ealth education frequently relies on brief public-facing descriptions of interventions, yet evidence on how specific message features influence engagement remains limited. We test whether public-facing message features—programme labelling (“mindfulness”) and statements regarding the uncertainty of health benefits—shape intentions to join mindfulness-based programmes (MBPs). An experimental design (N=669) manipulated the programme label (mindfulness vs generic well-being intervention) and the manner in which the likelihood of well-being benefits was communicated (exact percentage improvement vs range of potential effects). Participants expressed similar interest in participating in both programmes (p=.318, partial η2=.002). Participant ratings of the likelihood of participating in the programme were not impacted by the use of a range, which indicated the uncertainty of effects (p=.788, partial η2<.001). These findings suggest that the influence of intervention labelling and the uncertainty of well-being benefits may be limited or context-dependent on participant intentions. This study contributes to health education research by experimentally evaluating assumptions about branding and precision in well-being communication, and by indicating that transparent disclosure of uncertainty—at least in numerical form—can be implemented without detectable reductions in stated willingness to engage in well-being interventions.

This article provides a novel functionalist account of embodiment in immersive virtual environments, grounded in a formal model of cognition, supported by past empirical evidence, and offering a testable framework for predicting when virtual experiences will produce cognitive and emotional effects. Our approach complements existing work on telepresence and subjective experience by applying the Thin Model as an intermediate theory linking interface affordances to perception, emotion, and behavior. Drawing on previously published immersive virtual reality studies, we show that when key functional elements - such as sensing, recognition, inspection, and feedback - are preserved, behavioral and emotional outcomes remain stable even when locomotion mechanisms differ. These findings support a criterion of functional sufficiency for embodiment where interface substitution leaves core policies of action unchanged. We outline a set of theory-driven tests to identify the limits of this invariance and argue that embodiment should be defined by the integrity of the perception-action loop, not by anatomical mimicry.

This paper presents the Insight Development Process (IDP), a theoretical framework of propositional insight development to facilitate its scientific investigation. This framework formulates three empirically-testable propositions: transience, self-lessness, and incongruence, each defined as a perceptual mode that individuals report during advanced insight meditation. These propositions parallel classical Buddhist descriptions of the “three characteristics,” but are articulated here in a form suitable for empirical investigation and ontologically neutral analysis. The IDP differentiates two forms of insight in relation to these propositions: (1) momentary insights, defined as brief pre-reflexive shifts in perception in which experience appears consistent with one or more propositions, (2) integrated insights, defined as more durable shifts in perception, cognition, or behavior that reflect an intuitive and implicitly accessible sense of one or more propositions. Based on these formulations, we hypothesize that increasing access to these perceptual modes constitutes the primary mechanism enabling momentary insights to arise. Drawing on descriptions of Theravada Buddhist insight meditation stages in classical texts, modern practice manuals, and first-person accounts across contemplative and non-contemplative contexts, we delineate eight insight stages, each specified in terms of its characteristic patterns of momentary insights and associated experiential features. Criteria are proposed for evaluating degrees of integrated insight. We outline temporal dynamics describing how momentary insights unfold and change across the eight stages. The IDP provides operationalizable constructs suitable for empirical research, supporting hypothesis generation about the cognitive, affective, and neural mechanisms of propositional insight, and the ways in which advanced insight meditation shapes consciousness and well-being. Keywords: advanced meditation, meditative development, insight stages, meditative endpoints, Insight Development Process, propositional insight

Emergent phenomena (EP)—sudden unusual mental or somatic experiences—are surprisingly widespread. Although EP often lead to positive impacts on well-being, they are sometimes followed by intense suffering. We examine potential risk factors and protective factors for EP and related suffering using logistic regression on general-population survey data ( n = 3,133). The four strongest risk factors are having attempted divine, magical, or occult practices; past psychedelic use; contemplation of mysteries; and total lifetime meditation practice outside retreats. Further risk factors for EP alone include several traditional meditation techniques and spiritually powerful or traumatic childbirth experience. Prayer is a protective factor. Other risk and protective factors for EP and related suffering include past diagnosis of mental illness and several personal characteristics. These results provide implicit guidance for managing the risks of EP and suggesting contraindications for individuals who wish to have a spiritual or meditative practice without EP.

This paper focuses on one aspect of the social interaction affecting the adoption of products: conversations between product users. When a product is successful, this interaction will increase as users accumulate. These interactions are driven by common interest and can widen users’ knowledge and appreciation of the product. This may raise the volume and persuasiveness of recommendations made to nonusers. Despite this, inter-user conversations are largely ignored in the reported research on the adoption of products.

