Browsing by Author "Wright M"

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
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    A Framework for the Empirical Investigation of Mindfulness Meditative Development
    (Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 2023-05) Galante J; Grabovac A; Wright M; Ingram DM; Van Dam NT; Sanguinetti JL; Sparby T; van Lutterveld R; Sacchet MD
    Millions of people globally have learned mindfulness meditation with the goal of improving health and well-being outcomes in both clinical and non-clinical contexts. An estimated half of these practitioners follow mindfulness teachersā€™ recommendations to continue regular meditation after completion of initial instruction, but it is unclear whether benefits are strengthened by regular practice and whether harm can occur. Increasing evidence shows a wide range of experiences that can arise with regular mindfulness meditation, from profoundly positive to challenging and potentially harmful. Initial research suggests that complex interactions and temporal sequences may explain these experiential phenomena and their relations to health and well-being. We believe further study of the effects of mindfulness meditation is urgently needed to better understand the benefits and challenges of continued practice after initial instructions. Effects may vary systematically over time due to factors such as initial dosage, accumulation of ongoing practice, developing skill of the meditator, and complex interactions with the subjectsā€™ past experiences and present environment. We propose that framing mindfulness meditation experiences and any associated health and well-being benefits within integrated longitudinal models may be more illuminating than treating them as discrete, unrelated events. We call for ontologically agnostic, collaborative, and interdisciplinary research to study the effects of continued mindfulness meditation and their contexts, advancing the view that practical information found within religious and spiritual contemplative traditions can serve to develop initial theories and scientifically falsifiable hypotheses. Such investigation could inform safer and more effective applications of mindfulness meditation training for improving health and well-being.
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    Introducing 'Ngaruroro', a New Model for Understanding Māori Wellbeing.
    (MDPI AG, 2024-04-05) Johnson FN; Wehi P; Neha T; Ross M; Thompson V; Tibble S; Tassell-Matamua N; Shedlock K; Fox R; Penman Z; Ritchie T; Winter T; Arahanga-Doyle H; Jose PE; Wright M
    Indigenous peoples around the world are revitalising their ancestral beliefs, practices, and languages, including traditional understandings of health and wellbeing. In the Aotearoa (New Zealand) context, a number of ground-breaking Māori health- and wellbeing-related models have emerged, each with their own scope and applications. We sought in our qualitative studies to explore and identify several key sources of wellbeing for Māori individuals. Nine interviews were conducted with members of Māori communities to identify key themes of Māori wellbeing. We performed a Reflexive Thematic Analysis on these data and then conducted a further fifteen interviews to revise, refine, and reposition the previously generated themes. The Ngaruroro model describes wellbeing as the embodied and active process of being well in relation with one's (1) here tāngata (social and familial ties), (2) te taiao (the environment), and (3) taonga tuku iho (cultural treasures) while doing what one can to make lifestyle choices that are conducive to the health of one's (4) tinana (body) and (5) wairua (spirit) while cultivating a balanced (6) ngākau (inner-system), fulfilling (7) matea (core needs) and exercising your (8) mana (authority). These themes illustrate that Māori wellbeing is dynamic, interconnected, and holistic.
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    Potential Predictors of Psychologically Based Stock Price Movements
    (MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 2024-08) East R; Wright M; Stengos T
    Investment in stocks is increasingly dependent on artificial intelligence (AI), but the psychological and social factors that affect stock prices may not be fully covered by the measures currently used in AI training. Here, we search for additional measures that may improve AI predictions. We start by reviewing stock price movements that appear to be affected by social and psychological factors, drawing on stock market behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic. A review of processes that are likely to produce such stock market movements follows: the disposition effect, momentum, and the response to information. These processes are then explained by regression to the mean, negativity bias, the availability mechanism, and information diffusion. Taking account of these processes and drawing on the consumer behaviour literature, we identify three factors which may not be covered by current AI training data that could affect stock prices: publicity in relation to capitalization, stock-holding penetration in relation to capitalization, and changes in the penetration of stock holding.
