Les émotions positives sont corrélées à la pratique de la méditation (article de recherche)

Une étude de Barbara L. Fredrickson (chercheuse en psychologie positive) et d’autres chercheurs vient d’être publiée dans le journal scientifique Mindfulness (29 mai 2017).

Corrélation des émotions positives avec la pratique de la méditation: une comparaison de la méditation de pleine conscience et de la méditation de l’amour-bienveillant

Le but de cette étude était de découvrir les profils émotionnels au jour le jour et les relations dose-réponse, tant au sein des personnes qu’entre les personnes, associées à l’initiation de l’une des deux pratiques de méditation, soit la méditation de pleine conscience, soit la méditation de la bienveillance.

Les données ont été regroupées dans deux études sur les adultes de la milieu de vie ( N = 339) qui ont été randomisés pour apprendre soit la méditation de l’attention, soit la méditation de l’amour-bonté dans un atelier de 6 semaines.

  • La durée et la fréquence de la pratique de la méditation ont été mesurées quotidiennement pendant 9 semaines, à partir de la première séance d’atelier.
  • De même, les émotions positives et négatives ont également été mesurées quotidiennement, en utilisant l’échelle différentielle des émotions (Fredrickson, Advances in Experimental Social Psychology 47: 1-53, 2013 ).

L’analyse des rapports d’émotions quotidiens au cours de la période ciblée de 9 semaines a montré des gains significatifs dans les émotions positives et aucun changement dans les émotions négatives, quel que soit le type de méditation.

Les modèles multiniveaux ont également révélé des relations dose-réponse significatives entre la durée de la pratique de la méditation et les émotions positives, tant au sein des personnes qu’entre les personnes. En outre, la relation dose-réponse à l’intérieur de la personne était plus forte pour la méditation de la bienveillance que pour la méditation à l’attention. Des relations dose-réponse similaires ont été observées pour la fréquence de la pratique de la méditation.

Dans le cadre de recherches antérieures sur les avantages pour la santé mentale et physique produits par des augmentations subtiles des expériences quotidiennes d’émotions positives, la recherche actuelle pointe vers des pratiques fondées sur des preuves, à la fois pour la méditation de pleine conscience et la méditation de l’amour-bienveillant, qui peuvent améliorer le bien-être émotionnel.

Source : Fredrickson, B.L., Boulton, A.J., Firestine, A.M. et al. Mindfulness (2017). doi:10.1007/s12671-017-0735-9 : Positive Emotion Correlates of Meditation Practice: a Comparison of Mindfulness Meditation and Loving-Kindness Meditation

A propos de l’échelle de mesure différentielle des émotions (modified Differential Emotions Scale (mDES))

Les instructions du DES demandent aux répondants de considérer leur expérience et de noter à quelle fréquence ils ont vécu chaque émotion. Le DES est formulé autour d’une trentaine de listes de liste d’adjectifs, avec trois adjectifs de chacune des dix émotions considérées comme fondamentales par Izard (1992): joie, surprise, colère, dégoût, mépris, honte, culpabilité, peur, intérêt, et tristesse. Chaque élément est administré sur une échelle de 5 points (de jamais à très souvent).

« Fredrickson (2001) defines emotions as “multicomponent response tendencies that unfold over relatively short time spans”.

In order to cope with the need for positive emotions measurement, Izard’s (1977) Differential Emotions Scale (DES) was modified by Fredrickson so as to include a far wider set of positive emotions. Thus, the modified Differential Emotions Scale (mDES) was created to be a more encompassing measure of positive emotions, than the more commonly used PANAS (Positive and Negative Affect Scale), which exclusively targets high activation positive affective states.

Building on preliminary work of Keltner and Shiota (2003), Fredrickson supplemented the original DES with eight additional discrete positive emotions: amusement, awe, contentment, gratitude, hope, love, pride and sexual desire. These joined joy, interest and eight negative emotions plus surprise, all of which appear in the original DES. She also added an item to measure sympathy.