Computational phenomenology has emerged as a powerful framework for investigating advanced meditation states and stages, and meditative development and endpoints. Various models have been proposed to mechanistically explain the diverse experiences associated with these practices, including enhanced well-being, shifts in attentional control, the loosening or ‘defabrication’ of perceptual constructions, as well as minimal phenomenal experiences and transformative meditative endpoints such as cessations. However, these models have developed in disparate directions, and an integrative understanding of the underlying mechanisms remains elusive. This review examines how computational models attempt to account for the phenomenology of advanced meditation, with a particular focus on Active Inference as a modeling framework. We identify precision weighting, the confidence attributed to different model parameters, as a common mechanism across models, shaping experiential shifts. Furthermore, we observe a marked difference between early models, which emphasize top-down attentional modulation toward interoception or specific focus objects, and later models which center on layer-specific precision re-weighting within the meditator’s hierarchical generative model and target more specific phenomenology. These differences arise from variations in the models' aims, scope, and definitions of contemplative practice. Despite increased interest in minimal phenomenal experience, related states and formal endpoints such as nonduality and cessations remain largely unaddressed. Few models tackle reported increases in cognitive flexibility and learning from meditation, while fundamental mechanisms behind informal practice and affective processes, and processes underlying compassion traditions, remain underexplored. Addressing these gaps is crucial for refining computational models of advanced meditation and informing our understanding of its cognitive, affective, and experiential effects.

Mindfulness-based programmes (MBPs) are widely used to support employees’ wellbeing,despite little evidence that MBPs are more effective than other programmes. MBPs are oftenpromoted to solve a plethora of challenges, potentially creating a ‘mindfulness hype’. Toinform more balanced communication strategies, a 2x2 experiment (N=669) evaluatedwhether decisions to participate in a hypothetical wellbeing programme were impacted by(1) programme name containing the word ‘mindfulness’, to quantify the ‘hype’ effect, and/or(2) presenting uncertainty around beneficial effects. Participants expressed similar interest inparticipating in both programmes, (p = .318, partial η2 = .002). Conveying uncertainty bypresenting a range (rather than exact percentage) for anticipated improvement did notreduce participant ratings of the likelihood of participating (p = .788, partial η2 < .001). Theresults do not support the presence of ‘mindfulness hype’. There is a need to betterunderstand how uncertainty regarding programme effectiveness affects decision-making

Objectives Adoption of potentially consciousness-altering practices may be leading to a rise in emergent phenomena (EP): sudden unusual mental or somatic experiences often interpreted as spiritual, mystical, energetic, or magical in nature. It is unclear how frequently these altered states of consciousness occur and what the clinical implications may be. Anecdotal accounts and prior literature suggest that EP may be common, under-reported, and followed by either positive or negative changes to well-being. We sought to supplement prior evidence on the prevalence and effects of EP among general populations with large-scale quantitative measurements.Method We measured the prevalence of EP, while not on mind-altering substances, through completion of online surveys by representative samples from three international communities (n = 3135). The communities sampled were UK Qualtrics online panelists, US-based MTurk workers, and the readers of a popular rationalist blog. Samples were broadly representative of underlying populations.Results Forty-five percent of participants reported experiencing non-pharmacologically induced EP at least once in their lives, including derealization (17%), unitive experiences (15%), ecstatic thrills (15%), vivid perceptions (11%), changes in perceived size (10%), bodily heat or electricity (9%), out-of-body experiences (8%), and perception of non-physical lights (5%). Respondents reported a mix of positive and negative well-being outcomes following EP, with 13% claiming moderate or greater suffering and 1.1% claiming life-threatening suffering. Of those who experienced suffering, 63% did not seek help.Conclusions EP are widespread among the studied populations with potential for both positive and negative outcomes, the latter of which do not appear to be adequately addressed through recourse to clinical practice.

