Mindful Attention as a Skillful Means Toward Intergroup Prosociality

Abstract

Mindful attention deployment has been found to have practical benefits for a range of interpersonal outcomes including prosocial action and emotion. Recently, theory has posited that contemplative training that incorporates mindful attention may enhance intergroup compassion. Here, we conduct a selective narrative review, drawing on the Buddhist concept skillful means to ask if mindful attention deployment presents an optimal starting point for intergroup compassion and action. An interdisciplinary theoretical framework is presented, which suggests that mindful attention dismantles common intrapsychic challenges to intergroup prosociality. Empirical research is described concerning cause and effect relationships between mindfulness and several outgrowths of intergroup prosociality. Specifically, mindfulness promotes basic social cognitive processes that allow intergroup prosociality to flourish. While this research is promising, to date, the science on this topic has been limited to individual-level outgrowths of mindfulness practice. Discussion focuses on the future of mindfulness research in intergroup prosociality and calls for an integrative approach situating mindful attention deployment within social (and other) psychological interventions to enhance intergroup compassion.