In this 82nd episode, Dr. Knabb explores the widely popular four immeasurables meditation. He starts by discussing its roots in Buddhism, as well as research on the four immeasurables in the contemporary clinical psychology literature. In turn, Dr. Knabb explores a Christian alternative, the fruit of the Spirit, including recent research he conducted on the topic. To conclude, he offers a short meditative practice, the fruit of the Spirit meditation, for 21st century Christ followers.
References
Dörnyei, Z. (2022). The psychology of the fruit of the Spirit: The biblical portrayal of the Christlike character and its development. Zondervan Academic.
Knabb, J. J., & Wang, K. T. (2021). The Communion With God Scale: Shifting from an etic to emic perspective to assess fellowshipping with the Triune God. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 13(1), 67-80.
Knabb, J., Purrington, S., Anguiano, J., Ballesteros, A., Bevente, G., Moslenko, T., Quinones, J., Wang, K., Chang, G., Tice, W., Kaldas, P., & Rutledge, C. (2026). The Fruit of the Spirit Measure (FSM): An emic strategy for assessing Christians’ psychological and spiritual functioning. Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 45, 92-114.
Kraus, S., & Sears, S. (2009). Measuring the immeasurables: Development and initial validation of the Self-Other Four Immeasurables (SOFI) scale based on Buddhist teachings on loving kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity. Social Indicators Research, 92(1), 169-181.
Lowell, J., Castro, J., Edmonds, D., Gomez, S., Hermes, J., Olivas, S., Robinson, J., & Sharp, J. (2026). A randomized controlled trial of a two-week fruit of the Spirit meditation intervention to improve self- and other-compassion, psychological well-being, and distress tolerance in Christian adults. Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 45, 144-157.
Lv, J., Liu, Q., Zeng, X., Oei, T. P., Liu, Y., Xu, K., & Liu, J. (2020). The effect of four immeasurables meditations on depressive symptoms: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 76, 101814.
Petrovic, J., Mettler, J., Cho, S., & Heath, N. L. (2024). The effects of loving-kindness interventions on positive and negative mental health outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 102433.
Salzberg, S. (1995). Loving-kindness: The revolutionary art of happiness. Shambhala Publications, Inc.
Zeng, X., Chio, F. H., Oei, T. P., Leung, F. Y., & Liu, X. (2017). A systematic review of associations between amount of meditation practice and outcomes in interventions using the four immeasurables meditations. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 141.