RESEARCH ARTICLE

The Association between Meditation Practice

and Job Performance: A Cross-Sectional
Study
Koichiro Shiba1☯*, Masahiro Nishimoto2☯, Minami Sugimoto3, Yoshiki Ishikawa1,2
1 Department of Health and Social Behavior/Health Education and Health Sociology, School of Public
Health, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan, 2 Campus for H Inc., Tokyo, Japan, 3 Department of Social
and Preventive Epidemiology, School of Public Health, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

a11111 ☯ These authors contributed equally to this work.

* shibakoichiro@gmail.com

Abstract
Many previous studies have shown that meditation practice has a positive impact on cogni-
OPEN ACCESS tive and non-cognitive functioning, which are related to job performance. Thus, the aims of
Citation: Shiba K, Nishimoto M, Sugimoto M, this study were to (1) estimate the prevalence of meditation practice, (2) identify the charac-
Ishikawa Y (2015) The Association between teristics of individuals who practice meditation, and (3) examine the association between
Meditation Practice and Job Performance: A Cross- meditation practice and job performance. Two population-based, cross-sectional surveys
Sectional Study. PLoS ONE 10(5): e0128287.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0128287
were conducted. In study 1, we examined the prevalence of meditation practice and the
characteristics of the persons practicing meditation; in Study 2, we examined the associa-
Academic Editor: Bert N Uchino, University of Utah,
UNITED STATES
tion between meditation practice and job performance. The outcome variables included
work engagement, subjective job performance, and job satisfaction. The Utrecht Work En-
Received: January 14, 2015
gagement Scale was used to assess work engagement, the World Health Organization
Accepted: April 24, 2015 Health and Work Performance Questionnaire (HPQ) was used to measure subjective job
Published: May 29, 2015 performance, and a scale developed by the Japanese government was used to assess job
Copyright: © 2015 Shiba et al. This is an open satisfaction. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used in Study 2. Demographic
access article distributed under the terms of the characteristics and behavioral risk factors were included as covariates in the analyses. The
Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits results of Study 1 indicated that 3.9% of persons surveyed (n = 30,665) practiced medita-
unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any
medium, provided the original author and source are
tion; these individuals were younger and had a higher education, higher household income,
credited. higher stress level, and lower body mass index than those who did not practice meditation.
Data Availability Statement: All relevant data are
The results of Study 2 (n = 1,470) indicated that meditation practice was significantly predic-
within the paper and its Supporting Information files. tive of work engagement (β = 0.112, p < .001), subjective job performance (β = 0.116,
Funding: This study was funded by Campus for H.,
p < .001), and job satisfaction (β = 0.079, p = .002), even after adjusting for covariates
Inc.. Authors MN and YI were employees of Campus (β = 0.083, p < .001; β = 0.104, p < .001; β = 0.060, p = .015, respectively). The results indi-
for H., Inc. at the time of the study; they were involved cate that meditation practice may positively influence job performance, including job satis-
in the study design, data collection and analysis,
faction, subjective job performance, and work engagement.
decision to publish, and preparation of the
manuscript.

Competing Interests: Authors MN and YI were

employees of Campus for H., Inc. at the time of the
study; they were involved in the study design, data
collection and analysis, decision to publish, and

PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0128287 May 29, 2015 1 / 13

 Meditation Practice and Job Performance

preparation of the manuscript. This does not alter the Introduction

authors’ adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on
sharing data and materials. The improvement of employee job performance has been an issue of interest in the fields of
management, occupational health, and organizational psychology [1]. It is well documented
that cognitive intelligence is positively associated with job performance [2]. Furthermore, re-
searchers have also focused on non-cognitive factors that are positively associated with job per-
formance. For instance, higher emotional intelligence has been linked to better job
performance [3, 4], as has motivation, which can be fostered by vocational interest [5]. While it
is known that these factors are positively associated with job performance, our understanding
of a practical means of enhancing job performance remains insufficient.
One promising intervention that may improve individual job performance is meditation
practice. Meditation training has been used as a tool in psychotherapy [6], and has recently
been introduced to the field of business. Indeed, meditation practice may have a positive im-
pact on concentration, memory, creativity, emotional intelligence, and motivation [7, 8, 9].
There is increasing evidence from the field of neuroscience suggesting that meditation practice
can enhance employees’ job performance via its influence on the autonomic nervous and endo-
crine systems. Therefore, meditation practice may be an effective intervention strategy to im-
prove job performance in the business world.
Despite the theoretical plausibility linking meditation practice to job performance, previous
studies examining meditation in the workplace have focused on stress reduction and depres-
sion [10, 11]. Few studies have examined the direct relationship between meditation practice
and job performance. Furthermore, the prevalence of meditation practice and the characteris-
tics of those who practice meditation are still unknown. Therefore, in the present study, we
sought to (1) estimate the prevalence of meditation practice, (2) identify the characteristics of
those who practice meditation, and (3) examine the association between meditation practice
and job performance among Japanese businesspersons via cross-sectional data.