This research reveals the presence, in online survey data, of a key pattern documented in psychology lab research: the Mirror Effect. The Mirror Effect occurs when unfamiliar stimuli are unexpectedly recognized as accurately as familiar stimuli, or more accurately. Using a set of familiar and unfamiliar words (as determined by lexical frequency), we first report that we can robustly replicate psychology lab research in an online survey, detecting the Mirror Effect. We then apply the same analytical approach to surveying consumer recognition of everyday brands (supermarkets, banks and car brands). We find that unfamiliar brands can be recognized with the same level of accuracy as familiar brands, and this effect is stronger than age and gender memory biases present in the data. However, we detect a boundary condition for branded apps, which are extremely unfamiliar brands competing in highly fragmented marketplaces, so very few get downloaded or used. For these digital brands, we find a Concordant Effect, as most respondents find it difficult to recognize highly unfamiliar branded apps (i.e., those with fewer than 5000 downloads). The Mirror Effect re-emerges for highly experienced app users. These results demonstrate the implications of a generalizable empirical pattern from cognitive psychology for branding and advertising theory. The outcomes of this research also translate into practical guidelines for brand performance measurement via online surveys, mitigating recognition memory bias for the development of marketing strategies based on more accurate interpretation of empirical evidence.

Meditation has been integral to human culture for millennia, deeply rooted in various spiritual and contemplative traditions. While the field of contemplative science has made significant steps toward understanding the effects of meditation on health and well-being, there has been little study of advanced meditative states, including those achieved through intense concentration and absorption. We refer to these types of states as advanced concentrative absorption meditation (ACAM), characterized by absorption with the meditation object leading to states of heightened attention, clarity, energy, effortlessness, and bliss. This review focuses on a type of ACAM known as jhana (ACAM-J) due to its well-documented history, systematic practice approach, recurring phenomenological themes, and growing popularity among contemplative scientists and more generally in media and society. ACAM-J encompasses eight layers of deep concentration, awareness, and internal experiences. Here, we describe the phenomenology of ACAM-J and present evidence from phenomenological and neuroscientific studies that highlight their potential applications in contemplative practices, psychological sciences, and therapeutics. We additionally propose theoretical ACAM-J frameworks grounded in current cognitive neuroscientific understanding of meditation and ancient contemplative traditions. We aim to stimulate further research on ACAM more broadly, encompassing advanced meditation including meditative development and meditative endpoints. Studying advanced meditation including ACAM, and specific practices such as ACAM-J, can potentially revolutionize our understanding of consciousness and applications for mental health.

Investment in stocks is increasingly dependent on artificial intelligence (AI), but the psychological and social factors that affect stock prices may not be fully covered by the measures currently used in AI training. Here, we search for additional measures that may improve AI predictions. We start by reviewing stock price movements that appear to be affected by social and psychological factors, drawing on stock market behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic. A review of processes that are likely to produce such stock market movements follows: the disposition effect, momentum, and the response to information. These processes are then explained by regression to the mean, negativity bias, the availability mechanism, and information diffusion. Taking account of these processes and drawing on the consumer behaviour literature, we identify three factors which may not be covered by current AI training data that could affect stock prices: publicity in relation to capitalization, stock-holding penetration in relation to capitalization, and changes in the penetration of stock holding.

Objectives Research into meditation-related emergent phenomenology is advancing, yet progress is hampered by significant incongruities between meditator self-reports and objective measurements (e.g., of brain states). We address these incongruities by developing and demonstrating the potential of contemplative theory to support scientific investigation. Method Our approach is to translate key theories from Buddhist contemplative traditions into scientific terms, and then systematize these translations as a functionalist model of the mind—the Thin Model—able to inform scientific inquiry. Results Buddhist doctrine is shown to be consistent with objective descriptions of mental function, and the Thin Model derived from these translations demonstrates immediate explanatory power. The nested nature of the model allows explanations to be restricted to the specific problem being studied. The model enables connection of complex higher-level phenomena, such as self-reports of mental states, to complex lower-level phenomena, such as empirically measured brain states. This connection does not require simplistic assumptions to be made. A detailed demonstration illustrates how the model can convert subjective accounts of the ecstatic meditative states known as jhānas into testable neuroscientific hypotheses. Conclusions We provide an account of contemplative theory that is amenable to scientific investigation. Our approach, exemplified in the Thin Model, offers immediate explanatory power, allows meaningful dialogue between different research traditions, and provides an organizing principle for explanations of mental phenomena. The Thin Model may also be relevant to other fields concerned with autonomous entities or the nature and operation of the mind.

This study explores how age influences the stages of the brand purchase funnel (awareness, consideration, and purchase) and the mechanisms associated with any age-related differences. Aggregated analysis of survey data (n = 1862) across five markets and four age groups shows a reduction in the proportion of brands recognised that subsequently enter the consideration and purchase sets of older consumers. Subsequent individual-level GLS regression analysis using age as a continuous variable reveals an inverse-U shape for brand recognition and in some cases for brand recall and consideration. Peak cognitive performance occurs at age 56. There is a linear decline for purchase set size across age. Therefore, age-related differences in brand awareness and consideration, and the mechanisms driving these changes, do not greatly impact age-related increases in loyalty. Instead, findings suggest age-related increases in loyalty result from a combination of accumulated experience, development of purchase habits, and declining category purchase rates.

