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Moving Beyond Mindfulness: Defining Equanimity as an Outcome Measure in Meditation and Contemplative Research
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Abstract
In light of a growing interest in contemplative practices such as meditation, the emerging field of contemplative science has been challenged to describe and objectively measure how these practices affect health and well-being. While “mindfulness” itself has been proposed as a measurable outcome of contemplative practices, this concept encompasses multiple components, some of which, as we review here, may be better characterized as equanimity. Equanimity can be defined as an even-minded mental state or dispositional tendency toward all experiences or objects, regardless of their origin or their affective valence (pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral). In this article, we propose that equanimity be used as an outcome measure in contemplative research. We first define and discuss the inter-relationship between mindfulness and equanimity from the perspectives of both classical Buddhism and modern psychology and present existing meditation techniques for cultivating equanimity. We then review psychological, physiological, and neuroimaging methods that have been used to assess equanimity either directly or indirectly. In conclusion, we propose that equanimity captures potentially the most important psychological element in the improvement of well-being, and therefore should be a focus in future research studies.
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“However, equanimity items captured present focus, acceptance and an optimistic approach, all of which represent either part or peripheral aspects of equanimity and do not capture its entirety, missing the central concept of non-reactivity which is proposed by Hadash et al. (2016) and others (Cayoun 2011; Desbordes et al. 2015; Hart 1987).”
From Development and Validation of the Equanimity Scale-16 (2021) · cites this paper as Desbordes et al. 2015
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“Paying attention mindfully is proposed to facilitate disengagement from an emotion-provoking stimulus by attenuating the peak amplitude and speeding up recovery, thereby decreasing the overall emotional response [9].”
From Self-Reported Trait Mindfulness and Affective Reactivity: A Motivational Approach Using Multiple Psychophysiological Measures (2015) · cites this paper as [9]
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“equanimity is suggested to be an important mechanism in these interventions (Cayoun 2011; Desbordes et al. 2015).”
From Development and Validation of the Equanimity Scale-16 (2021) · cites this paper as Desbordes et al. 2015
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“The two factors identified in the present study are also consistent with existing conceptualizations of equanimity (Desbordes et al. 2015; Hadash et al. 2016; Hart 1987).”
From Development and Validation of the Equanimity Scale-16 (2021) · cites this paper as Desbordes et al. 2015
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“Thus, mindfulness is thought to facilitate the development of dispositional nonreactivity [9].”
From Self-Reported Trait Mindfulness and Affective Reactivity: A Motivational Approach Using Multiple Psychophysiological Measures (2015) · cites this paper as [9]
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“One suggested mechanism is that mindfulness facilitates disengagement from an affective stimulus and thereby decreases affective reactivity.”
From Self-Reported Trait Mindfulness and Affective Reactivity: A Motivational Approach Using Multiple Psychophysiological Measures (2015) · cites this paper as [9]
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“In line with this, authors such as Desbordes and colleagues [9] have suggested moving beyond mindfulness to focus on the outcomes of mindfulness practice, such as the development of equanimity.”
From Self-Reported Trait Mindfulness and Affective Reactivity: A Motivational Approach Using Multiple Psychophysiological Measures (2015) · cites this paper as [9]
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“Equanimity is characterized as a stable quality developed through mindfulness practice, and therefore may be a more fruitful trait-level outcome variable.”
From Self-Reported Trait Mindfulness and Affective Reactivity: A Motivational Approach Using Multiple Psychophysiological Measures (2015) · cites this paper as [9]
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“In contrast to signifying passivity, we suggest NRE, as conceptualized in the FFMQ-SF, reflects an attitude of nonavoidance with equanimity, defined as even-minded responsiveness to mental phenomena, unswayed by associated emotional valences [67].”
From Mindful Nonreactivity, Anxiety, Depression, and Perceived Stress as Mediators of the Mindfulness Virtual Community Intervention—Pathways to Enhance Mental Health in University Students: Secondary Evaluation of Two Randomized Controlled Trials With Student Participants (2025) · cites this paper as [67]
In the citing paper
“there is evidence to suggest that attention monitoring skills begin to improve more immediately after practice, while acceptance may take longer to cultivate (Baer, Carmody, & Hunsinger, 2012; Desbordes et al., 2015).”
From Mechanisms of mindfulness training: Monitor and Acceptance Theory (MAT (2017) · cites this paper as Desbordes et al., 2015
In the citing paper
“With long-term practice, though, as acceptance becomes a more automatic response and less effortful regulation of emotion is necessary, the neural correlates of acceptance may change, involving changes in resting state functional connectivity (cf. Brewer et al., 2011; Desbordes et al., 2015).”