Study Design
Study 1 was a cross-sectional study of adults in Japan that estimated the prevalence of medita-
tion practice and the background characteristics of those that practice.
Study 2 was a cross-sectional study of Japanese business persons that examined the associa-
tions between the frequency of meditation practice and scores on the Utrecht Work Engage-
ment Scale (UWES-9), the World Health Organization Health and Work Performance
Questionnaire (HPQ), and a job satisfaction scale; demographic characteristics and other be-
havioral risk factors were controlled for in these analyses.

Method
Participants
Study 1. A population-based, cross-sectional survey targeting Japanese business people
was conducted through the Internet in August 2014. We contacted registered participants of
MARSH Co., Ltd., an Internet research company in Japan. MARSH Co. has access to more
than 720,000 people to recruit as participants for survey studies, including the present study.
Specifically, they invited 98,907 registrants, 44,872 of who accessed the survey. Registrants who
indicated that they were students, unemployed, clergy, or instructors were excluded from the
analysis. Students and unemployed were excluded since the aim was to examine meditation in
businesspersons. Clergy and instructors were excluded because they may have been meditation
experts. The final sample resulted in 30,665 participants (Table 1). The participants received
online shopping points as an incentive.

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 Meditation Practice and Job Performance

Table 1. Demographic characteristics of the sample by meditation practice (N = 30,665)

Meditation Non-meditation
group

Group (n = 1,208) (n = 29,457)

n % n % p-value
All 1,208 3.9 29,457 96.1
Age <20 0 0.0b 13 0.0b < 0.001a
20–29 142 11.8 1,919 6.5
30–39 407 33.7 6,571 22.3
40–49 391 32.4 11,294 38.3
50–59 268 22.2 9,660 32.8
Gender Male 489 40.5 20,037 68 < 0.001a
Female 719 59.5 9,420 32
Education Elementary school, junior high school 10 0.8b 335 1.1b < 0.001a
High school, vocational school 281 23.3 9,806 33.3
Junior college, technical college 172 14.2 3,274 11.1
University 665 55 14,365 48.8
Graduate school 80 6.6b 1,677 5.7b
Household Income (Japanese Yen) Less than 2 million 73 6.0 b
1,428 4.8b < 0.001a
b b
2–5 million 349 28.9 9,062 30.8
5–7 million 248 20.5b 6,436 21.8b
b
7–10 million 219 18.1 5,883 20.0b
10–15 million 151 12.5 2,753 9.3
More than 15 million 71 5.9 811 2.8
Unknown 97 8 3,084 10.5
a
Chi-square test.
b
Statistically significant standardized residual (p < 0.05).

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0128287.t001

Study 2. A population-based, cross-sectional survey targeting Japanese businesspeople

was conducted through the Internet in August 2014. Registered participants of MARSH Co.,
Ltd. who were between the ages of 20 and 65 were recruited. Once again, students, unemployed
individuals, clergy, and instructors were excluded as participants. We aimed to collect data
from 1,600 participants; specifically, we sought to collect data from a total of 600 individuals
who meditated (300 men, 300 women) and 1,000 individuals who did not meditate (500 men
and 500 women). However, we could not collect data from an adequate number of individuals
who meditated. Therefore, in order to collect enough data from individuals who meditated we
increased the distribution of the questionnaires. As a result, questionnaires were distributed to
2,404 adults in Japan, and 1,603 participated. Of those who participated, we excluded the data
from individuals who did not report household income (n = 122) and data with some error
(n = 11). This resulted in a final sample size of 1,470 persons (Table 2). The participants re-
ceived online shopping points as an incentive.
Ethics. Based on ethical guidelines for epidemiological research provided by the Japanese
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare [12], an ethical review was not required for this study
for the following reasons: 1) based on the Act on the Protection of Personal Information in
Japan, the authors provided the participants with the privacy policy and the participants agreed
to the use of their answers for analysis under anonymity; and 2) the analysis involved the use of
unlinkable, anonymous, and publicly available data provided by Campus for H., Inc. (see S1

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 Meditation Practice and Job Performance

Table 2. Comparison of the background characteristics for the meditation group (n = 418) and non-meditation group (n = 1,052).

