Assessment of pathological personality traits in meditation practitioners and non-practitioners

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate and compare pathological personality traits in meditation practitioners and non-practitioners. Therefore, data were collected from 104 participants of both sexes aged over 18 years, including 53 practitioners of concentrative and mindfulness meditation styles, and 51 non-practitioners. Participants responded to the Dimensional Clinical Personality Inventory (IDCP), the Brazilian version of the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 (PID-5), and an anamnesis questionnaire about the practice of meditation; we proceeded to repeated ANOVA measures and logistic regression analysis to verify the study’s goals. Overall, higher means were observed for non-practitioners in the dimensions/factors of the tests, and specific pathological traits as best predictors of the participating groups (practitioners versus non-practitioners). The results indicated that the meditators tended to have lower intensity of pathological personality traits.