Anxiety Stress & Coping · 1993 · 113 citations · 43 references
Occupational Health SciencesHealthy Work EnvironmentEducationHealth PsychologyMental HealthYogaWorker HealthTranscendental MeditationSocial SciencesPsychologyStressOccupational Health PsychologyMindfulness MeditationStress ReductionStress ManagementPsychiatryWellness StudiesMeditationSkin ConductanceMindfulnessEmployee DevelopmentWork-related StressTrait AnxietyTranscendental Meditation Program
Occupational stress is costly, yet few studies empirically document effective methods to alleviate it and promote employee development. This three‑month prospective study evaluated the effects of Transcendental Meditation on stress, health, and employee development in two automotive industry settings. TM practitioners were compared to matched controls across worksite, job position, demographics, and baseline characteristics. TM practitioners showed markedly greater reductions in physiological arousal, anxiety, insomnia, substance use, and health complaints, and gains in health, effectiveness, job satisfaction, and relationships—driven by occupational coherence, physiological settledness, and job and life satisfaction—and effect sizes larger than those reported for other meditation forms.
Abstract Despite the high cost of occupational stress, few studies have empirically documented effective methods for alleviating stress and promoting employee development. This three-month prospective study evaluated the effects of the Transcendental meditation (TM) technique on stress reduction, health and employee development in two settings in the automotive industry: a large manufacturing plant of a Fortune 100 corporation, and a small distribution sales company. Employees who learned TM were compared to controls similar in worksite, job position, demographic, and pretest characteristics. Regular meditators improved significantly more than controls (with irregular meditators scoring in between) on multiple measures of stress and employee development, including: reduced physiological arousal (measured by skin conductance levels) during and outside TM practice; decreased trait anxiety, job tension, insomnia and fatigue, cigarette and hard liquor use; improved general health (and fewer health complaints); and enhanced employee effectiveness, job satisfaction, and work/personal relationships. Principal components analysis identified three factors underlying this wide range of improvements through TM: “occupational coherence,” “physiological settledness,” and “job and life satisfaction.” The “effect size” of TM in reducing skin conductance, trait anxiety, alcohol/cigarette use, and in enhancing personal development (relative to the control condition) in these business settings was substantially larger than for other forms of meditation and relaxation reported in four previous statistical meta-analyses.
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