Meditation Group (n = 418) Non-meditation Group

(n = 1,052)

Mean (SD) n (%) Mean (SD) n (%) p-value

c c
Age 20–29 40 (9.6) 82 (7.8) 0.09a
30–39 135 (32.3) 285 (27.1)
40–49 149 (35.6)c 390 (37.1)c
50–59 94 (22.5) 295 (28)
Gender Male 209 (50.0)c 531 (50.5)c 0.74a
Female 209 (50.0)c 521 (49.5)c
Education Elementary school, junior high school 1 (0.2) c
13 (1.2)c <0.001a
High school, vocational school 93 (22.2) 317 (30.1)
Junior college, technical college 50 (12.0)c 141 (13.4)c
University 242 (57.9) 529 (50.3)
Graduate school 52 (7.7) 32 (4.9)
Household Income (Japanese yen) Less than 2 million 32 (7.7)c 67 (6.4)c 0.02a
c c
2–5 million 141 (33.7) 381 (36.2)
5–7 million 79 (18.9)c 238 (22.6)c
c
7–10 million 82 (19.6) 228 (21.7)c
10–15 million 58 (13.9) 102 (9.7)
More than 15 million 26 (6.2) 36 (3.4)
Marital Status Unmarried 185 (44.3) 396 (37.6) <0.001a
Married 183 (43.8) 550 (52.3)
Common-law marriage 7 (1.7) 4 (0.4)
Divorced 39 (9.3)c 94 (8.9)c
Bereavement 4 (1.0)c 8 (0.8)c
Stress responses (subscale of BJSQ) 19.0 (6.61) 18.3 (6.56) 0.05b
Body mass index (kg/height (m) ) 2
21.4 (3.13) 22.1 (3.82) <0.001b
Physical activity at work 1.7 (0.8) 1.6 (0.84) 0.46b
Physical activity at leisure time 2.7 (1.09) 2.2 (1.1) 0.00b
Sleep hours 6.1 (1.11) 6.1 (1.07) 0.86b
Sleep sufficiency 2.2 (0.77) 2.2 (0.76) 0.75b
Work engagement (UWES-9) 3.0 (1.21) 2.7 (1.15) <0.001b
Job performance (HPQ) 7.0 (1.94) 6.6 (1.98) <0.001b
Job Satisfaction 27.6 (7.13) 26.5 (7.26) 0.01b
a
Chi-square test.
b
Student's t-test.
c
Statistically significant standardized residual (p < 0.05).

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0128287.t002

Dataset and S2 Dataset). Therefore, this study does not require an ethical review according to
the Japanese guidelines.

Measurements
Stress responses. Stress responses were assessed using the subscales of the Brief Job Stress
Questionnaire (BJSQ) [13]. This questionnaire was developed with support from the Japanese
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and is used in Japan on a regular basis. Stress re-
sponses were measured by nine items, reflecting fatigue (e.g., “I am completely tired.”), anxiety

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 Meditation Practice and Job Performance

