Many previous studies have focused on the effects of long-term meditation, working with “self-selecting” people interested in mindfulness. In the current study, we were interested in immediate effects of meditation in people who may or may not be interested in mindfulness. Therefore, we randomly assigned N = 186 subjects to one of 7 conditions, to answer specific questions about different delivery methods of meditation. Specifically, we asked whether 1) there are immediate benefits to a single session of meditation (compared to a control activity), 2) the effects differ between a leader- vs. audio-guided meditation, 3) expectation alters the benefit of meditation, and 4) meditating in a group setting is more effective than meditating alone. Results and implications of the applicability of different methods in mindfulness research will be discussed.
