Paul Atkins | Australian Catholic University (original) (raw)
Papers by Paul Atkins
Decety and Lamm argued that empathy is “the ability to experience and understand what others feel... more Decety and Lamm argued that empathy is “the ability to experience and understand what others feel without confusion between oneself and others” (italics added; 2006, p. 1146). Excessive identification with another who is suffering appears to lead to personal distress and avoidance rather than empathic concern. This is particularly a problem for roles involving helping or other forms of emotional labour. And yet there is a potential paradox here as empathy appears to be motivated by a felt sense of connection between self and other. How can we understand self-other differentiation in a way that allows us to improve it in organisations? In this chapter I present a contextual, behavioural approach that explains why mindfulness programs work to improve self-other differentiation. We can see self and other either in terms of a) conceptualisations, b) a flow of experiences or c) as awareness itself. Responding to conceptualisations of self and other can be helpful but can also impair empa...
Scientific Reports, 2020
Dynamic relationships between individuals and groups have been a focus for evolutionary theorists... more Dynamic relationships between individuals and groups have been a focus for evolutionary theorists and modelers for decades. Among evolutionists, selfish gene theory promotes reductionist approaches while multilevel selection theory encourages a context-sensitive approach that appreciates that individuals and groups can both matter. Among economists, a comparable contrast is found wherein the reductionist shareholder primacy theory most associated with Nobel laureate Milton Friedman is very different from the context-sensitive focus on managing common resources that Nobel laureate Elinor Ostrom pioneered. In this article, we examine whether the core design principles that Ostrom advanced can cultivate selection at supra-individual levels across different domains. We show that Ostrom’s design principles that were forged in the context of managing natural resources are associated with positive outcomes for human social groups across a variety of functional domains.
British Journal of Psychology, 2018
Mindfulness‐based meditation practices have received substantial scientific attention in recent y... more Mindfulness‐based meditation practices have received substantial scientific attention in recent years. Mindfulness has been shown to bring many psychological benefits to the individual, but much less is known about whether these benefits extend to others. This meta‐analysis reviewed the link between mindfulness – as both a personality variable and an intervention – and prosocial behaviour. A literature search produced 31 eligible studies (N = 17,241) and 73 effect sizes. Meta‐analyses were conducted using mixed‐effects structural equation models to examine pooled effects and potential moderators of these effects. We found a positive pooled effect between mindfulness and prosocial behaviour for both correlational (d = .73 CI 95% [0.51 to 0.96]) and intervention studies (d = .51 CI 95% [0.37 to 0.66]). For the latter, medium‐sized effects were obtained across varying meditation types and intensities, and across gender and age categories. Preliminary evidence is presented regarding pot...
Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 2017
Societies, like individuals, can become addicted to patterns of detrimental and unsustainable beh... more Societies, like individuals, can become addicted to patterns of detrimental and unsustainable behavior. We can learn from one of the most successful therapies at the individual scale, motivational interviewing (MI). MI is based on engaging addicts in a positive discussion of their goals, motives, and futures. One analogy to MI at the societal level is community engaged scenario planning, which can engage entire communities in building consensus about preferred alternative futures via public opinion surveys and forums. Effective therapies for societal addictions are possible, but require re-balancing effort away from only pointing out the dire consequences of current behavior and toward also building a truly shared vision of a positive future and ways to get there.
Ecological Economics, 2017
Societies, like individuals, can get trapped in patterns of behavior called social traps or "soci... more Societies, like individuals, can get trapped in patterns of behavior called social traps or "societal addictions" that provide short-term rewards but are detrimental and unsustainable in the long run. Examples include our societal addiction to inequitable over-consumption fueled by fossil energy and a "growth at all costs" economic model. This paper explores the potential to learn from successful therapies at the individual level. In particular, Motivational Interviewing (MI) is one of the most effective therapies. It is based on engaging addicts in a positive discussion of their goals, motives, and futures. We suggest that one analogy to MI at the societal level is a modified version of scenario planning (SP) that has been extended to engage the entire community (CSP) in thinking about goals and alternative futures via public opinion surveys and forums. Both MI and CSP are about exploring alternative futures in positive, non-confrontational ways and building commitment or consensus about preferred futures. We conclude that effective therapies for societal addictions may be possible, but, as we learn from MI, they will require a rebalancing of effort away from only pointing out the dire consequences of current behavior (without denying those consequences) and toward building a shared vision of a positive future and the means to get there.
