mApping Human Resilience – HopeLab
By Janxin Leu, Ph.D.
When something really tough happens – when we lose someone close, when we get a sobering diagnosis from a doctor, when we experience financial hardship, some of us are sent into a tailspin and really struggle to get our lives back together. Others of us may be just as knocked down but somehow are better able to pick ourselves up and thrive in spite of what we are enduring.
Why are some of us better at coping with the stresses caused by adversity? Resilience!
The truth is, bad things happen to us all. But here’s the good news: Resilience, the ability to bounce back from adversity, is an innate human trait. At HopeLab, the Silicon Valley research and development nonprofit where I work, we’re exploring how social technology might support resilience, even help us thrive.
Scientific research has shown that there are actually 3 psychological
experiences we can intentionally cultivate to bolster our natural resilience:
• A sense of purpose, or meaning, in life
• A sense of healthy connection to others
• A sense of control over one’s destiny
Given what we know from science, how might we use mobile apps to help people cultivate and stay true to their sense of meaning in life? How might we use apps to foster healthy connections between people? How might we use apps to help people feel less helpless when things are spinning out of control? Or how might we take an existing intervention that supports
resilience and scale it using mobile technology?
We’ve all seen or even built mobile apps that help individuals track their personal wellness, from biometrics to happiness to stress reduction. But building apps to tap into our innate resilience and help us thrive is an area of blue-sky opportunity. And we’re looking forward to exploring the possibilities with attendees at the MLOVE ConFestival Europe.
by Dr. Janxin Leu – HopeLab, Redwood City, CA
Dr. Janxin Leu (pronounced “Jen-shing Loo”) is Director of Product Innovation at HopeLab, where she plays a lead role in HopeLab’s initiative to promote human resilience and inner values through social tech innovation.
Prior to joining HopeLab in April 2013, Dr. Leu was Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Washington, where her research focused on how cultural contexts influence the mind, such as how Buddhist, Daoist, and Confucian traditions shape emotion and cognition. Based on an understanding of the mind-body connection, perspective-taking, and socio-emotional learning, she created the cultural curriculum for the Emmy-nominated Nick, Jr. show Ni hao, Kai-lan! Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Time Magazine, and the Seattle Times.
Dr. Leu was elected as a Robert Wood Johnson Health & Society Scholar and the Society for Experimental Social Psychology. She received her Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Michigan, and a B.A. and M.A. in Psychology from Stanford University. She lives in the Bay Area with her husband and daughter.
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