The associations and effects of mindfulness on anger and aggression: A meta-analytic review

Abstract

Dispositional mindfulness and mindfulness-based interventions have been linked to emotion regulation and may reduce anger and aggression. The present set of four meta-analyses examined and quantified correlational relationships between trait mindfulness, trait anger, and trait aggression, as well as the effects of experimental mindfulness-based interventions on anger and aggression. These meta-analyses contained data from 118 correlational (dispositional mindfulness) and experimental (mindfulness-based intervention) studies. For the subset of self-report correlational studies (k_anger = 243, k_aggression = 286), we found small-to-medium inverse relationships between dispositional mindfulness and both anger (r = −0.23, p < .001) and aggression (r = −0.19, p < .001). For experimental studies (k_anger = 95, k_aggression = 38), we found medium effects. Specifically, mindfulness-based interventions produced lower anger (d = −0.48, p < .001) and aggression (d = −0.61, p < .001) relative to the control groups. In sum, results suggest that mindfulness can curb angry and aggressive responses. Effect sizes for the interventions were largest in Asia. Studies with passive versus active control groups showed larger effect sizes. Effect sizes were largely equivalent for all populations studied (e.g., clinical, forensic, healthy adults, medical, students). Our meta-analytic findings suggest that mindfulness training may aid the effective regulation of anger and aggression for diverse populations. They also highlight the need for more rigorous control groups in future research.