Does Meditation Training Influence Social Approach and Avoidance Goals? Evidence from a Randomized Intervention Study of Midlife Adults

Abstract

Objectives
Social approach and avoidance goals—which refer to individual differences in the desire to pursue rewards versus avoid negative experiences in social relationships—have numerous implications for the health and quality of social relationships. Although endorsement of these goals largely arises from people’s pre-dispositions towards approach and avoidance, in this research, we proposed that meditation training has the potential to beneficially influence the extent to which people adopt approach and avoidance goals. Specifically, we hypothesized that individuals who were randomly assigned to receive training in mindfulness or loving-kindness meditation would report differences in social approach and avoidance goals, as compared with those in a wait-list control condition, and that these effects would be mediated by differences in positive and negative emotions.

Methods
To examine these hypotheses, we drew upon a community-based, randomized intervention study of 138 midlife adults, who were assigned to receive mindfulness training, loving-kindness training, or no training in meditation.

Results
As compared with the control condition, results demonstrated that loving-kindness training was directly associated with lower social avoidance goals, and indirectly associated with greater social approach goals, via enhanced positive emotion.

Conclusions
These results suggest loving-kindness meditation is a means by which people can beneficially influence their approach and avoidance tendencies, which likely plays an important role in enhancing their social relationships.

Full text

ORIGINAL PAPER
Does Meditation Training Influence Social Approach and Avoidance
Goals? Evidence from a Randomized Intervention Study
of Midlife Adults
Brian P. Don
1
&Sara B. Algoe
1
&Barbara L. Fredrickson
1
Accepted: 30 September 2020
#Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract
Objectives Social approach and avoidance goals—which refer to individual differencesinthedesiretopursuere-
wards versus avoid negative experiences in social relationships—have numerous implications for the health and
quality of social relationships. Although endorsement of these goals largely arises from people’s pre-dispositions
towards approach and avoidance, in this research, we proposed that meditation training has the potential to benefi-
cially influence the extent to which people adopt approach and avoidance goals. Specifically, we hypothesized that
individuals who were randomly assigned to receive training in mindfulness or loving-kindness meditation would
report differences in social approach and avoidance goals, as compared with those in a wait-list control condition,
and that these effects would be mediated by differences in positive and negative emotions.
Methods To examine these hypotheses, we drew upon a community-based, randomized intervention study of 138 midlife adults,
who were assigned to receive mindfulness training, loving-kindness training, or no training in meditation.
Results As compared with the control condition, results demonstrated that loving-kindness training was directly associated with
lower social avoidance goals, and indirectly associated with greater social approach goals, via enhanced positive emotion.
Conclusions These results suggest loving-kindness meditation is a means by which people can beneficially influence their
approach and avoidance tendencies, which likely plays an important role in enhancing their social relationships.
Keywords Approach motivation .Avoidance motivation .Meditation .Emotion .Relationships
When it comes to social relationships, motivation matters.
Social approach and avoidance goals refer individual differ-
ences in the extent to which people tend to pursue rewards
versus avoid threats in their close social relationships (Gable
2006; Gable and Impett 2012). These goals have important
implications for relational outcomes, with approach social
goals predicting a host of beneficial outcomes, and avoidance
goals generally predicting maladaptive outcomes (Bernecker
et al. 2019;Gable2006; Gable and Impett 2012;Impettetal.
2010;Kusteretal.2017). Given the centrality of healthy so-
cial relationships to mental and physical well-being (e.g.,
Holt-Lunstad et al. 2010; Santini et al. 2015), a key question
is the following: is it possible for people to actively shift their
social approach and avoidance tendencies? Although ap-
proach and avoidance social goals arise from biological and
life-course pre-dispositions (Gable 2006; Gable and Impett
2012), an emerging body of research suggests that the extent
to which people endorse approach versus avoidance goals can
shift depending on contextual factors (Abeyta et al. 2015;
Martiny and Nikitin 2019; Trew and Alden 2015). Despite
this, no previous research has examined whether people can
actively engage in behaviors that influence their approach and
avoidance tendencies. In this study, we drew on research and
theory from meditation and affective science (Creswell and
Lindsay 2014;Fredrickson2001; Fredrickson et al. 2008)to
propose that mindfulness and loving-kindness meditation
have the potential to beneficially influence the extent to which
people endorse social approach and avoidance goals. That is,
we suspected regular engagement in mindfulness or loving-
kindness meditation would, relative to a control condition,
promote greater identification with social approach goals
*Brian P. Don
briandon@unc.edu
1
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-020-01517-0
/ Published online: 10 October 2020
Mindfulness (2021) 12:582–593
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.