From Mechanisms of mindfulness training: Monitor and Acceptance Theory (MAT (2017) · cites this paper as Desbordes et al., 2015
In the citing paper
“practicing an accepting stance toward emotional experiences may both reduce amygdala activation and quicken amygdala recovery, corresponding with emotion regulatory ability (Desbordes et al., 2015).”
From Mechanisms of mindfulness training: Monitor and Acceptance Theory (MAT (2017) · cites this paper as Desbordes et al., 2015
In the citing paper
“The present study also helps to address recent calls to examine the construct of equanimity as an outcome in research on mindfulness (Desbordes et al., 2015) by focusing on emotionally-even responding to stressors and examining the time-course of stress response by including repeated measures of emotional distress to assess change following exposure to stressful experiences.”
From Dispositional Mindfulness Uncouples Physiological and Emotional Reactivity to a Laboratory Stressor and Emotional Reactivity to Executive Functioning Lapses in Daily Life (2016) · cites this paper as Desbordes et al., 2015
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Gardner, F. L., & Moore, Z. E. (2020) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9781119568124.ch35 · Cited by 21
Meditation and complexity: a review and synthesis of evidence
Atad, D. A., Mediano, P. A. M., Rosas, F. E., & Berkovich‐Ohana, A. (2025) · Neuroscience of Consciousness · doi:10.1093/nc/niaf013 · Cited by 34
“In a similar vein, equanimity, defined as an even-mindedness toward all experiences regardless of their origin or affective valence (Desbordes et al. 2015), may correspond to the process (and long-term realization) in which prediction errors are less automatically suppressed.”
Trait Mindfulness and Emotion Regulation Responsiveness to Negative Affect in Daily Life
Fisher, M. E., Duraney, E. J., Friess, K., Whitmoyer, P., Andridge, R., & Prakash, R. S. (2022) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-022-01996-3 · Cited by 19
Co-designing Magic Machines for Everyday Mindfulness with Practitioners
Li, J., Kwon, N., Pham, H., Shim, R., & Leshed, G. (2023) · Designing Interactive Systems Conference · doi:10.1145/3563657.3595976 · Cited by 22
“" In the long-term, mindfulness products need to go beyond evoking relaxation to cultivate an individual’s ability to deal with their emotions [22].”
BackgroundToward Greater Clarity in Defining and Understanding Nonattachment
Tremblay, L., Gordon, W. V., & Elander, J. (2024) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-024-02378-7 · Cited by 19
“This broad-based approach to engaging with life experience is the important distinction offered by Desbordes et al. (2015) in their differentiation between withholding judgement, or reactivity in specific situations, and adopting a general attitude of neutrality as a modus operandi.”
Pembroke, N. F. (2015) · Nursing and Health Sciences · doi:10.1111/nhs.12252 · Cited by 19
Blanco, I., Roca, P., Duque, A., Pascual, T., & Vázquez, C. (2019) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-019-01247-y · Cited by 18
Davies, J. N., Sharpe, L., Day, M. A., & Colagiuri, B. (2022) · Pain · doi:10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002593 · Cited by 18
Soft is hard: building resilience with loving kindness meditation at work
Ivtzan, I. (2018) · International Journal of Complementary & Alternative Medicine · doi:10.15406/ijcam.2018.11.00381 · Cited by 19
Rayan, A. (2017) · Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services · doi:10.3928/02793695-20170420-05 · Cited by 21
Saleeb, R., Srigley, J. R., Sweet, J., Doucet, C., Royal, V., Chen, Y., Brimo, F., & Evans, A. J. (2017) · Pathology - Research and Practice · doi:10.1016/j.prp.2017.08.004 · Cited by 18
Computational modelling approaches to meditation research: why should we care?
van Vugt, M. K., Moye, A., & Sivakumar, S. (2018) · Current Opinion in Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2018.10.011 · Cited by 22
Nyklíček, I. (2020) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-020-01318-5 · Cited by 21
“It may be speculated that a potentially enhanced emotional awareness may have been counteracted by the putative effect of equanimity claimed for most meditation practices (Desbordes et al. 2015).”
