Stephen, Brooke E (2024) Non-Meditators Attitudes, Beliefs, and Perceived Barriers Towards Meditation. Honours thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
Simple, cost-effective practices aimed at reducing symptoms of mental disorders are necessary as healthcare is inaccessible for many due to stigma and high costs. Research has found that meditation is effective in improving mental health; however, only approximately 5% of Australians meditate. The aim of this qualitative study was to understand why the use of meditation is low and whether the barriers can be overcome. Fifteen Australian nonmeditator adults were interviewed to examine their perceptions of meditation in the framework of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). Reflexive Thematic Analysis generated seven themes and five subthemes. Relating to the benefits, the themes were: (a) meditation is relaxing, (b) improved mental health, and (c) meditation benefits the physical body. Themes of the barriers were: (a) lack of understanding about meditation, (b) stigma towards meditation, (c) perceived lack of time, and (d) lack of commitment to meditate. Interestingly, the results reflected there was an interest in meditation; however, the TPB suggests that non-meditators beliefs about the barriers to meditation are more salient than their beliefs about the benefits, effectively cancelling each other out, which explains their lack of intention to meditate. Findings from the present study can guide researchers on what barriers must be addressed and overcome to increase the prevalence of meditation so many more Australians can receive the known benefits of meditation for mental health and reduce the burden on the healthcare system.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Honours) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Current – Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Psychology and Wellbeing (1 Jan 2022 -) |
| Supervisors: | Senyard, Emma-Leigh |
| Qualification: | Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) |
| Date Deposited: | 29 Jan 2026 02:02 |
| Last Modified: | 29 Jan 2026 02:02 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | meditation, prayer, mindfulness, complementary and alternative medicine |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1701 Psychology > 170106 Health, Clinical and Counselling Psychology |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5203 Clinical and health psychology > 520304 Health psychology |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/53118 |
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