Abstract
While much of the research conceptualizes peacebuilding via exo-or macrosystemic lenses, in more recent years, a number of researchers (e.g., Blumberg, Hare, & Costin, 2006; Kool, 2008) have argued that nurturing peace within the individual is a prerequisite toward peacebuilding on a larger ecological scale. This chapter develops a theoretical framework for understanding the practice of peacefulness through the lens of intrapersonal, protective socioemotional skills including mindful awareness, emotion regulation, and compassion. A combination of two meditation practices (mindfulness meditation and metta meditation) can help teach the mindful awareness, emotion regulation, and compassion that individuals need to successfully recognize and navigate opportunities for peacebuilding.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Alba, B. (2013). Loving-kindness meditation: A field study. Contemporary Buddhism, 14(2), 187–203.
Blumberg, H. H., Hare, A. P., & Costin, A. (2006). Peace psychology: A comprehensive introduction. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Chiesa, A., Carati, R., & Serretti, A. (2011). Does mindfulness training improve cognitive abilities? Clinical Psychology Review, 31, 449–461.
Desbordes, G., Negi, L. T., Pace, T. W., Wallace, B. A., Raison, C. L., & Schwartz, E. L. (2012). Effects of mindful-attention and compassion meditation training on amygdala response to emotional stimuli in an ordinary, non-meditative state. Frontiers of Human Neuroscience, 1(6), 292.
Eberth, E., & Sedlmeier, P. (2012). The effects of mindfulness meditation: A meta-analysis. Mindfulness, 3(3), 174–189.
Hardiman, R., Jackson, B., & Griffin, P. (2007). Conceptual foundations for social justice courses. In M. Adams, L. A. Bell, & P. Griffin (Eds.), Teaching for diversity and social justice (2nd ed., pp. 35–66). New York, NY: Routledge.
Hein, G., Silani, G., Preuschoff, K., Batson, D., & Singer, T. (2010). Neural responses to ingroup and outgroup members’ suffering predict individual differences in costly helping. Neuron, 68(1), 149–160.
Hutcherson, C. A., Seppala, E. M., & Gross, J. J. (2008, April). I don’t know you but I like you: Loving kindness meditation increases positivity toward others. Paper presented at the 6th annual conference Integrating Mindfulness-Based Interventions into Medicine, Health Care & Society, Worcester, MA.
Jason, L. A., & Glenwick, D. S. (Eds.). (2016). Handbook of methodological approaches to community-based research: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods. New York: Oxford University Press.
Kabat-Zinn, J. (1996). Mindfulness meditation: What it is, what it isn’t, and its role in health care and medicine. In Y. Haruki, Y. Ishii, & M. Suzuki (Eds.), Comparative and psychological study on meditation (pp. 161–170). Delft, Netherlands: Eburon.
Kang, Y., Gray, J. R., & Dovidio, J. F. (2014). The nondiscriminating heart: Lovingkindness meditation training decreases implicit intergroup bias. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 143(3), 1306–1313.
Kelley, T. M., & Lambert, E. G. (2012). Mindfulness as a potential means of attenuating anger and aggression for prospective criminal justice professionals. Mindfulness, 3, 261.
Kool, V. K. (2008). The psychology of nonviolence and aggression. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
Leppma, M. (2012). Loving-kindness meditation and counseling. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 34(3), 197–204.
Lerner, H. (1990). The dance of intimacy. New York, NY: Harper.
Lutz, A., Brefczynski-Lewis, J., Johnstone, T., & Davidson, R. J. (2008). Regulation of the neural circuitry of emotion by compassion meditation: Effects of meditative expertise. PLoS One, 3(3), 1987.
Lykins, E. B., & Baer, R. A. (2009). Psychological functioning in a sample of long-term practitioners or mindfulness meditation. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, 23(3), 226–240.
Meyer, M., Masten, C., Ma, Y., Wang, C., Shi, Z., Eisenberger, N., & Han, S. (2013). Empathy for the social suffering of friends and strangers recruits distinct patterns of brain activation. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 8(4), 446–454.
Moritsugu, J., Vera, E. G., Wong, F. W., & Duffy, K. G. (2013). Community psychology (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Nelson, B., Parker, S., & Siegel, D. (2014). Interpersonal neurobiology, mindsight, & integration. In K. Brandt, B. Perry, & E. Seligman (Eds.), Infant and early childhood mental health: Core concepts and clinical practice. Washington DC: American Psychiatric Association.
Pharr, S. (1996). In the time of the right: Reflections on liberation. Berkeley, CA: Chardon Press.
Tan, C.-M. (2014). Search inside yourself. New York, NY: Harper One.
Tang, Y. Y., Hoelzel, B., & Posner, M. I. (2015). The neuroscience of mindfulness meditation. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 16, 213–225.
Tang, Y. Y., Yang, L., Leve, L. D., & Harold, G. T. (2012). Improving executive function and its neurobiological mechanisms through a mindfulness-based intervention: Advances within the field of developmental neuroscience. Child Development Perspectives, 6(4), 361–366.
Young, I. (1990). Justice and the politics of difference. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Quinn, M. (2019). Promoting Peace Through Meditation. In: Njoku, M.G.C., Jason, L.A., Johnson, R.B. (eds) The Psychology of Peace Promotion. Peace Psychology Book Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14943-7_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14943-7_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-14942-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-14943-7
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)