(e.g., “I feel ill at ease.”), and depression (e.g., “I feel depressed.”). The BJSQ items were scored
on a 4-point Likert scale, ranging from “1 = never” to “4 = always.” Each item was scored so
that high scores indicated a higher level of stress response. It is believed that it is difficult to dis-
criminate between different types of psychological distress in the workplace [14, 15]. Therefore,
we used an aggregate of perceived stress responses as the independent variable; this was created
by summing all nine items. In this sample, the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.94.
Subjective job performance. Subjective job performance was assessed using a single item
from the HPQ [16]. Participants were asked to rate their overall job performance during the
past four weeks on a 0–10 self-anchored scale, with 0 defined as the “worst possible work per-
formance a person could have on this job” and 10 defined as “top work performance on the
job.” We used this single-item, self-report global scale because (1) it has been argued that a
global index of overall job performance (single item measure) is an inclusive and valid measure
of job performance [16], (2) data on the objective performance of participants is difficult to ob-
tain, and (3) alternative self-report measures of job performance focus on single occupations
and include questions tailored to the unique demands of those occupations.
Work engagement. The nine-item Japanese version of the UWES-9 [17, 18] was used to
assess work engagement. The UWES-9 was developed by Schaufeli et al. [17] and includes sub-
scales measuring vigor (three items), dedication (three items), and absorption (three items).
Items are rated on a seven-point response scale ranging from “0 = never” to “6 = always (every-
day).” A total score on the UWES-9 (ranging from 0–6) was calculated by averaging item scores
across the three subscales. The UWES-9 was translated into Japanese and has acceptable inter-
nal consistency reliability as well as factor and construct validities [18]. In this sample, the
Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.96.
Job satisfaction. Job satisfaction was assessed via nine items from the Japanese govern-
ment cabinet office’s Kokumin Seikatsu Senkoudo Chousa (National Life Preference Survey)
[19]. We assessed satisfaction with following questions: 1) relationships in the workplace, 2)
employment conditions, 3) rewards, 4) increases in earnings, 5) employment stability, 6) sense
of satisfaction at work, 7) difficulty in taking a vacation, 8) work life balance, and 9) diversity in
the type of employment. These items were scored on a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from
“1 = dissatisfied” to “5 = satisfied.” Each item was scored such that high scores indicated a
higher level of satisfaction. An aggregate level of job satisfaction was used as the independent
variable and was created by summing the nine items. In this sample, the Cronbach’s alpha coef-
ficient was 0.89.
Sleep quality. Sleep quality was assessed via two items that were developed by Liu et al.
[20]. The first item was “Do you feel rested after a night’s sleep?” This item was rated on a
4-point scale that ranged from “1 = very insufficient” to “4 = very sufficient.” The second ques-
tion asked participants to report how many hours they sleep in an average night. These items
were developed with support from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and
are used in Japan on a regular basis [21].
Physical activity. Physical activity was assessed using two items created and validated by
Johansson and Westerterp [22]. These items measure physical activity at work and at leisure
time. The first item was: “Describe your physical activity while at work (even work at home,
sick leave at home, and studying),” and was rated from “1 = very light” to “4 = heavy.” The sec-
ond question asked participants to rate the following question: “Describe your physical activity
at leisure time. If the activities vary between summer and winter, try to give an average esti-
mate.” This question was rated on a scale ranging from “1 = very light” to “5 = very active.”
Demographic characteristics. In terms of demographic characteristics, we asked about
participants’ gender, age (years), marital status (unmarried/married/common-law marriage/di-
vorce/widowed), household income (JPY; less than 2 million/2–5 million/5–7 million/7–10

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 Meditation Practice and Job Performance

million/10–15 million/more than 15 million/unknown), and education (elementary school; ju-

nior high school/high school; vocational school/junior college; technical college/university/
graduate school).

Statistical analysis
In Study 1, descriptive analyses were conducted to estimate the prevalence of meditation prac-
tice and the characteristics of individuals who meditate. In Study 2, hierarchical multiple re-
gression analyses were conducted and examined the effect of meditation on the three outcome
variables (work engagement, subjective job performance, and job satisfaction). The indepen-
dent variables were entered into the equation as follows: frequency of meditation practice was
entered on the first step; demographic characteristics (gender, age, marital status [organized as
a dummy variable: never married/divorced/widowed = 1, married/common-law marriage = 2],
household income, education) were entered as controls on the second step; and behavioral risk
factors (body mass index, physical activity at work, physical activity at leisure time, number of
hours of sleep, sleep sufficiency) were entered on the third step to compare their effect with
that of meditation practice. The level of significance was set to 0.05 (two-tailed). The statistical
analyses were conducted using SPSS 22 for Windows.

Results
Study 1
The descriptive data are presented in Table 1. The prevalence of meditation practice was 3.9%
for the current sample. Participants were divided into two groups and were compared on the
dependent variables; the two groups were individuals who meditated (n = 1,208) and individu-
als who did not meditate (n = 29,457). As shown in Table 1, those who practiced meditation
were younger than were those who did not practice meditation. In addition, individuals who
practiced meditation reported significantly higher education levels and higher household in-
comes. The two groups also differed in gender; specifically, the proportion of female partici-
pants was higher in the group that practiced meditation (59.5%) than in the group that did not
practice meditation (32.0%).

