Does meditative creative writing foster empathy? The impact of a mindfulness meditation and creative writing intervention on empathy: a mixed methods study

Creative writing and mindfulness meditation have separately been found to enhance empathy. This study investigates the impact of an intensive half-day intervention that combined creative writing and mindfulness meditation to evaluate changes in self-reported empathy. Fourteen participants (11 female, 3 male), ages from 21 to 47 (x = 27 [SD = 7.82]) living in Cyprus, took part in the intervention. Pre and post-intervention surveys using the Basic Empathy Scale were used to evaluate changes in participants’ empathy scores. Based on paired samples t-test, a mean improvement of 3.93 (SD = 3.36) points on the Basic Empathy Scale were found, suggesting taking part in a creative writing and mindfulness meditation intervention was positively associated with empathy, t(13) = 3.68, p < .05. The stories resulting were analysed using a qualitative content analysis to identify thematic groups. The intervention combining mindfulness meditation and creative writing sessions can be adapted to positively contribute to empathy-enhancing initiatives for more harmonious societies.