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    Public response to decarbonisation through alternative shipping fuels
    (Springer Nature, 2023-06-24) Carlisle DP; Feetham PM; Wright M; Teagle D
    Although shipping is the most energy efficient method of transporting trade goods it is held accountable for 2-3% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The shipping industry is exploring pathways to carbon-neutral fuels to help eliminate GHG emissions by 2050. To date research on alternative fuels has not considered public opinion; it remains unclear whether the public will support alternative shipping fuels, or whether public opposition might prevent or defer their deployment. To fill this knowledge gap and help the industry and policy makers arrive at publicly acceptable decisions our research examines UK public perceptions of six shipping fuels using a mixed-method approach. Our findings reveal that biofuels and hydrogen are clearly favoured, owing to biofuelā€™s perceived low risk and hydrogenā€™s lack of negative by-products. Perceptions of liquid natural gas are somewhat positive, suggesting that it provides an acceptable near-term option while other fuels are developed. Despite lingering stigma, nuclear is preferred over the incumbent heavy fuel oil, though both are perceived negatively. However, the UK public strongly dislike ammonia, perceiving it as unproven, risky, and lacking availability. A third support use of alternative shipping fuels, with support greater from those living near ports - a ā€œyes in my back yardā€ (YIMBY) effect. The results demonstrate that different alternative fuels are likely to elicit different public reactions as they become more widely known and show how the overall evaluations arise from specific positive or negative associations with each fuel.
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    Remember Less, or Needing Less? Age-related differences in the purchase funnel
    (Springer Nature, 2024-06-30) Mecredy P; Wright M; Feetham P; Stern P
    This study explores how age influences the stages of the brand purchase funnel (awareness, consideration, and purchase) and the mechanisms associated with any age-related differences. Aggregated analysis of survey data (n=1,862) across five markets and four age groups shows a reduction in the proportion of brands recognised that subsequently enter the consideration and purchase sets of older consumers. Subsequent individual-level GLS regression analysis using age as a continuous variable reveals an inverse-U shape for brand recognition and in some cases for brand recall and consideration. Peak cognitive performance occurs at age 56. There is a linear decline for purchase set size across age. Therefore, age-related differences in brand awareness and consideration, and the mechanisms driving these changes, do not greatly impact age-related increases in loyalty. Instead, findings suggest age-related increases in loyalty result from a combination of accumulated experience, development of purchase habits and declining category purchase rates.
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    The mirror effect in online survey data: Evidence and implications for marketing theory and strategy
    (Wiley Periodicals LLC, 2024-05-15) Stocchi L; Bellman S; Pourazad N; Michaelidou N; Wright M
    This research reveals the presence, in online survey data, of a key pattern documented in psychology lab research: the Mirror Effect. The Mirror Effect occurs when unfamiliar stimuli are unexpectedly recognized as accurately as familiar stimuli, or more accurately. Using a set of familiar and unfamiliar words (as determined by lexical frequency), we first report that we can robustly replicate psychology lab research in an online survey, detecting the Mirror Effect. We then apply the same analytical approach to surveying consumer recognition of everyday brands (supermarkets, banks and car brands). We find that unfamiliar brands can be recognized with the same level of accuracy as familiar brands, and this effect is stronger than age and gender memory biases present in the data. However, we detect a boundary condition for branded apps, which are extremely unfamiliar brands competing in highly fragmented marketplaces, so very few get downloaded or used. For these digital brands, we find a Concordant Effect, as most respondents find it difficult to recognize highly unfamiliar branded apps (i.e., those with fewer than 5000 downloads). The Mirror Effect re-emerges for highly experienced app users. These results demonstrate the implications of a generalizable empirical pattern from cognitive psychology for branding and advertising theory. The outcomes of this research also translate into practical guidelines for brand performance measurement via online surveys, mitigating recognition memory bias for the development of marketing strategies based on more accurate interpretation of empirical evidence.
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    Volitional mental absorption in meditation: Toward a scientific understanding of advanced concentrative absorption meditation and the case of jhana
    (Elsevier Ltd, 2024-05-30) Yang WFZ; Sparby T; Wright M; Kim E; Sacchet MD
    Meditation has been integral to human culture for millennia, deeply rooted in various spiritual and contemplative traditions. While the field of contemplative science has made significant steps toward understanding the effects of meditation on health and well-being, there has been little study of advanced meditative states, including those achieved through intense concentration and absorption. We refer to these types of states as advanced concentrative absorption meditation (ACAM), characterized by absorption with the meditation object leading to states of heightened attention, clarity, energy, effortlessness, and bliss. This review focuses on a type of ACAM known as jhana (ACAM-J) due to its well-documented history, systematic practice approach, recurring phenomenological themes, and growing popularity among contemplative scientists and more generally in media and society. ACAM-J encompasses eight layers of deep concentration, awareness, and internal experiences. Here, we describe the phenomenology of ACAM-J and present evidence from phenomenological and neuroscientific studies that highlight their potential applications in contemplative practices, psychological sciences, and therapeutics. We additionally propose theoretical ACAM-J frameworks grounded in current cognitive neuroscientific understanding of meditation and ancient contemplative traditions. We aim to stimulate further research on ACAM more broadly, encompassing advanced meditation including meditative development and meditative endpoints. Studying advanced meditation including ACAM, and specific practices such as ACAM-J, can potentially revolutionize our understanding of consciousness and applications for mental health.