A Link Between Time Perception and the Effectiveness of Meditation

Recent research suggests that meditation is a healthy way to cope with stress and anxiety, but it is also important to focus on how individual differences affect the productivity of those meditation practices. This study tests the hypothesis that future-oriented and past-oriented people will benefit more from meditation than present-oriented people. In Study 1, students (n = 228), participated in a 10-minute meditation session and took an anxiety scale afterwards. The participants then took an online survey to measure the degree of their past, present, and future time perspectives. In Study 2, students (n = 195), completed three online surveys and participated in a 10-minute meditation afterwards session at a later date. The results of the study showed that past time perspective was associated with lower post-mindfulness anxiety (Study 1) and greater reductions in anxiety due to meditation (Study 2), whereas both present and future time perspectives were not related to post-meditation anxiety or anxiety reduction.