Study 2
A comparison of the background characteristics between individuals who meditated (n = 418)
and those who did not meditate (n = 1,052) is displayed in Table 2. When compared with the
non-meditation group, the meditation group reported significantly higher education levels,
household incomes, stress responses, physical activity at leisure time, work engagement, sub-
jective job performance, subjective job satisfaction, and significantly lower body mass index
(BMI). The two groups also differed in marital status. The proportion of married participants
was lower in the meditation group (43.8%) than in the non-meditation group (52.3%).
Work engagement. The results of the hierarchical regression analysis for work engage-
ment are presented in Table 3. As expected, meditation practice significantly accounted for
1.3% of the variance in the prediction of work engagement (p < .001). Demographics were
added in the second step and accounted for a significant increase in 4.4% of the variance ex-
plained in the prediction of work engagement (p < .001). Behavioral risk factors were added in
the third step and significantly accounted for 1.8% of the variance in the prediction of work en-
gagement (p < .001; Table 3).
When the individual variables were examined, meditation practice (β = .112, p < .001) was
significantly predictive of work engagement, and remained significant after controlling for

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 Meditation Practice and Job Performance

Table 3. Associations between meditation practice, demographic characteristics, behavioral risk factors, and work engagement: Results from the
hierarchical regression analysis (740 males and 730 females).

Variables Pearson R Standardized coefficient (β)

Crude Step 1 Step 2 Step 3

1 Meditation practice
Frequency of practicea 0.112 *** 0.112 *** 0.106 *** 0.086 ***
2 Demographic characteristics
Genderb 0.004 0.032 0.044
Age (years) 0.086 *** 0.070 ** 0.075 **
Educationc 0.114 *** 0.078 ** 0.084 **
Household income d
0.163 *** 0.119 *** 0.115 ***
Marital statuse 0.081 ** 0.024 0.020
Stress responses -0.103 *** -0.081 ** -0.068 *
3 Behavioral risk factors
Body mass index -0.026 -0.009
Physical activity at workf 0.046 0.076 **
Physical activity at leisure timeg 0.158 *** 0.101 ***
Sleep hours 0.025 0.025
Sleep sufficiency h
0.061 * 0.011
R2 0.013 0.056 0.074
Adjusted R2 0.012 0.052 0.067
Δ R2 0.013 *** 0.044 *** 0.018 ***

*: P < 0.05,
**: P < 0.01,
***: P < 0.001.
a
Not currently practicing = 1, Less than one day in two weeks = 2, Once a week or more = 3, Daily or more = 4.
b
Male = 1, Female = 2.
c
Elementary school/junior high school = 1, High school/vocational school = 2, Junior college/technical college = 3, University = 4, Graduate school = 5.
d
Less than 2 million = 1, 2–5 million = 2, 5–7 million = 3, 7–10 million = 4, 10–15 million = 5, More than 15 million = 6 (JPY).
e
Never married/Divorced/Widowed = 1, Married/Common-law marriage = 2.
f
Very light = 1, Light = 2, Moderate = 3, Heavy = 4.
g
Very light = 1, Light = 2, Moderate = 3, Active = 4, Very active = 5.
h
Very insufficient = 1, Insufficient = 2, Sufficient = 3, Very sufficient = 4.

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0128287.t003

demographic characteristics and behavioral risk factors (β = .086, p < .001). Furthermore,
physical activity at leisure time was the strongest predictor of work engagement (β = .101,
p < .001). Physical activity at work (β = .076, p = .004) was also positively predictive of
work engagement.
Subjective job performance. The results of the hierarchical regression analyses for HPQ
score are presented in Table 4. As expected, meditation practice significantly accounted for
1.3% of the variance in the prediction of HPQ (p < .001). In the second step, demographics ac-
counted for a significant increase in the variance explained (18.9%) in the prediction of HPQ
(p < .001). Behavioral risk factors were added in the third step and accounted for a significant
1.3% of the variance in the prediction of HPQ (p < .001; Table 4).
When the individual variables in these models were examined, meditation practice (β = .116,
p< .001) was significantly predictive of HPQ scores, and these results held after controlling for
demographic characteristics and behavioral risk factors (β = .108, p < .001). Furthermore, when
examining the behavioral risk factors and meditation practice as predictors, meditation practice

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 Meditation Practice and Job Performance

Table 4. Associations between meditation practice, demographic characteristics, behavioral risk factors, and the health and work performance
questionnaire: Results from the hierarchical regression analysis (740 males and 730 females).