BackgroundValidation and factor structure of the mindfulness-based self efficacy scale-revised
Cayoun, B., Elphinstone, B., Kasselis, N., Bilsborrow, G., & Skilbeck, C. (2022) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-022-01834-6 · Cited by 17
Nitzan-Assayag, Y., Yuval, K., Tanay, G., Aderka, I. M., Vujanovic, A. A., Litz, B., & Bernstein, A. (2017) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-016-0666-x · Cited by 17
Nine Prolific Years: An Analysis of Publications in Mindfulness
Toniolo–Barrios, M., Brasil, A., & PITT, L. F. (2020) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-020-01321-w · Cited by 17
“…Review on State of The Art 289 7 41.3 Chiesa (2013) The Difficulty of Defining Mindfulness: Current Thought and Critical Issues 278 7 39.7 Desbordes et al. (2015) Moving BeyondMindfulness: Defining Equanimity as an OutcomeMeasure inMeditation and Contemplative Research 214 5 42.8 Bögels…”
BackgroundInfluentialSaini, G., & Seema, S. (2020) · Journal of Statistics and Management Systems · doi:10.1080/09720510.2020.1833451 · Cited by 17
Decoding Depth of Meditation: Electroencephalography Insights From Expert Vipassana Practitioners
Reggente, N., Kothe, C. A., Brandmeyer, T., Hanada, G., Simonian, N., Mullen, S., & Mullen, T. R. (2024) · Biological Psychiatry Global Open Science · doi:10.1016/j.bpsgos.2024.100402 · Cited by 21
“This process involves fostering awareness of mind wandering as integral to, rather than disruptive of, meditation (32), thereby offering opportunities to develop awareness of thought dynamics and transient experiences (33).”
Papies, E. K., van Winckel, M., & Keesman, M. (2016) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-016-0554-4 · Cited by 17
“This perspective is trained in mindfulness programs, but is also part of most contemplative practices (e.g., Desbordes et al. 2014; Dunne 2011, 2015).”
Mindfulness, cognition, and long-term meditators: Toward a science of advanced meditation
Ehmann, S., Sezer, I., Treves, I. N., Gabrieli, J. D. E., & Sacchet, M. D. (2025) · Imaging Neuroscience · doi:10.1162/imag.a.82 · Cited by 29
“Functionally, meditation introduces a divide between the sensory experience and its cognitive interpretation through acceptance, non-judgment, and decentering, often encapsulated within the overarching construct of equanimity ( Desbordes et al., 2014; Soler et al., 2021).”
Rowland, Z., & Wenzel, M. (2020) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-020-01335-4 · Cited by 17
Sohrabi, F., Sohrabi, A., Shams‐Alizadeh, N., & Cayoun, B. A. (2022) · Discover Psychology · doi:10.1007/s44202-022-00026-6 · Cited by 16
Investigación de mindfulness en neurociencia cognitiva
Díez, G. G., & Castellanos, N. P. (2022) · Revista de Neurología · doi:10.33588/rn.7405.2021014 · Cited by 19
Lewis, K. J., Walton, C. C., Slemp, G. R., & Osborne, M. S. (2022) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-022-01990-9 · Cited by 24
An integrative framework for the mechanisms underlying mindfulness-induced cognitive change
Cásedas, L., Schooler, J. W., Vadillo, M. A., & Lupiáñez, J. (2024) · Nature Reviews Psychology · doi:10.1038/s44159-024-00374-1 · Cited by 19
“…appropriate to assess the effects of mindfulness training, as mindful non-reactivity is not characterized by the suppression or blunting of initial emotional responses, but rather by the ease with which they can be recognized and quickly disengaged, facilitating a rapid return to baseline 58,174 .”
InfluentialMoscoso, M. S., & Merino‐Soto, C. (2017) · Mindfulness & Compassion · doi:10.1016/j.mincom.2017.01.001 · Cited by 18
Xu, A., Cullen, B. H., Penner, C., Zimmerman, C., Kerr, C. E., & Schmalzl, L. (2018) · Consciousness and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.concog.2018.09.003 · Cited by 18
Self-citationMindfulness: Attenuating Self-Referential Processing and Strengthening Other-Referential Processing
Shi, Z., & He, L. (2019) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-019-01271-y · Cited by 16
Mindfulness in everyday life: between- and within-person relationships to motivational conflicts
Senker, K., Fries, S., & Grund, A. (2020) · Current Psychology · doi:10.1007/s12144-020-00760-x · Cited by 17
Role of Equanimity on the Mediation Model of Neuroticism, Perceived Stress and Depressive Symptoms
Wongpakaran, N., Wongpakaran, T., Wedding, D., Mirnics, Z., & Kövi, Z. (2021) · Healthcare · doi:10.3390/healthcare9101300 · Cited by 16
“Researchers also found that mindfulness meditation was directly related to equanimity [52,53], in line with the related investigation that the patients with personality problems who engaged in mindfulness practice may have cultivated a greater acceptance toward adversity and perceived less adversity and more equanimit…”
ResultThe Mindful Personality II: Exploring the Metatraits from a Cybernetic Perspective
Hanley, A. W., Baker, A. K., & Garland, E. L. (2017) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-017-0836-5 · Cited by 16
“This characterization of stability is strikingly similar to descriptions of mindfulness typified by non-reactivity and equanimity (Baer et al. 2006; Desbordes et al. 2015; Dreyfus 2011).”
