A Multiskill, 5-Week, Online Positive Emotions Training for Student Well-Being

Abstract

The aim of this 5-week Positive Emotions Project (PEP) is to teach students simple emotional well-being techniques in an online course. I adapted a clinical intervention that Moskowitz et al. developed for chronically ill patients. The adapted training proved to be effective for academic purposes. In this instructional innovation article, I provide detailed instructional materials, and explain how to set up and conduct the training. Students read simple instructions at the start of every week, for 5 consecutive weeks. Each week focuses on one or two new techniques. I collected data and present evidence of effectiveness. A secondary take-away from the study is to use multiskill interventions, since not all the eight techniques taught through PEP were endorsed equally for future use; feeling gratitude, setting attainable goals, acts of kindness, savoring positive events, and self-affirmation were the most popular PEP skills, whereas mindfulness was the least popular.

Mental Health and Psychological Well-Being Among Management Students and Educators

“…We expect that Quijada’s (2021) account in this special issue will help encourage more educators to come forward with their experiences. We emphasize that focusing on mental ill-health alone, however, is not sufficient; as Rhew et al (2021) and Hamdani (2021) argue, it is important to consider how we can promote well-being in faculty and students.…”

“…In the fourth article, author Maria Hamdani describes and analyses the effectiveness of a 5-week “Positive Emotions Project” (PEP), which she designed to teach a range of different techniques and skills to improve students’ positivity and well-being. Hamdani (2021) devised her program based on a clinical well-being instructional course, originally developed by Moskowitz et al (2012), and intended to increase trainees’ positive affect and sense of well-being. The modified program she outlines focuses on eight well-being skills: (1) noticing and capitalizing on positive events, (2) gratitude, (3) formal mindfulness, (4) informal mindfulness, (5) positive reappraisal, (6) recognizing personal strengths, (7) setting attainable goals, and (8) performing acts of kindness.…”

Stress Training in the Classroom: Evidence of Learning Transfer and Psychological Gains

“…Other scholarly work has examined the role of stress in the classroom, such as the impact of stress on leaders' decision-making roles (Ferris, 1998), how to reduce stress though pedagogical changes (King & Kabat-Farr, 2022), and how to teach about stress in the business classroom (Hartley & Young, 2019). Another stream of work has recognized the importance of teaching stress management techniques within the management education classroom, leading to student reports of reduced stress (Flinchbaugh et al, 2012) and increased positive emotions (Hamdani, 2021). Despite these advances, scholarly work still acknowledges the disconcerting link between heightened student stress levels and compromised well-being and mental health in the management education classroom (Edwards et al, 2021).…”

Drowning on Dry Land: Looking Back and Learning From COVID-19

“…We also propose that instructors can utilize existing activities to provide students with direct experience with evidence-based interventions to reduce stress and facilitate psychological wellness. These could include stress management strategies and gratitude journaling (Flinchbaugh et al, 2012), mindfulness training (Kay & Young, 2021), and programs designed to promote emotional well-being (Hamdani, 2021). We do not pretend that these activities will necessarily reduce students' distress, especially those who have experienced significant trauma, but suggest that they represent options for educators who want to promote well-being in their classrooms.…”