{"title":"What is a mantra? Guidance for practitioners, researchers, and editors.","authors":"Doug Oman","doi":"10.1037/amp0001368","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Mantras, sometimes called holy names or prayer words, are increasingly included and studied as components in health and human services interventions. In this emerging field, the term \"mantra\" has been implicitly defined over several decades in a way that has been useful, largely shared across research teams, and historically resonant. However, confusion has arisen in how \"mantra\" is defined and used in a small fraction of recent publications that depart from longstanding usage. To provide needed guidance going forward for researchers, editors, reviewers, and practitioners, the present article discusses historical, cross-cultural, conceptual, and empirical background and proposes a definition of \"mantra\" for use in empirical research on mantra interventions: A mantra is a phrase or sound that has been repeated and sanctified over time within a spiritual tradition. Using this definition, we categorize several dozen empirical studies of mantra repetition interventions. Emphasizing well-established psychosocial processes such as priming and spreading activation, we explain theoretical and empirical bases for expecting repetition of mantras to enlist spiritual resources and provide added value for health and well-being, over and above the repetition of neutral non-mantra sounds or phrases. Although the term mantra should be used carefully in professional discourse, we allow that looser definitions can be acceptable in communications with intervention recipients, clients, and patients, parallel to recent recommendations for how to employ the term \"spirituality.\" Directions for future research are suggested. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).</p>","PeriodicalId":48468,"journal":{"name":"American Psychologist","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":12.3000,"publicationDate":"2024-05-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"American Psychologist","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0001368","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Mantras, sometimes called holy names or prayer words, are increasingly included and studied as components in health and human services interventions. In this emerging field, the term "mantra" has been implicitly defined over several decades in a way that has been useful, largely shared across research teams, and historically resonant. However, confusion has arisen in how "mantra" is defined and used in a small fraction of recent publications that depart from longstanding usage. To provide needed guidance going forward for researchers, editors, reviewers, and practitioners, the present article discusses historical, cross-cultural, conceptual, and empirical background and proposes a definition of "mantra" for use in empirical research on mantra interventions: A mantra is a phrase or sound that has been repeated and sanctified over time within a spiritual tradition. Using this definition, we categorize several dozen empirical studies of mantra repetition interventions. Emphasizing well-established psychosocial processes such as priming and spreading activation, we explain theoretical and empirical bases for expecting repetition of mantras to enlist spiritual resources and provide added value for health and well-being, over and above the repetition of neutral non-mantra sounds or phrases. Although the term mantra should be used carefully in professional discourse, we allow that looser definitions can be acceptable in communications with intervention recipients, clients, and patients, parallel to recent recommendations for how to employ the term "spirituality." Directions for future research are suggested. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).
期刊介绍:
Established in 1946, American Psychologist® is the flagship peer-reviewed scholarly journal of the American Psychological Association. It publishes high-impact papers of broad interest, including empirical reports, meta-analyses, and scholarly reviews, covering psychological science, practice, education, and policy. Articles often address issues of national and international significance within the field of psychology and its relationship to society. Published in an accessible style, contributions in American Psychologist are designed to be understood by both psychologists and the general public.