Rethinking Future Directions of the Mindfulness Field
Tang, Y.-Y., & Tang, R. (2015) · Psychological Inquiry · doi:10.1080/1047840x.2015.1075850 · Cited by 15
“(2015), equanimity is “an even-minded mental state or dispositional tendency toward all experiences or objects, regardless of their origin or their affective valence” (pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral; Desbordes et al., 2015).”
BackgroundSparby, T. (2022) · Religions · doi:10.3390/rel13090840 · Cited by 16
“For example, encounters with difficult emotions may represent opportunities for developing essential meditation skills such as equanimity (Desbordes et al. 2015; Eberth et al. 2019); a temporary depletion of cognitive capacity after meditation sessions may be unavoidable for meditative growth…”
BackgroundRoca, P., Vázquez, C., Díez, G. G., & McNally, R. J. (2023) · Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2023.101895 · Cited by 18
Studying the precuneus reveals structure–function–affect correlation in long-term meditators
Berkovich‐Ohana, A., Furman‐Haran, E., Malach, R., Arieli, A., Harel, M., & Gilaie‐Dotan, S. (2020) · Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience · doi:10.1093/scan/nsaa137 · Cited by 14
Confirmation and Validation of the Equanimity Scale-16 (ES-16)
Cheever, J., Cayoun, B. A., Elphinstone, B., & Shires, A. G. (2023) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-022-02029-9 · Cited by 14
“, 2010), which is conceptually similar to equanimity (Desbordes et al., 2015), has indicated that there are no gender differences in nonattachment, but that nonattachment appears to increase with age.”
BackgroundInfluentialVarious Pathways for Cultivation of Equanimity: An Exploratory Study
Jijina, P., & Biswas, U. N. (2022) · Psychological Studies · doi:10.1007/s12646-021-00634-7 · Cited by 18
Lyddy, C. J., Good, D. J., Kriz, T. D., & Stephens, J. P. (2022) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-022-01894-8 · Cited by 16
Conceptualizations of Mindfulness Among Experienced Practitioners
Lustig, J., Cardaciotto, L., Moon, S. M., & Spokas, M. E. (2024) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-024-02339-0 · Cited by 16
“The term equanimity has been a subject of multiple research investigations which suggest this concept may play an important role in how mindfulness meditation can act as a mechanism of change (e.g., Desbordes et al., 2015; Eberth et al., 2019; Weber, 2017).”
Bowles, N. I., Davies, J. N., Strohmaier, S., Galante, J., & Van Dam, N. T. (2026) · Journal of Contemplative Studies · doi:10.57010/caxs3076 · Cited by 14
Magidson, J. F., Satinsky, E. N., Luberto, C. M., MYERS, B. J., Funes, C. J., Vanderkruik, R. C., & Andersen, L. S. (2020) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113424 · Cited by 14
The Emerging Science of Mindfulness as a Treatment for Addiction
Houlihan, S. D., & Brewer, J. A. (2015) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-22255-4_9 · Cited by 14
Metadata
- Authors
- Desbordes, G., Gard, T., Hoge, E. A., Hölzel, B. K., Kerr, C., Lazar, S. W., Olendzki, A., & Vago, D. R.
- Affiliations
- Massachusetts General Hospital (US)
- Maastricht University (NL)
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (DE)
- Brown University (US)
- Brigham and Women's Hospital (US)
- Corresponding author
- Desbordes, Gaëlle
- Venue
- Mindfulness
- Published
- 2014-01-21
- Volume
- 6
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 356-372
- ISSN
- 1868-8527 (ISSN-L)
- 1868-8535
- PMC
- PMC4350240
- OpenAlex
- W2075305762
- Semantic Scholar
- 75e9947374576cc615f3b956797d532fd805da71
- Cited by
- 505
- References
- 172
- Citations by year
- 2026: 35 · 2025: 61 · 2024: 45 · 2023: 48 · 2022: 49 · 2021: 38 · 2020: 60 · 2019: 32 · 2018: 45 · 2017: 44 · 2016: 25 · 2015: 17 · 2014: 6
- FWCI
- 36.01
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Mindfulness (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research Publications (Maastricht University) (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- MindRxiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
- Research Publications (Maastricht University) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (K23AT004432, R21AT003425, K01AT008225, R01AT006344)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
- Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
- Keywords
- equanimity, meditation, contemplative science, outcome measures, well-being, Buddhist psychology, meditation techniques, emotional valence
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