Variables Pearson R Standardized coefficient (β)

Crude Step 1 Step 2 Step 3

1 Meditation practice
Frequency of practicea 0.116 *** 0.116 *** 0.120 *** 0.108 ***
2 Demographic characteristics
Genderb 0.115 *** 0.139 *** 0.163 ***
Age (years) 0.091 *** 0.057 * 0.057 *
Educationc 0.080 ** 0.039 0.048 *
Household income d
0.194 *** 0.125 *** 0.123 ***
Marital statuse 0.112 *** 0.059 * 0.057 *
Stress responses -0.378 *** -0.352 *** -0.331 ***
3 Behavioral risk factors
Body mass index -0.035 0.030
Physical activity at workf -0.007 0.069 **
Physical activity at leisure timeg 0.155 *** 0.071 **
Sleep hours 0.059 * -0.014
Sleep sufficiency h
0.212 *** 0.051
R2 0.013 0.202 0.215
Adjusted R2 0.013 0.198 0.208
Δ R2 0.013 *** 0.189 *** 0.013 ***

*: P < 0.05,
**: P < 0.01,
***: P < 0.001.
a
Not currently practicing = 1, Less than one day in two weeks = 2, Once a week or more = 3, Daily or more = 4.
b
Male = 1, Female = 2.
c
Elementary school/junior high school = 1, High school/vocational school = 2, Junior college/technical college = 3, University = 4, Graduate school = 5.
d
Less than 2 million = 1, 2–5 million = 2, 5–7 million = 3, 7–10 million = 4, 10–15 million = 5, More than 15 million = 6 (JPY).
e
Never married/Divorced/Widowed = 1, Married/Common-law marriage = 2.
f
Very light = 1, Light = 2, Moderate = 3, Heavy = 4.
g
Very light = 1, Light = 2, Moderate = 3, Active = 4, Very active = 5.
h
Very insufficient = 1, Insufficient = 2, Sufficient = 3, Very sufficient = 4.

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0128287.t004

was the strongest predictor of HPQ (β = .108, p < .001); thus, it appears that frequent medita-
tion practice was associated with increased performance. In addition, physical activity at work
(β = 0.069, p = .005) and physical activity at leisure time (β = 0.071, p = .004) were also positively
predictive of HPQ.
Job satisfaction. The results of the hierarchical regression analyses predicting job satisfac-
tion are presented in Table 5. As expected, meditation practice accounted for a significant 0.6%
of the variance in the prediction of job satisfaction (p = .002). Demographic variables, added in
the second step, accounted for a significant increase in the amount of variance explained
(13.8%) in the prediction of job satisfaction (p < .001). Behavioral risk factors were added in
the third step and accounted for a significant 0.9% of the variance in the prediction of job satis-
faction (p = .007).
When the individual variables in these models were examined, meditation practice (β = 0.079,
p = .002) was significantly predictive of job satisfaction scores, and this result was consistent even
after controlling for demographic characteristics and behavioral risk factors (β = 0.065, p = .009).

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 Meditation Practice and Job Performance

Table 5. Associations between meditation practice, demographic characteristics, behavioral risk factors, and job satisfaction: Results from the hi-
erarchical regression analysis (740 males and 730 females).

Variables Pearson R Standardized coefficient (β)

Crude Step 1 Step 2 Step 3

1 Meditation practice
Frequency of practicea 0.079 ** 0.079 ** 0.072 ** 0.065 **
2 Demographic characteristics
Genderb 0.044 0.059 * 0.059 *
Age (years) -0.001 -0.052 * -0.050
Educationc 0.125 *** 0.065 ** 0.062 *
Household income d
0.258 *** 0.205 *** 0.194 ***
Marital statuse 0.125 *** 0.062 * 0.067 *
Stress responses -0.272 *** -0.248 *** -0.200 ***
3 Behavioral risk factors
Body mass index -0.021 0.026
Physical activity at workf -0.097 *** -0.038
Physical activity at leisure timeg 0.117 *** 0.050 *
Sleep hours 0.068 ** 0.006
Sleep sufficiencyh 0.195 *** 0.083 **
R 2
0.006 0.145 0.154
Adjusted R2 0.006 0.140 0.147
Δ R2 0.006 ** 0.138 *** 0.009 **

