Abundant research quantifies the effects of different meditation practices, however little
work has been done to investigate the motivations individuals have for starting or continuing
their practice. This study investigated individuals' motivations for starting and continuing
meditation practice through an online, open-ended survey. Participants were 401 adult, Englishspeaking
practitioners from 33 states and 27 countries with any kind of meditation practice.
Using grounded theory, seven over-arching themes for practicing meditation were identified. The
study supported previous work demonstrating that motivations for practicing meditation move
along a continuum of self-regulation to self-exploration to self-liberation over time (Shapiro,
1992). The study also revealed increases in altruistic motivations over time, suggesting that over
time motivations for meditating become less self-focused. These results have implications for
motivational models of how meditation practices are established and maintained.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/614194 |
| Date | January 2016 |
| Creators | VNUK, VICTORIA ANN |
| Contributors | Mehl, Matthias |
| Publisher | The University of Arizona. |
| Source Sets | University of Arizona |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text, Electronic Thesis |
| Rights | Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. |
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