Browsing by Author "Wright M"
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- ItemA 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 MDMillions 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 teachers’ 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 subjects’ 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.
- ItemIntroducing '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 MIndigenous 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.
- ItemThe 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 MThis 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.
- ItemVolitional 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 MDMeditation 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.