subsides and often a clear idea emerges about a path to follow. Such an activity is similar to doing software development when an difficult problem is encountered. Getting away from the problem and maybe taking a quiet walk reveals the source and the solution to the problem.
"Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!" -- Dr. Strangelove
first, my background: I've been practicing buddhist meditation for 15 years. I've even lived at temples and completed extensive retreats. I currently live at a temple and practice 2-3 hours 3-4 days a week (permitting) along with my full time job. I am single and not dating (I'm on slashdot...).
Meditation is not a cure all like it hocked in the media. It wont solve your depression or make you less anxious or make you last longer in bed or....
Done with proper guidance and care, both in terms of access to long term practitioners for advice and to medical care in case something unpleasant happens, because it can and probably will eventually, it can be unbelievably beneficial to the practitioner and those surrounding them.
Meditation does however, have a great effect on a ton of stuff. In fact, it addresses the problem that supercedes all other problems, making it something of a cure all for all sorts of ails.
the difference between the statements of meditation doesn't cure anxiety or depression and blah blah blah, and meditation does have a great effect on a ton of stuff, is that meditation deals with how life unfolds moment to moment from an internal perspective (from your perspective, you're the one doing it after all). And when you start to understanding whats REALLY going on moment to moment, and how all of this works, a lot of that painful, negative stuff just stops happening.
That takes many, many years of practice. It may make you a better worker because you're spending less time dealing with internal crap that prevents you from focusing correctly, and it may allow you to see boring things in a new way which isn't painful. But that doesn't necessarily make you fill them out any faster, it just makes you less miserable to all others. So it both does and it doesn't have a giant effect.
It's great that meditation is starting to become more common, but it will never work in the way these corporate people want it to.
he title is total clickbait. From the article: "Then we tracked everyone’s actual performance on the tasks. Here we found that on average, having meditated neither benefited nor detracted from a participant’s quality of work."
That's also in the summary, but the point is the quality of the work didn't change, but the quantity of it did, because they lacked motivation.
Which shouldn't be surprising to anyone. There's a reason you're not in a relaxed state when you have a looming deadline: it's not beneficial to meeting the deadline. Also, there's a reason people abusing drugs to get shit done use amphetamines and other stimulants. You want to be focused and hyped, not calm and relaxed.
Warning: Opinions known to be heavily biased.