The lived experiences of experienced Vipassana Mahasi meditators: an interpretative phenomenological analysis.

Research into the effects and mechanisms of mindfulness training draws predominantly on quantitative research. There is a lack of understanding about the subjective experiences of experienced mindfulness meditators, which may provide additional insights into the effects, processes and context of mindfulness training. This qualitative study explored the lived experiences of a novel group of experienced mindfulness meditators who practise Vipassana Mahasi (VM) meditation. The study aimed to understand how experienced VM practitioners make sense of the effects of practice and what processes they ascribe to it. Participants attended semistructured interviews, and their responses were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Results yielded overarching themes including (a) improvements in hedonic and eudaimonic well-being; (b) insights into self, others and perception of reality; (c) attaining equanimity; and (d) physical and interpersonal difficulties. Participants perceived VM as a ‘cleansing’ process whereby maladaptive responses were eliminated through mindfulness, other supportive mental qualities, decentering and nonattachment. The findings revealed a complex and dynamic set of interdependent outcomes and processes, which are reinforced by Buddhist teachings and ethical practices. This study highlights the need for additional interdisciplinary research into topics such as insight generation and supportive mental qualities cultivated during VM, novel states of well-being informed by Buddhist constructs and interpersonal difficulties related to long-term practice. Findings also suggest that incorporating Buddhist teachings and ethics into mindfulness-based interventions may enhance practitioner understanding and implementation of meditation techniques.N/

Está insatisfeito com o seu chefe? Será devido a ele ou a si? O efeito que o locus de controlo tem na relação entre liderança e satisfação

Dissertação de Mestrado apresentada no ISPA - Instituto Universitário para a obtenção de grau de Mestre na especialidade de Psicologia Social e das Organizações.A presente investigação teve como objetivo estudar a relação que existe entre as variáveis Liderança, Satisfação com o Líder e Locus de Controlo, no âmbito organizacional. Sendo assim, o principal objetivo da investigação é estudar se a relação entre Liderança e Satisfação com o Supervisor é positiva ou negativa, e se o Locus de Controlo tem um efeito moderador nessa mesma relação. A amostra desta dissertação é composta por 149 trabalhadores (dos quais 68% são do género feminino) recrutados através do método snowball, e que têm supervisão direta. A avaliação da Liderança Transformacional e Transacional foi feita através do Questionário Multifatorial de Liderança (Salanova, Lorente, Chambel, & Martínez, 2011); a Satisfação com o Supervisor foi avaliada com recurso a parte do Questionário de Satisfação Laboral S20/23, (Pocinho e Garcia, 2008); e o Locus de Controlo foi medido através da escala MASLOC (Multidimensional Academic-Specific Locus of Control) (Barros, 1992). Os resultados indicam que existe uma relação positiva entre os dois estilos de Liderança e a Satisfação com o Supervisor. No entanto, o efeito de moderação do Locus de Controlo entre a Liderança e a Satisfação com o Supervisor não se verificou. No fim foram discutidas as implicações e limitações consideradas no presente estudo e foram feitas sugestões para estudos futuros.This research aimed to examine the relationship between Leadership, Satisfaction with Leadership, and Locus of Control in organizations. Specifically, this research tested if the relationship between leadership style and employees satisfaction with leadership is moderated by employees’ locus of control. Participants were 149 employees (68% of which were female), engaged in the current research through a snowball participant’s recruitment procedure. All participants had a direct supervisor. Transformational and transactional Leadership styles were measured using the Multifactorial Leadership Questionnaire (Salanova, Lorente, Chambel, & Martínez, 2011); Satisfaction with supervisor was assessed using part of the Satisfaction with Work Questionnaire (Pocinho & Garcia, 2008); and Locus of Control was measured using the MASLOC (Multidimensional Academic-Specific Locus of Control), (Barros, 1992). The research findings suggest that there is a positive relationship between supervisor’s Leadership style, and employees’ satisfaction with leadership. However, locus of control did not have any effect on this relationship. The study’s limitations and implications were also debated in the end of the dissertation