Journal of Research in Personality, 2016
Theories of mindfulness claim that a state of present-moment awareness enhances self-regulation i... more Theories of mindfulness claim that a state of present-moment awareness enhances self-regulation in the presence of negative emotion. However, very little research has tested this claim in relation to daily stressors. This paper examined whether present-moment awareness during daily stressful events predicted enhanced responding to (a) the same day's event, (b) a stressful event on the subsequent day and (c) stressful events on average, among a sample of adults (N = 143) over 20 days. We found support for these predictions, controlling for negative affect and stress-related appraisals. These novel findings extend the personality literature by showing that present-moment awareness facilitates adaptive stress-responses, independent of an individual's affective state and the severity of threat experienced.
Journal of Futures Studies
We reviewed a broad range of scenarios of the future developed for Australia and globally and dev... more We reviewed a broad range of scenarios of the future developed for Australia and globally and developed a synthesis for Australia. Our four synthesis scenarios were structured around two axes: (1) individual vs. community orientation and (2) whether biophysical limits are binding on continued GDP growth or could be overcome with technology. While global scenarios have explored transformational or collapse futures,
The Behavioral and brain sciences, 2014
We heartily agree with the target article and focus on how positive sociocultural change can be a... more We heartily agree with the target article and focus on how positive sociocultural change can be accelerated through the systematic use of scenario planning - what we call sociotecture. Scenario planning is a design process for the creation and selection of symbotypes that make a positive difference. It cuts through complexity by integrating cognitive and affective processes across multiple scales.
Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice, 2009
Clinical Psychologist, 2012
Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is a transdiagnostic cognitive behavioural therapy that p... more Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is a transdiagnostic cognitive behavioural therapy that predominantly teaches clients acceptance and mindfulness skills, as well as values clarification and enactment skills. Australian treatment guideline providers have been cautious in recognising ACT as empirically supported. This article reviews evidence from randomised controlled trials published since Öst's review, and examines the extent to which the methodology of ACT research has improved since. Since 2008, ACT research has improved its use of adherence and competence monitoring. Good-quality studies could be considered to offer National Health and Medical Research Council Level II evidence for chronic pain, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and a subset of other anxiety disorders (panic disorder, social phobia, and generalised anxiety disorder). The majority of studies demonstrated that ACT significantly improved primary outcomes but used comparison conditions that did not rule out therapy-unspecific factors, including use of concurrent treatments, as explanations for the improvements. Recommendations for future ACT research are presented. Key Points 1 On average, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) research methodology has improved its use of monitoring treatment adherence and competence since Öst's (2008) review. 2 Use of treatment as usual unmatched for contact and unmonitored for competence, and unmonitored use of concurrent treatments are the primary factors preventing the attribution of better outcomes for ACT recipients to therapy-specific effects. 3 Good-quality studies have been published since Öst's (2008) review supporting ACT's efficacy in chronic pain, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and a subset of other anxiety disorders (panic disorder, social phobia, and generalised anxiety disorder). Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is a transdiagnostic cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) that emphasises acceptance, mindfulness, values clarification, and enactment skills (Hayes, Strosahl, & Wilson, 2011). ACT is recognised as "empirically supported" by the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA, 2012) in their national registry of evidence-based programmes and practices in the areas of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), depression, general mental health, and rehospitalisation; and by the American Psychological Association Division 12 Society of Clinical Psychology (APA Div 12 SCP, 2012) as having modest research support for depression, OCD, psychosis, and "mixed anxiety" (a sample composed of panic disorder, social phobia, OCD, and generalised anxiety disorder (GAD)), and strong research support for chronic pain. In contrast, the Australian Psychological Society's (APS, 2010) review of evidence-based interventions did not award "Level II" evidence to ACT for any disorder, implying there have been no properly designed randomised controlled trials (RCTs). Given the rate of research production and the disparity between US and Australian Funding: None.
Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 2006
This paper explores the potential of evidence-based executive coaching as an intervention for fac... more This paper explores the potential of evidence-based executive coaching as an intervention for facilitating expatriate success. One-to-one professional coaching is proposed as a powerful supplement to two interventions that have traditionally been used to assist expatriate managers-training and mentoring. Coaching is likely to be effective with expatriate managers because, like the expatriate experience itself, it is a connected process that impacts interactively across the individual's affective, behavioural and cognitive domains. Coaches can work with individuals to deal with their specific contexts, taking into account the complexity of the circumstances. It can also assist managers to take full advantage of training and mentoring programs. Evidence-based coaching informed by cross-cultural research and experience has the potential to improve work performance and the personal satisfaction of the expatriate manager. Its effectiveness would seem to be currently dependent, however, on the availability and deployment of suitably qualified and experienced coaches.
Frontiers in Psychology, 2016
There has been a rapid growth in positive psychology, a research and intervention approach that f... more There has been a rapid growth in positive psychology, a research and intervention approach that focuses on promoting optimal functioning and well-being. Positive psychology interventions are now making their way into classrooms all over the world. However, positive psychology has been criticized for being decontextualized and coercive, and for putting an excessive emphasis on positive states, whilst failing to adequately consider negative experiences. Given this, how should policy be used to regulate and evaluate these interventions? We review evidence that suggests these criticisms may be valid, but only for those interventions that focus almost exclusively on changing the content of people's inner experience (e.g., make it more positive) and personality (improving character strength), and overemphasize the idea that inner experience causes action. We describe a contextualized form of positive psychology that not only deals with the criticisms, but also has clear policy implications for how to best implement and evaluate positive education programs so that they do not do more harm than good.
Academy of Management Review, 2012
Relational Frame Theory views the self as verbal discrimination of one’s own behavior using deict... more Relational Frame Theory views the self as verbal discrimination of one’s own behavior using deictic framing. We coded interviews similar to those occurring in therapy sessions for occurrences of a conceptualized, experiential or observing sense of self as well as valuesoriented or control-oriented self-rules. We then used the frequencies of these different forms of self-discrimination to predict wellbeing 6 and 12 months later. Participants were legal and medical professionals who completed a range of wellbeing measures as well as interviews exploring their emotional and epistemic responses to personal life events. Two selfdiscrimination behaviors, reflecting values-oriented self-rules and self-as-context, predicted wellbeing 6 and 12 months later. While exploratory, this study suggests that the ways people discriminate their own behavior in natural language is a reliable determinant of wellbeing over extended periods. This approach provides researchers and clinicians with an additional tool for understanding and working with identity and psychological flexibility.
Part-set relearning studies examine whether relearning a subset of previously learned items impai... more Part-set relearning studies examine whether relearning a subset of previously learned items impairs or improves memory for other items in memory that are not relearned. Atkins and Murre have examined part-set relearning using multi-layer networks that learn by optimizing performance on a complete set of items. For this paper, four computer models that learn each item additively and separately were tested using the part-set relearning procedure (Hebbian network, CHARM, MINERVA 2, and SAM). Optimization models predict that part-set relearning should improve memory for items not relearned, while additive models make the opposite prediction. This distinction parallels the relative ability of these models to account for interference phenomena. Part-set relearning provides another source of evidence for choosing between optimization and additive models of long-term memory. A new study suggests that the predictions of the additive models are broadly supported.
This paper explores the potential of evidence-based executive coaching as an intervention for fac... more This paper explores the potential of evidence-based executive coaching as an intervention for facilitating expatriate success. One-to-one professional coaching is proposed as a powerful supplement to two interventions that have traditionally been used to assist expatriate managers – training and mentoring. Coaching is likely to be effective with expatriate managers because, like the expatriate experience itself, it is a connected process that impacts interactively across the individual’s affective, behavioural and cognitive domains. Coaches can work with individuals to deal with their specific contexts, taking into account the complexity of the circumstances. It can also assist managers to take full advantage of training and mentoring programs. Evidence-based coaching informed by cross-cultural research and experience has the potential to improve work performance and the personal satisfaction of the expatriate manager. Its effectiveness would seem to be currently dependent, however, on the availability and deployment of suitably qualified and experienced coaches.
