Abstract
Introduction: Personal development workshops are increasingly popular. This study evaluated the relationships between the measures of well-being, interconnectedness, and extended perception in various workshops and explored which kinds of workshops and individual characteristics predicted changes in these outcomes. Materials and Methods: In a prospective, uncontrolled, within-participant design study, adult participants completed questionnaires and online tasks before and after personal development workshops. Three analyses were conducted: (1) examining the relationships between measures by using only pre-workshop measures using Spearman correlations; (2) exploring change scores pre- to post-workshop and workshop using Wilcoxon signed-rank test; (3) assessing workshop format and content, and individual characteristics as predictors of those change scores multivariate nonparametric regression. The following outcomes were collected: Well-being-Arizona Integrative Outcomes Scale, positive and negative affect, Dispositional Positive Emotions Scale-Compassion subscale, Sleep Quality Scale, Numeric Pain Rating Scale; Interconnectedness-Cloninger Self-Transcendence Scale, Inclusion of Nature in Self and Inclusion of the Other in Self; and Extended perception tasks-Intuition Jar, Quick Remote Viewing, Psychokinesis Bubble, and Time Estimation. The following potential predictor variables were collected: demographic, mental health, psychiatric and meditation history, Single General Self-Rated Health Question, Brief Five-Factor Inventory-10, and the Noetic Experience and Belief Scale. Workshop leaders also selected which format and content characteristics applied to their workshop. Results: Interconnectedness measures were significantly and positively correlated with well-being (ρ: 0.27 to 0.33), positive affect (ρ: 0.20 to 0.27), and compassion (ρ: 0.21 to 0.32), and they were negatively correlated with sleep disturbance (ρ: -0.13 to -0.16) and pain (ρ: -0.11 to -0.16). Extended perception task performance was not correlated with interconnectedness or well-being. General personal development workshops improved subjective interconnectedness, well-being, positive emotion, and compassion, and they reduced sleep disturbances, negative emotion, and pain (all p's < 0.00005). The lecture (p = 0.03), small groups (p = 0.001), pairs (p = 0.01), and discussion (p = 0.03) workshop formats were significant predictors of well-being outcomes. The workshop content categories of meditation (p = 0.0002) and technology tools (p = 0.01) were also predictive of well-being outcomes, with meditation being the most consistent predictor of positive well-being changes. Conscientiousness was the only significant individual characteristic predictor (p = 0.002), although it was associated with increases in some well-being measures and decreases in others. Conclusions: This study provides preliminary evidence for the positive relationship between the subjective sense of interconnectedness and multiple well-being measures and the beneficial effects of some personal development workshops.
Highlights
IntroductionThis study evaluated the relationships between measures of well-being, interconnectedness, and extended perception in various workshops and explored which kinds of workshops and individual characteristics predicted changes in these outcomes
Extended perception task performance was not correlated with interconnectedness or well-being
The following were excluded from this dataset: 1) 56 records were pre-surveys from people who had multiple records of the pre-survey; 2) 106 records were from post-surveys without a matching pre-survey; 3) 27 records were third, fourth or fifth administrations for workshops that had multiple programs throughout the year
Summary
This study evaluated the relationships between measures of well-being, interconnectedness, and extended perception in various workshops and explored which kinds of workshops and individual characteristics predicted changes in these outcomes. The global personal growth market was valued at $38.28 billion in 2019, reflecting its increasing popularity. Well-being definitions vary, but most include a person's reflective assessment of their life, emotional states, and a sense of meaning and purpose in life.[2] The relationship between a subjective sense of happiness and living a meaningful and purposeful life, with physical health, mental health, and even mortality, is well established.[3] Part of our sense of well-being may stem from our sense of interconnectedness with people and the larger world around us. Interconnectedness has been associated with peace of mind, mental well-being, civic engagement, and humanitarianism.[4]
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