Buddhist psychology; Zen; Meditation; Personality; Taiwan; China
摘要
Purpose of the study. The purpose of this study was to examine the length and frequency of Zen meditation practice on personality. Meditators were clustered into homogeneous groups based on four meditation practice variables (a) length of time practicing, (b) duration, (c) frequency, and (d) individual practice/group practice. After homogeneous groups were formed, the mean personality differences among homogeneous groups were compared.
Procedure. Two hundred and ninety-four volunteer meditators living in Taiwan participated in this study. The researcher used two questionnaires to collect data (a) a demographic questionnaire and (b) the Chinese Version of Basic Personality Inventory. After data were collected, a bivariate matrix was produced to screen covariates and dependent variables. Job and gender became covariates. Depression/open-mindedness, anxiety/ease, thinking disorder/realistic thinking, self-depreciation/self-esteem, and deviation/normal were retained as dependent variables. Cluster analysis was applied to form homogeneous clusters in accordance with meditators' scores on four practice variables. MANCOVA was used to compare mean differences on personality among clusters. Means were adjusted for the effects covariates.
Findings. Meditators were formed into three homogeneous clusters (a) the advanced individual cluster, (b) intermediate group cluster, and (c) beginning individual cluster. Each cluster had its unique characteristics. The advanced individual cluster was longer and higher in the four practice variables. The intermediate group was higher in group practice; whereas the beginning individual cluster was shorter except in individual practice. In the MANCOVA, there were significant mean differences on the CBPI five scales in the multivariate test; whereas there was no significant mean difference among clusters in each of five CBPI scale in the univariate tests. Frequency distributions and figures provided additional information.
Conclusion. In comparing the clusters, the beginning individual cluster had the lowest score on depression and self-depreciation. The advanced individual cluster had the lowest score on anxiety and deviation. The intermediate group cluster had the highest score on depression, anxiety, self-depreciation, and deviation except on thinking disorder scale. On the thinking disorder scale, the advanced individual cluster had a higher score than the other clusters. However, the mean differences among clusters were not great.