This paper explores the potential of evidence-based executive coaching as an intervention for fac... more This paper explores the potential of evidence-based executive coaching as an intervention for facilitating expatriate success. One-to-one professional coaching is proposed as a powerful supplement to two interventions that have traditionally been used to assist expatriate managers -training and mentoring. Coaching is likely to be effective with expatriate managers because, like the expatriate experience itself, it is a connected process that impacts interactively across the individual's affective, behavioural and cognitive domains. Coaches can work with individuals to deal with their specific contexts, taking into account the complexity of the circumstances. It can also assist managers to take full advantage of training and mentoring programs. Evidence-based coaching informed by cross-cultural research and experience has the potential to improve work performance and the personal satisfaction of the expatriate manager. Its effectiveness would seem to be currently dependent, however, on the availability and deployment of suitably qualified and experienced coaches.
The role of values-based action in facilitating change is central to Acceptance and Commitment Th... more The role of values-based action in facilitating change is central to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy but more peripheral in more traditional mindfulness-based interventions. This paper examined the role of values-based action in the relationship between mindfulness and both eudemonic and hedonic well-being in two samples—an undergraduate sample (n = 630) and a postgraduate sample (n = 199). It was hypothesized that mindfulness would be related to well-being indirectly through a values-based action, measured as decreases in psychological barriers to values-based action and increases in values-congruent behavior. In both samples, indirect effects were identified from mindfulness to hedonic and eudemonic well-being through values-based action. These studies provide initial evidence that mindfulness effects well-being partly through facilitating meaningful behavioral change. The implication of this finding is that mindfulness interventions may be enhanced with an explicit focus on values clarification and the application of mindfulness to values-based behavior.
Few studies have explored whether mindfulness facilitates more adaptive coping with stress, and t... more Few studies have explored whether mindfulness facilitates more adaptive coping with stress, and the evidence for this is mixed. It may be that mindfulness influences coping responses only among relatively stressed individuals, but this has not been tested. Two randomized controlled experiments (Study 1, N = 204; Study 2, N = 202) tested whether a brief mindfulness induction enhances coping among adults and whether perceived stress moderates these effects. In Study 1, we found that a mindfulness induction produced less self-reported avoidance coping but only among relatively stressed individuals. In Study 2, a mindful acceptance induction produced more approach and less avoidance coping than relaxation and self-affirmation controls, and these effects were strongest among individuals reporting high levels of perceived stress. These findings suggest that perceived stress is an important moderator of the influence of mindfulness upon coping responses.
Decety and Lamm argued that empathy is “the ability to experience and understand what others feel... more Decety and Lamm argued that empathy is “the ability to experience and understand what others feel without confusion between oneself and others” (italics added; 2006, p. 1146). Excessive identification with another who is suffering appears to lead to personal distress and avoidance rather than empathic concern. This is particularly a problem for roles involving helping or other forms of emotional labour. And yet there is a potential paradox here as empathy appears to be motivated by a felt sense of connection between self and other. How can we understand self-other differentiation in a way that allows us to improve it in organisations? In this chapter I present a contextual, behavioural approach that explains why mindfulness programs work to improve self-other differentiation. We can see self and other either in terms of a) conceptualisations, b) a flow of experiences or c) as awareness itself. Responding to conceptualisations of self and other can be helpful but can also impair empa...
Scientific Reports, 2020
Dynamic relationships between individuals and groups have been a focus for evolutionary theorists... more Dynamic relationships between individuals and groups have been a focus for evolutionary theorists and modelers for decades. Among evolutionists, selfish gene theory promotes reductionist approaches while multilevel selection theory encourages a context-sensitive approach that appreciates that individuals and groups can both matter. Among economists, a comparable contrast is found wherein the reductionist shareholder primacy theory most associated with Nobel laureate Milton Friedman is very different from the context-sensitive focus on managing common resources that Nobel laureate Elinor Ostrom pioneered. In this article, we examine whether the core design principles that Ostrom advanced can cultivate selection at supra-individual levels across different domains. We show that Ostrom’s design principles that were forged in the context of managing natural resources are associated with positive outcomes for human social groups across a variety of functional domains.