*: P < 0.05,
**: P < 0.01,
***: P < 0.001.
a
Not currently practicing = 1, Less than one day in two weeks = 2, Once a week or more = 3, Daily or more = 4.
b
Male = 1, Female = 2.
c
Elementary school/junior high school = 1, High school/vocational school = 2, Junior college/technical college = 3, University = 4, Graduate school = 5.
d
Less than 2 million = 1, 2–5 million = 2, 5–7 million = 3, 7–10 million = 4, 10–15 million = 5, More than 15 million = 6 (JPY).
e
Never married/Divorced/Widowed = 1, Married/Common-law marriage = 2.
f
Very light = 1, Light = 2, Moderate = 3, Heavy = 4.
g
Very light = 1, Light = 2, Moderate = 3, Active = 4, Very active = 5.
h
Very insufficient = 1, Insufficient = 2, Sufficient = 3, Very sufficient = 4.

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0128287.t005

Comparing behavioral risk factors and meditation practice, sleep sufficiency was the strongest
predictor of job satisfaction (β = .083, p = .007), thereby suggesting that those who have better
sleep are more likely to be satisfied with their jobs.

Discussion
It has been argued that meditation practice has the potential to enhance individual job perfor-
mance. The present study was conducted for three purposes: (1) to estimate the prevalence of
meditation practice, (2) to identify the characteristics of those who practice meditation, and (3)
to examine the association between meditation practice and job performance among Japanese
business people. To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the direct relations be-
tween meditation practice and job performance via several types of variables. Moreover, no
studies to date have examined these associations among business people with cross-sectional
data after controlling for demographic and behavioral risk factors.

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 Meditation Practice and Job Performance

First, the results of the present study indicated that there was an association between medi-
tation practice and the outcome variables, including subjective job performance, work engage-
ment, and job satisfaction. Importantly, these associations were significant even after
controlling for covariates. These results are consistent with previous studies, suggesting that
meditation practice is positively associated with these variables [23, 24, 25]. Our study is novel
in that our results indicated that meditation practice predicted job performance when demo-
graphic and behavioral risk factors were entered as controls. It is possible that the effects of
meditation on job performance reflect improved cognitive and non-cognitive functioning that
result from the biological changes associated with meditation. Indeed, neuroscience research
has indicated that the mental processes used during meditation practice affect the brain, auto-
nomic nervous system, and endocrine system [26]. These biological changes may result in im-
proved cognitive and non-cognitive functioning in individuals who practice meditation; this,
in turn, results in better job performance.
Second, the results of this study did not reveal any associations between BMI and any of the
outcome variables. Previous studies have reported that obesity causes multiple health problems
that can negatively affect job performance [27, 28, 29]. The fact that our data did not demon-
strate this association may be because of the difference of BMI distribution in Japan versus
Western countries. In Japan, the mean BMI of the population is 23.71 (SD 3.37) kg/m2 in 20-
to 69-year-olds and the percentage of individuals with a BMI  30 is no more than 2–3% in
the population. [30]. In this study, the mean BMI of the meditation group was 21.4 (SD 3.13)
kg/m2 and that of the non-meditation group was 22.1 (3.82) kg/m2. Therefore, the BMI distri-
bution in the current sample was quite small, and there were relatively few obese individuals.
However, physical activity at work and physical activity at leisure time were significant pre-
dictors of work engagement and subjective job performance. It may be that physical activity is
linked to job performance due to (1) enhanced self-efficacy, (2) reduced stress, and (3) im-
proved physical functioning [31, 32]. In the present study, other potential confounding factors
(e.g., alcohol intake, sleep deprivation, television consumption, excessive eating) were not ex-
amined. Therefore, future studies should consider including these factors.
Third, the data presented in Table 1 indicate that there is an association between age and
meditation practice. Specifically, the ratio of individuals in the younger age group (20–29 years
old) who practiced meditation (11.8%) was higher than that of those who did not practice
(6.5%). However, only 3.9% of the total sample indicated that they practiced meditation (see
Table 1). This may be attributed to Rogers’ theory of diffusion of innovations; this theory as-
sumes that early adopters are key for spreading new behavior. Specifically, early adopters are
willing to take risks, have a higher social status, have financial liquidity, are social, and have
close contact with scientific sources and interaction with other innovators. Therefore, their risk
tolerance allows them to adopt technologies that may ultimately fail, and their financial re-
sources help absorb these failures [33].
This may be true in our study. When examining the background characteristics of the medi-
tation group (Table 2), the education and household income of the meditation group were sig-
nificantly higher than were those of the non-meditation group. In addition, there was a higher
ratio of individuals who practiced mediation among individuals who had completed a high
level of education, especially among those who had completed university. Furthermore, there
were more individuals who meditated than those who did not meditate among the participants
who reported high incomes. Accordingly, education and household income appear to have an
impact on meditation practice. This finding may be attributed to the theory of “inverse equity”
[34]. This theory states that new behavior interventions start in higher socioeconomic status
(SES) groups and later affect lower SES groups. Thus, our data suggest that new practices,
such as meditation, may diffuse from individuals who are high in SES to individuals who are

