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Boosting Prosocial Career Aspirations : Loving-Kindness Meditation Relates to Higher Communal Career Goals in Youth

Tellhed, Una LU orcid ; Sollvén, Annie ; Tamas, Alexandru and Hägerklint, Emma (2022) In Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 63(4). p.334-345
Abstract
Wanting to help others and benefit society in one’s future career are examples of communal career goals. Raising these goals in youth should increase
interest in HEED-occupations (Healthcare, Early Education, Domestic, and the Domestic fields) which are strongly gender-skewed and face labor shortage.
Research has yet to find ways to increase communal career goals. In this study, we test the novel hypothesis that after listening to a brief loving-kindness
meditation, participants will rate stronger communal career goals, as compared to controls. In three experimental studies, volunteering high-school students
(Study 1 and 3) and university students (Study 2) listened to a 12-min recording of the meditation with the explicit... (More)
Wanting to help others and benefit society in one’s future career are examples of communal career goals. Raising these goals in youth should increase
interest in HEED-occupations (Healthcare, Early Education, Domestic, and the Domestic fields) which are strongly gender-skewed and face labor shortage.
Research has yet to find ways to increase communal career goals. In this study, we test the novel hypothesis that after listening to a brief loving-kindness
meditation, participants will rate stronger communal career goals, as compared to controls. In three experimental studies, volunteering high-school students
(Study 1 and 3) and university students (Study 2) listened to a 12-min recording of the meditation with the explicit purpose of investigating its effect on
stress. They thereafter filled out an apparently unrelated career goal survey. We compared the results with a control group that just rated the career goals
(Studies 1–3) and a control group that listened to calm music before filling out the survey (Study 2 and 3). The results showed that the high-school
students rated higher communal career goals after listening to the meditation, as compared to controls. We did not replicate the result in the sample of
university students, which could relate to adults having less flexible career goals than youth, or to a ceiling effect in communal goals. This is the first study
that has demonstrated a method with the potential of increasing communal career goals in youth. In addition to increasing interest in HEED, raising
communal goals could benefit society, since they are intrinsically prosocial. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Wanting to help others and benefit society in one’s future career are examples of communal career goals. Raising these goals in youth should increase interest in HEED-occupations (Healthcare, Early Education, Domestic, and the Domestic fields) which are strongly gender-skewed and face labor shortage. Research has yet to find ways to increase communal career goals. In this study, we test the novel hypothesis that after listening to a brief loving-kindness meditation, participants will rate stronger communal career goals, as compared to controls. In three experimental studies, volunteering high-school students (Study 1 and 3) and university students (Study 2) listened to a 12-minutes recording of the meditation with the explicit purpose of... (More)
Wanting to help others and benefit society in one’s future career are examples of communal career goals. Raising these goals in youth should increase interest in HEED-occupations (Healthcare, Early Education, Domestic, and the Domestic fields) which are strongly gender-skewed and face labor shortage. Research has yet to find ways to increase communal career goals. In this study, we test the novel hypothesis that after listening to a brief loving-kindness meditation, participants will rate stronger communal career goals, as compared to controls. In three experimental studies, volunteering high-school students (Study 1 and 3) and university students (Study 2) listened to a 12-minutes recording of the meditation with the explicit purpose of investigating its effect on stress. They thereafter filled out an apparently unrelated career goal survey. We compared the results with a control group that just rated the career goals (Study, 1-3) and a control group that listened to calm music before filling out the survey (Study 2 & 3). The results showed that the high-school students rated higher communal career goals after listening to the meditation, as compared to controls. We did not replicate the result in the sample of university students, which could relate to adults having less flexible career goals than youth, or to a ceiling effect in communal goals. This is the first study that has demonstrated a method with the potential of increasing communal career goals in youth. In addition to increasing interest in HEED, raising communal goals could benefit society, since they are intrinsically prosocial. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Scandinavian Journal of Psychology
volume
63
issue
4
pages
334 - 345
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • pmid:35436348
  • scopus:85129093605
ISSN
1467-9450
DOI
10.1111/sjop.12823
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
8a1dc542-a632-4ccd-9af3-76b5cffceaeb
alternative location
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/sjop.12823?fbclid=IwAR0dw3qN2yntjDH45xVw0vh6ZgF6f97836HwUcCLukyNRr74G1VjQGeR8V8
date added to LUP
2022-03-30 09:20:47
date last changed
2022-10-31 14:57:21
@article{8a1dc542-a632-4ccd-9af3-76b5cffceaeb,
  abstract     = {{Wanting to help others and benefit society in one’s future career are examples of communal career goals. Raising these goals in youth should increase<br/>interest in HEED-occupations (Healthcare, Early Education, Domestic, and the Domestic fields) which are strongly gender-skewed and face labor shortage.<br/>Research has yet to find ways to increase communal career goals. In this study, we test the novel hypothesis that after listening to a brief loving-kindness<br/>meditation, participants will rate stronger communal career goals, as compared to controls. In three experimental studies, volunteering high-school students<br/>(Study 1 and 3) and university students (Study 2) listened to a 12-min recording of the meditation with the explicit purpose of investigating its effect on<br/>stress. They thereafter filled out an apparently unrelated career goal survey. We compared the results with a control group that just rated the career goals<br/>(Studies 1–3) and a control group that listened to calm music before filling out the survey (Study 2 and 3). The results showed that the high-school<br/>students rated higher communal career goals after listening to the meditation, as compared to controls. We did not replicate the result in the sample of<br/>university students, which could relate to adults having less flexible career goals than youth, or to a ceiling effect in communal goals. This is the first study<br/>that has demonstrated a method with the potential of increasing communal career goals in youth. In addition to increasing interest in HEED, raising<br/>communal goals could benefit society, since they are intrinsically prosocial.}},
  author       = {{Tellhed, Una and Sollvén, Annie and Tamas, Alexandru and Hägerklint, Emma}},
  issn         = {{1467-9450}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{334--345}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Scandinavian Journal of Psychology}},
  title        = {{Boosting Prosocial Career Aspirations : Loving-Kindness Meditation Relates to Higher Communal Career Goals in Youth}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/sjop.12823}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/sjop.12823}},
  volume       = {{63}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}