The impact of meditation on sustainability of business decisions
Author(s)
Type
Working Paper
Abstract
Addressing sustainable development challenges requires fundamental shifts in the individual capacity to anticipate and embed the long-term and collective consequences of decisions and actions. This paper contributes to the identification of effective learning processes aimed at influencing the development of sustainability-related dispositions. To do so, we test the relative effectiveness of meditative training, compared to passive and active controls, on the development of sustainability- related decision outcomes and associated neuro-psychological dispositions. A randomized controlled trial (RCT) with 80 graduate business students finds evidence of the efficacy of a 4-week, 16-hour, (sahaja yoga) meditation training in enhancing sustainable decision-making and related psychological dispositions (self-transcendence, cooperativeness) and reducing Machiavellianism (willingness to manipulate others against their self-interest). The data also show neuro-plastic adaptation of grey matter density in the right inferior frontal gyrus, connected to attentional and emotional self- regulation, as well as conflict resolution in decision-making, including inter-temporal trade-offs.
Date Issued
2025-08-25
Citation
2025
Copyright Statement
© 2025 The Author(s).
Subjects
sustainable decision-making
corporate sustainability
neural structures
RCT
meditation
cognitive training
Publication Status
Unpublished