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 Meditation Practice and Job Performance

low in SES. Therefore, it appears that high SES is a common characteristic of individuals who
meditate.
On the contrary, when individuals are older and report lower levels of education and house-
hold income, they are less likely to practice meditation. It is possible that meditation will in-
crease in high SES groups but will not increase in low SES groups. Therefore, it seems
important for researchers investigate ways to diffuse this practice among older age and lower
SES groups.
Finally, although the association between meditation practice and job-related outcomes was
statistically significant after controlling for demographic characteristics and behavioral risk fac-
tors, its association was weak (R2 = 0.074 for work engagement, R2 = 0.215 for subjective job
performance, and R2 = 0.154 for job satisfaction.) There are several possible reasons for the
weak relation. First, our measures of meditation practice remained crude. For example, we did
not measure the duration of mediation practice. As such, it is possible that a relatively large
percentage of the subjects were novices in meditation practice and, therefore, did not show im-
proved job-related outcomes. However, a previous study indicated that a short duration of
meditation practice is also beneficial [35]. Second, this may be attributed to reverse causation.
Business people who associated themselves with poor job-related outcomes may have started
meditating. Third, it is possible that meditation practice only slightly enhances job-related out-
comes, and does not have a large impact on job-related outcomes.
While this study provided new evidence about individuals who practice mediation and the
association between meditation and job performance, there were several limitations. First, the
data was cross-sectional in nature; therefore, causality cannot be inferred. Future studies should
use longitudinal designs to examine the causal relationship between meditation practice and
job performance. Second, the use of the Internet to administer surveys may have excluded indi-
viduals who have low IT literacy. Third, there may be other variables that could be controlled
for in the analyses; however, the major confounding variables were included in the analyses
(e.g., gender, age, marital status, household income, and behavioral risk factors), thereby reduc-
ing the likelihood of bias in our results. Fourth, the generalizability of the results is limited
given that the data were drawn exclusively from Japanese participants. Future studies should
consider examining the relations between meditation practice and job performance in different
cultures.

Conclusion
Despite the limitations of the present study, the findings presented herein provide evidence for
the implications of meditation practice and its association with job performance among Japa-
nese business people. In addition, the study provides information about the prevalence of med-
itation in this population. Our findings indicate that meditation practice may have positive
effects on enhancing multiple dimensions of job performance, including work engagement,
subjective job performance, and job satisfaction; these associations are independent of an indi-
vidual’s demographic characteristics and behavioral risk factors. Diffusing meditation practice
among low SES population may prevent inequality due to differential job-performance.

Supporting Information
S1 Dataset. Anonymized Dataset Used for Study 1 (n-30,665).
(XLSX)
S2 Dataset. Anonymized Dataset Used for Study 2 (n = 1,470).
(XLSX)

PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0128287 May 29, 2015 11 / 13

 Meditation Practice and Job Performance

S1 Table. Pearson's correlation coefficients among the study variables (740 males and 730
females).
(XLSX)

Author Contributions
Conceived and designed the experiments: KS MN MS YI. Analyzed the data: MN YI. Contrib-
uted reagents/materials/analysis tools: MN. Wrote the paper: KS MN MS YI.

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