Meditation does not make you a better person according to a new study despite widespread claims that meditation can make you calmer and more compassionate towards other people.

盡管人們普遍認為冥想會讓你變得更淡定、對他人更富有同情心，不過一項最新研究顯示，冥想并不能讓你變成更好的人。

Researchers have found that despite popular beliefs that meditation can make people more compassionate and less aggressive the evidence for this is limited.

研究人員發現，盡管目前流行的看法是，冥想會讓人變得更富有同情心、不再咄咄逼人，不過這種觀點尚無有力證據。

The research by scientists at Coventry University in the UK, Massey University in New Zealand, and Radboud University in the Netherlands, reviewed 22 studies involving 1685 people to investigate the effect of various types of meditation.

來自英國考文垂大學、新西蘭梅西大學和荷蘭的拉德堡德大學的科學家對1685人進行了22項研究，用以調查各類冥想所產生的影響。

Initially research found that meditation did have an overall positive impact, However further analysis revealed it played no significant role in reducing aggression or prejudice or improving how socially-connected someone was.

最初的研究表明，冥想確實有一定的積極作用，然而進一步的分析則顯示，它在減少攻擊性、偏見或改善人際關系方面并沒有起到重要作用。

Dr Miguel Farias, from Coventry University's Centre for Advances in Behavioural Science, said: "The popularisation of meditation techniques, like mindfulness, despite being taught without religious beliefs, still seem to offer the hope of a better self and a better world to many."

來自考文垂大學行為科學研究中心的米格爾·法拉博士稱：“冥想技巧的普及，如打坐，雖然沒有宗教信仰的教導，但似乎仍然給我們帶來一個可以打造更好自我和更好世界的希望。”

"A person may have the expectation of becoming a better person through meditating, and may believe that to be the case - but in fact this has not been proven."

“一個人或許可以通過冥想希望成為更好的人--但事實上，這還沒有得到證實。”

The lack of a positive change in compassion he said was not surprising as in most instances to improve compassion or empathy this would involve spending more time interacting with others.

冥想對改善同情心的作用有限，這并不令人感到意外，因為在大多數情況下，若想改善同情心，就需要花費更多時間與人進行互動。

"If you want to meditate because you want some quiet time and time to relax, I see no issues, but the benefits it can have on a person's character are limited, if you want to be more compassionate go and volunteer at a charity."

“如果你是因為需要安靜一會兒或放松一下而冥想，我認為這沒有問題。但冥想在塑造性格方面的作用很有限。如果你想更富有同情心，還是試試去慈善機構做志愿者吧。”

Meditation does not make you a better person according to a new study despite widespread claims that meditation can make you calmer and more compassionate towards other people.

盡管人們普遍認為冥想會讓你變得更淡定、對他人更富有同情心，不過一項最新研究顯示，冥想并不能讓你變成更好的人。

Researchers have found that despite popular beliefs that meditation can make people more compassionate and less aggressive the evidence for this is limited.

研究人員發現，盡管目前流行的看法是，冥想會讓人變得更富有同情心、不再咄咄逼人，不過這種觀點尚無有力證據。

The research by scientists at Coventry University in the UK, Massey University in New Zealand, and Radboud University in the Netherlands, reviewed 22 studies involving 1685 people to investigate the effect of various types of meditation.

來自英國考文垂大學、新西蘭梅西大學和荷蘭的拉德堡德大學的科學家對1685人進行了22項研究，用以調查各類冥想所產生的影響。

Initially research found that meditation did have an overall positive impact, However further analysis revealed it played no significant role in reducing aggression or prejudice or improving how socially-connected someone was.

最初的研究表明，冥想確實有一定的積極作用，然而進一步的分析則顯示，它在減少攻擊性、偏見或改善人際關系方面并沒有起到重要作用。

Dr Miguel Farias, from Coventry University's Centre for Advances in Behavioural Science, said: "The popularisation of meditation techniques, like mindfulness, despite being taught without religious beliefs, still seem to offer the hope of a better self and a better world to many."

來自考文垂大學行為科學研究中心的米格爾·法拉博士稱：“冥想技巧的普及，如打坐，雖然沒有宗教信仰的教導，但似乎仍然給我們帶來一個可以打造更好自我和更好世界的希望。”

"A person may have the expectation of becoming a better person through meditating, and may believe that to be the case - but in fact this has not been proven."

“一個人或許可以通過冥想希望成為更好的人--但事實上，這還沒有得到證實。”

The lack of a positive change in compassion he said was not surprising as in most instances to improve compassion or empathy this would involve spending more time interacting with others.

冥想對改善同情心的作用有限，這并不令人感到意外，因為在大多數情況下，若想改善同情心，就需要花費更多時間與人進行互動。

"If you want to meditate because you want some quiet time and time to relax, I see no issues, but the benefits it can have on a person's character are limited, if you want to be more compassionate go and volunteer at a charity."

“如果你是因為需要安靜一會兒或放松一下而冥想，我認為這沒有問題。但冥想在塑造性格方面的作用很有限。如果你想更富有同情心，還是試試去慈善機構做志愿者吧。”