  1. Amused, fun loving, silly
  2. Awe, wonder, amazement
  3. Content, serene, peaceful
  4. Glad, happy, joyful
  5. Grateful, appreciative, thankful
  6. Hopeful, optimistic, encouraged
  7. Interested, alert, curious
  8. Love, closeness, trust
  9. Proud, confident, self-assured
  10. Sexual, desiring, flirtatious
  1. Angry, irritated, annoyed
  2. Ashamed, humiliated, disgraced
  3. Contemptuous, scornful, disdainful
  4. Disgust, distaste, revulsion
  5. Embarrassed, self-conscious, blushing
  6. Repentant, guilty, blameworthy
  7. Sad, downhearted, unhappy
  8. Scared, fearful, afraid »

(extraits modifiés de Galanakis, M., Stalikas, A., Pezirkianidis, C., & Karakasidou, I. (2016). Reliability and Validity of the Modified Differential Emotions Scale (mDES) in a Greek Sample. Psychology, 7, 101-113. et de

Fredrickson, Advances in Experimental Social Psychology 47: 1-53, 2013 :

La joie, la gratitude, la sérénité, le contentement, l’intérêt et la curiosité, l’espoir, la fierté, l’amusement, l’inspiration, la contemplation admirative, l’amour.

Modified Differential Emotions Scale (mDES)

Instructions: Please think back to how you have felt during the past twenty-four hours. Using the 0-4 scale below, indicate the greatest amount that you’ve experienced each of the following feelings.
Not at all – A little bit – Moderately – Quite a bit – Extremely
0 – 1 – 2 – 3 – 4
____ 1. What is the most amused, fun-loving, or silly you felt?
____ 2. What is the most angry, irritated, or annoyed you felt?
____ 3. What is the most ashamed, humiliated, or disgraced you felt?
____ 4. What is the most awe, wonder, or amazement you felt?
____ 5. What is the most contemptuous, scornful, or disdainful you felt?
____ 6. What is the most disgust, distaste, or revulsion you felt?
____ 7. What is the most embarrassed, self-conscious, or blushing you felt?
____ 8. What is the most grateful, appreciative, or thankful you felt?
____ 9. What is the most guilty, repentant, or blameworthy you felt?
____ 10. What is the most hate, distrust, or suspicion you felt?
____ 11. What is the most hopeful, optimistic, or encouraged you felt?
____ 12. What is the most inspired, uplifted, or elevated you felt?
____ 13. What is the most interested, alert, or curious you felt?
____ 14. What is the most joyful, glad, or happy you felt?
____ 15. What is the most love, closeness, or trust you felt?
____ 16. What is the most proud, confident, or self-assured you felt?
____ 17. What is the most sad, downhearted, or unhappy you felt?
____ 18. What is the most scared, fearful, or afraid you felt?
____ 19. What is the most serene, content, or peaceful you felt?
____ 20. What is the most stressed, nervous, or overwhelmed you felt?
Based on Fredrickson, 2009 and Fredrickson, Tugade, Waugh, & Larkin, 2003. Scoring: Use single items to assess specific emotions, or create overall positive and negative emotion scores by computing the mean of 10 positive and 10 negative emotions, respectively. Instructions can be modified to assess emotions in response to specific incidents (e.g., laboratory manipulations or episodes recalled using the Day Reconstruction Method). Scale can be modified to capture emotions experienced over the past two weeks by changing the instructions to “how often have you’ve experienced…,” the items to “How often have you felt ____?” and the response options to 0 = never; 1 = rarely; 2 = some of the time; 3 = often; 4 = most of the time.

In my book, Positivity (2009), written for a general audience I refer to the mDES as the Positivity Self Test. The website that accompanies that book, www.PositivityRatio.com, offers a free version of this test  http://www.positivityratio.com/single.php along with on-line tools for tracking people’s changes in positivity, negativity, and positivity ratios over time.

Résumé originel en anglais :

The purpose of this study was to uncover the day-to-day emotional profiles and dose-response relations, both within persons and between persons, associated with initiating one of two meditation practices, either mindfulness meditation or loving-kindness meditation. Data were pooled across two studies of midlife adults (N = 339) who were randomized to learn either mindfulness meditation or loving-kindness meditation in a 6-week workshop. The duration and frequency of meditation practice was measured daily for 9 weeks, commencing with the first workshop session. Likewise, positive and negative emotions were also measured daily, using the modified Differential Emotions Scale (Fredrickson, Advances in Experimental Social Psychology 47:1–53, 2013). Analysis of daily emotion reports over the targeted 9-week period showed significant gains in positive emotions and no change in negative emotions, regardless of meditation type. Multilevel models also revealed significant dose-response relations between duration of meditation practice and positive emotions, both within persons and between persons. Moreover, the within-person dose-response relation was stronger for loving-kindness meditation than for mindfulness meditation. Similar dose-response relations were observed for the frequency of meditation practice. In the context of prior research on the mental and physical health benefits produced by subtle increases in day-to-day experiences of positive emotions, the present research points to evidence-based practices—both mindfulness meditation and loving-kindness meditation—that can improve emotional well-being.

%d blogueurs aiment cette page :