British Journal of Psychology, 2018
Mindfulness‐based meditation practices have received substantial scientific attention in recent y... more Mindfulness‐based meditation practices have received substantial scientific attention in recent years. Mindfulness has been shown to bring many psychological benefits to the individual, but much less is known about whether these benefits extend to others. This meta‐analysis reviewed the link between mindfulness – as both a personality variable and an intervention – and prosocial behaviour. A literature search produced 31 eligible studies (N = 17,241) and 73 effect sizes. Meta‐analyses were conducted using mixed‐effects structural equation models to examine pooled effects and potential moderators of these effects. We found a positive pooled effect between mindfulness and prosocial behaviour for both correlational (d = .73 CI 95% [0.51 to 0.96]) and intervention studies (d = .51 CI 95% [0.37 to 0.66]). For the latter, medium‐sized effects were obtained across varying meditation types and intensities, and across gender and age categories. Preliminary evidence is presented regarding pot...
Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 2017
Societies, like individuals, can become addicted to patterns of detrimental and unsustainable beh... more Societies, like individuals, can become addicted to patterns of detrimental and unsustainable behavior. We can learn from one of the most successful therapies at the individual scale, motivational interviewing (MI). MI is based on engaging addicts in a positive discussion of their goals, motives, and futures. One analogy to MI at the societal level is community engaged scenario planning, which can engage entire communities in building consensus about preferred alternative futures via public opinion surveys and forums. Effective therapies for societal addictions are possible, but require re-balancing effort away from only pointing out the dire consequences of current behavior and toward also building a truly shared vision of a positive future and ways to get there.
Ecological Economics, 2017
Societies, like individuals, can get trapped in patterns of behavior called social traps or "soci... more Societies, like individuals, can get trapped in patterns of behavior called social traps or "societal addictions" that provide short-term rewards but are detrimental and unsustainable in the long run. Examples include our societal addiction to inequitable over-consumption fueled by fossil energy and a "growth at all costs" economic model. This paper explores the potential to learn from successful therapies at the individual level. In particular, Motivational Interviewing (MI) is one of the most effective therapies. It is based on engaging addicts in a positive discussion of their goals, motives, and futures. We suggest that one analogy to MI at the societal level is a modified version of scenario planning (SP) that has been extended to engage the entire community (CSP) in thinking about goals and alternative futures via public opinion surveys and forums. Both MI and CSP are about exploring alternative futures in positive, non-confrontational ways and building commitment or consensus about preferred futures. We conclude that effective therapies for societal addictions may be possible, but, as we learn from MI, they will require a rebalancing of effort away from only pointing out the dire consequences of current behavior (without denying those consequences) and toward building a shared vision of a positive future and the means to get there.
Journal of Research in Personality, 2016
Theories of mindfulness claim that a state of present-moment awareness enhances self-regulation i... more Theories of mindfulness claim that a state of present-moment awareness enhances self-regulation in the presence of negative emotion. However, very little research has tested this claim in relation to daily stressors. This paper examined whether present-moment awareness during daily stressful events predicted enhanced responding to (a) the same day's event, (b) a stressful event on the subsequent day and (c) stressful events on average, among a sample of adults (N = 143) over 20 days. We found support for these predictions, controlling for negative affect and stress-related appraisals. These novel findings extend the personality literature by showing that present-moment awareness facilitates adaptive stress-responses, independent of an individual's affective state and the severity of threat experienced.
Journal of Futures Studies
We reviewed a broad range of scenarios of the future developed for Australia and globally and dev... more We reviewed a broad range of scenarios of the future developed for Australia and globally and developed a synthesis for Australia. Our four synthesis scenarios were structured around two axes: (1) individual vs. community orientation and (2) whether biophysical limits are binding on continued GDP growth or could be overcome with technology. While global scenarios have explored transformational or collapse futures,
The Behavioral and brain sciences, 2014
We heartily agree with the target article and focus on how positive sociocultural change can be a... more We heartily agree with the target article and focus on how positive sociocultural change can be accelerated through the systematic use of scenario planning - what we call sociotecture. Scenario planning is a design process for the creation and selection of symbotypes that make a positive difference. It cuts through complexity by integrating cognitive and affective processes across multiple scales.
Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice, 2009
Clinical Psychologist, 2012
Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is a transdiagnostic cognitive behavioural therapy that p... more Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is a transdiagnostic cognitive behavioural therapy that predominantly teaches clients acceptance and mindfulness skills, as well as values clarification and enactment skills. Australian treatment guideline providers have been cautious in recognising ACT as empirically supported. This article reviews evidence from randomised controlled trials published since Öst's review, and examines the extent to which the methodology of ACT research has improved since. Since 2008, ACT research has improved its use of adherence and competence monitoring. Good-quality studies could be considered to offer National Health and Medical Research Council Level II evidence for chronic pain, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and a subset of other anxiety disorders (panic disorder, social phobia, and generalised anxiety disorder). The majority of studies demonstrated that ACT significantly improved primary outcomes but used comparison conditions that did not rule out therapy-unspecific factors, including use of concurrent treatments, as explanations for the improvements. Recommendations for future ACT research are presented. Key Points 1 On average, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) research methodology has improved its use of monitoring treatment adherence and competence since Öst's (2008) review. 2 Use of treatment as usual unmatched for contact and unmonitored for competence, and unmonitored use of concurrent treatments are the primary factors preventing the attribution of better outcomes for ACT recipients to therapy-specific effects. 3 Good-quality studies have been published since Öst's (2008) review supporting ACT's efficacy in chronic pain, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and a subset of other anxiety disorders (panic disorder, social phobia, and generalised anxiety disorder). Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is a transdiagnostic cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) that emphasises acceptance, mindfulness, values clarification, and enactment skills (Hayes, Strosahl, & Wilson, 2011). ACT is recognised as "empirically supported" by the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA, 2012) in their national registry of evidence-based programmes and practices in the areas of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), depression, general mental health, and rehospitalisation; and by the American Psychological Association Division 12 Society of Clinical Psychology (APA Div 12 SCP, 2012) as having modest research support for depression, OCD, psychosis, and "mixed anxiety" (a sample composed of panic disorder, social phobia, OCD, and generalised anxiety disorder (GAD)), and strong research support for chronic pain. In contrast, the Australian Psychological Society's (APS, 2010) review of evidence-based interventions did not award "Level II" evidence to ACT for any disorder, implying there have been no properly designed randomised controlled trials (RCTs). Given the rate of research production and the disparity between US and Australian Funding: None.
Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 2006
This paper explores the potential of evidence-based executive coaching as an intervention for fac... more This paper explores the potential of evidence-based executive coaching as an intervention for facilitating expatriate success. One-to-one professional coaching is proposed as a powerful supplement to two interventions that have traditionally been used to assist expatriate managers-training and mentoring. Coaching is likely to be effective with expatriate managers because, like the expatriate experience itself, it is a connected process that impacts interactively across the individual's affective, behavioural and cognitive domains. Coaches can work with individuals to deal with their specific contexts, taking into account the complexity of the circumstances. It can also assist managers to take full advantage of training and mentoring programs. Evidence-based coaching informed by cross-cultural research and experience has the potential to improve work performance and the personal satisfaction of the expatriate manager. Its effectiveness would seem to be currently dependent, however, on the availability and deployment of suitably qualified and experienced coaches.
Frontiers in Psychology, 2016
There has been a rapid growth in positive psychology, a research and intervention approach that f... more There has been a rapid growth in positive psychology, a research and intervention approach that focuses on promoting optimal functioning and well-being. Positive psychology interventions are now making their way into classrooms all over the world. However, positive psychology has been criticized for being decontextualized and coercive, and for putting an excessive emphasis on positive states, whilst failing to adequately consider negative experiences. Given this, how should policy be used to regulate and evaluate these interventions? We review evidence that suggests these criticisms may be valid, but only for those interventions that focus almost exclusively on changing the content of people's inner experience (e.g., make it more positive) and personality (improving character strength), and overemphasize the idea that inner experience causes action. We describe a contextualized form of positive psychology that not only deals with the criticisms, but also has clear policy implications for how to best implement and evaluate positive education programs so that they do not do more harm than good.
Academy of Management Review, 2012
Relational Frame Theory views the self as verbal discrimination of one’s own behavior using deict... more Relational Frame Theory views the self as verbal discrimination of one’s own behavior using deictic framing. We coded interviews similar to those occurring in therapy sessions for occurrences of a conceptualized, experiential or observing sense of self as well as valuesoriented or control-oriented self-rules. We then used the frequencies of these different forms of self-discrimination to predict wellbeing 6 and 12 months later. Participants were legal and medical professionals who completed a range of wellbeing measures as well as interviews exploring their emotional and epistemic responses to personal life events. Two selfdiscrimination behaviors, reflecting values-oriented self-rules and self-as-context, predicted wellbeing 6 and 12 months later. While exploratory, this study suggests that the ways people discriminate their own behavior in natural language is a reliable determinant of wellbeing over extended periods. This approach provides researchers and clinicians with an additional tool for understanding and working with identity and psychological flexibility.
