Post-Depletion Aggression Restrained: Replicabilityof Brief Mindfulness Induction In Indonesian Sample

Abstract

Mindfulness practice is being promoted in Western countries as a means to improve one’s ability to restrain aggression under the “depleted” condition. The applicability of this framework in non-Western settings is yet to be determined. In this experiment (N= 119 Indonesian undergraduates), we directly replicated Yusainy and Lawrence (2015) study with native British sample examining the effect of laboratory-induced mindfulness on post-depletion aggression (i.e., blast intensity in an adapted competitive reaction-time task). Similar results were obtained, in that mindfulness induction moderated the link between ego-depletion and (i) blast intensity under low/moderate provocation, and (ii) self-control performance after the aggression task. Notably, the benefit of mindfulness was also indicated in our additional aggression measure of the late deliverance of maximum blast in depleted females. While Western operationalization of mindfulness operates quite similar across cultures, the inclusion of a subtle measure of aggression appears to be crucial for Indonesian females.

Keywords

• aggresive behaviour
• cross cultural replication
• ego-depletion
• induction