Conative Domain

The conative domain primarily denotes changes in motivation or goal-directed behaviors. This change frequently co-occurred with changes in worldview and changes in the social domain. Another conative change was the reported amount of effort or striving associated with meditation practice. On the one hand, practices that previously required great effort sometimes became effortless, a change generally reported as a positive. On the other hand, increased levels of effort or “striving” were also described as leading to increased arousal with corresponding affective, perceptual, and somatic changes that could be associated with unpleasant or destabilizing conditions. The two phenomena practitioners reported as impairing in the conative domain were the lack of desire for activities one previously enjoyed (anhedonia) and the loss of motivation to pursue goals (avolition). These often co-occurred with other functional impairments, such as changes in social or occupational behaviors. When conative phenomena were described less as changes in and of themselves and more as causal factors for the onset or alleviation of difficulties, they were coded as influencing factors (see Influencing factors: Domains and categories).

Excerpt from:

Lindahl JR, Fisher NE, Cooper DJ, Rosen RK, Britton W.B.  (2017) The varieties of contemplative experience: A mixed-methods study of meditation-related challenges in Western Buddhists. PLoS ONE 12(5): e0176239.

In their own words…

Meditators describe their experiences in the conative domain