Part-set relearning studies examine whether relearning a subset of previously learned items impai... more Part-set relearning studies examine whether relearning a subset of previously learned items impairs or improves memory for other items in memory that are not relearned. Atkins and Murre have examined part-set relearning using multi-layer networks that learn by optimizing performance on a complete set of items. For this paper, four computer models that learn each item additively and separately were tested using the part-set relearning procedure (Hebbian network, CHARM, MINERVA 2, and SAM). Optimization models predict that part-set relearning should improve memory for items not relearned, while additive models make the opposite prediction. This distinction parallels the relative ability of these models to account for interference phenomena. Part-set relearning provides another source of evidence for choosing between optimization and additive models of long-term memory. A new study suggests that the predictions of the additive models are broadly supported.
This paper explores the potential of evidence-based executive coaching as an intervention for fac... more This paper explores the potential of evidence-based executive coaching as an intervention for facilitating expatriate success. One-to-one professional coaching is proposed as a powerful supplement to two interventions that have traditionally been used to assist expatriate managers – training and mentoring. Coaching is likely to be effective with expatriate managers because, like the expatriate experience itself, it is a connected process that impacts interactively across the individual’s affective, behavioural and cognitive domains. Coaches can work with individuals to deal with their specific contexts, taking into account the complexity of the circumstances. It can also assist managers to take full advantage of training and mentoring programs. Evidence-based coaching informed by cross-cultural research and experience has the potential to improve work performance and the personal satisfaction of the expatriate manager. Its effectiveness would seem to be currently dependent, however, on the availability and deployment of suitably qualified and experienced coaches.
This paper explores the potential of evidence-based executive coaching as an intervention for fac... more This paper explores the potential of evidence-based executive coaching as an intervention for facilitating expatriate success. One-to-one professional coaching is proposed as a powerful supplement to two interventions that have traditionally been used to assist expatriate managers -training and mentoring. Coaching is likely to be effective with expatriate managers because, like the expatriate experience itself, it is a connected process that impacts interactively across the individual's affective, behavioural and cognitive domains. Coaches can work with individuals to deal with their specific contexts, taking into account the complexity of the circumstances. It can also assist managers to take full advantage of training and mentoring programs. Evidence-based coaching informed by cross-cultural research and experience has the potential to improve work performance and the personal satisfaction of the expatriate manager. Its effectiveness would seem to be currently dependent, however, on the availability and deployment of suitably qualified and experienced coaches.
The role of values-based action in facilitating change is central to Acceptance and Commitment Th... more The role of values-based action in facilitating change is central to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy but more peripheral in more traditional mindfulness-based interventions. This paper examined the role of values-based action in the relationship between mindfulness and both eudemonic and hedonic well-being in two samples—an undergraduate sample (n = 630) and a postgraduate sample (n = 199). It was hypothesized that mindfulness would be related to well-being indirectly through a values-based action, measured as decreases in psychological barriers to values-based action and increases in values-congruent behavior. In both samples, indirect effects were identified from mindfulness to hedonic and eudemonic well-being through values-based action. These studies provide initial evidence that mindfulness effects well-being partly through facilitating meaningful behavioral change. The implication of this finding is that mindfulness interventions may be enhanced with an explicit focus on values clarification and the application of mindfulness to values-based behavior.
Few studies have explored whether mindfulness facilitates more adaptive coping with stress, and t... more Few studies have explored whether mindfulness facilitates more adaptive coping with stress, and the evidence for this is mixed. It may be that mindfulness influences coping responses only among relatively stressed individuals, but this has not been tested. Two randomized controlled experiments (Study 1, N = 204; Study 2, N = 202) tested whether a brief mindfulness induction enhances coping among adults and whether perceived stress moderates these effects. In Study 1, we found that a mindfulness induction produced less self-reported avoidance coping but only among relatively stressed individuals. In Study 2, a mindful acceptance induction produced more approach and less avoidance coping than relaxation and self-affirmation controls, and these effects were strongest among individuals reporting high levels of perceived stress. These findings suggest that perceived stress is an important moderator of the influence of mindfulness upon coping responses.