Participants in the concentration condition benefitted more if they had a high motivation to develop certain skills and a low motivation to seek spiritual experiences. Participants practicing humming showed greater treatment gains if they had a motivation to [relax]. In contrast, participants practicing observing thoughts benefitted more if they sought spiritual experiences and less if they aimed for relaxation or reduced stress. Finally, participants in the walking meditation condition experienced significantly better treatment effects if they were motivated to reduce stress, but benefitted less if they wanted to reduce suffering or sought spiritual experiences.

This study of 42 novice meditators also found that the extraverts did best with walking meditation but that walking meditation was not effective for those with a high degree of agreeableness.