A kind mind: Effects of compassion-based meditation on prosocial intergroup outcomes in a South African pilot sample

Adala M Prevost¹Michal George¹Melike Marethe Fourie^2*

• ¹Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa
• ²University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa

Three decades into democracy, the corollaries of apartheid continue to pattern South African society, with complicated race feelings and resistance to reparative government policies still driving separation. Sharing a grounding with African knowledge systems in the interconnectedness of all people, compassion-based meditation has proven to be a powerful promoter of prosocial action towards strangers and stigmatised groups abroad. It is, however, unclear whether such findings would translate to South Africa with its history of racialised conflict. Here, we piloted a mixed methods study to examine whether eight weeks of compassion-based meditation would foster positive intergroup attitudes and prosocial outcomes, beyond personal well-being, in a White South African sample. We found greater compassion self-practice to be associated not only with significantly increased life satisfaction and reduced stress, but also with heightened outgroup compassion and reduced desire for social distance. Furthermore, post intervention, we observed significantly reduced racial prejudice, increased intergroup contact, and greater prosocial outcomes expressed in support towards collective action and restitutive government policies. Qualitatively, participants reported broadened compassion and affiliation with strangers, suggesting enhanced selftranscendence. These findings offer early support for the potential of compassion-based meditation to improve intergroup relations locally. Future directions include a randomised controlled trial in an appropriately powered sample, and expansion of the methodology to include other social groups. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001