Although shipping is the most energy efficient method of transporting trade goods it is held accountable for 2–3% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The shipping industry is exploring pathways to carbon–neutral fuels to help eliminate GHG emissions by 2050. To date research on alternative fuels has not considered public opinion; it remains unclear whether the public will support alternative shipping fuels, or whether public opposition might prevent or defer their deployment. To fill this knowledge gap and help the industry and policy makers arrive at publicly acceptable decisions, our research examines UK public perceptions of six shipping fuels using a mixed-method approach. Our findings reveal that biofuels and hydrogen are clearly favoured, owing to biofuel’s perceived low risk and hydrogen’s lack of negative by-products. Perceptions of liquid natural gas are somewhat positive, suggesting that it provides an acceptable near-term option while other fuels are developed. Despite lingering stigma, nuclear is preferred over the incumbent heavy fuel oil, though both are perceived negatively. However, the UK public strongly dislike ammonia, perceiving it as unproven , risky, and lacking availability . A third support use of alternative shipping fuels, with support greater from those living near ports—a “yes in my back yard” effect. The results demonstrate that different alternative fuels are likely to elicit different public reactions as they become more widely known and show how the overall evaluations arise from specific positive or negative associations with each fuel.

Millions of people globally have learned mindfulness meditation with the goal of improving health and well-being outcomes in both clinical and non-clinical contexts. An estimated half of these practitioners follow mindfulness teachers' recommendations to continue regular meditation after completion of initial instruction, but it is unclear whether benefits are strengthened by regular practice and whether harm can occur. Increasing evidence shows a wide range of experiences that can arise with regular mindfulness meditation, from profoundly positive to challenging and potentially harmful. Initial research suggests that complex interactions and temporal sequences may explain these experiential phenomena and their relations to health and well-being. We believe further study of the effects of mindfulness meditation is urgently needed to better understand the benefits and challenges of continued practice after initial instructions. Effects may vary systematically over time due to factors such as initial dosage, accumulation of ongoing practice, developing skill of the meditator, and complex interactions with the subjects' past experiences and present environment. We propose that framing mindfulness meditation experiences and any associated health and well-being benefits within integrated longitudinal models may be more illuminating than treating them as discrete, unrelated events. We call for ontologically agnostic, collaborative, and interdisciplinary research to study the effects of continued mindfulness meditation and their contexts, advancing the view that practical information found within religious and spiritual contemplative traditions can serve to develop initial theories and scientifically falsifiable hypotheses. Such investigation could inform safer and more effective applications of mindfulness meditation training for improving health and well-being.

Two very well-known empirical generalisations in marketing are Double jeopardy (DJ) and the duplication of purchase law (DoP). These generalisations provide important insights into consumer buying behaviour but require ongoing replication and extension to determine the conditions under which they hold. Surprisingly, despite growing recognition of the role of customer mindset metrics in brand choice, DJ, and DoP have not been extensively tested within this context. We therefore analyse survey data (n = 1862) in three repertoire and two subscription markets to determine whether two key mindset metrics, brand awareness and brand consideration, also follow DJ and DoP patterns. Our study successfully demonstrates that brands with low recognition suffer twice with lower unaided brand recall and lower purchase consideration. While brand recall and consideration follow a linear DJ trend, brand recognition and consideration follow an exponential DJ trend. We also confirm the existence of Duplication of Awareness and Duplication of Consideration patterns. Brands share greater awareness or consideration levels with other highly recognised or considered brands than with lowly recognised or considered brands. However, contrary to the DoP law, we find consistent market partitioning, with category buyers who are aware of, or consider smaller brands also being aware of, or considering other smaller brands at a slightly greater rate than expected. We provide possible explanations for differing DJ slopes and duplication partitions, as well as theoretical and managerial implications.

Marketers are interested in the loyalty of their customer base. Increasingly this includes examining behavioural loyalty inferred from the frequency or weight of purchase. A typical approach is to divide the customer base into arbitrary segments based on weight of purchase and then attempt to move customers from lighter to heavier segments, rather than have them reduce purchasing or cease buying altogether. Effects can be monitored by examining how purchasing by groups of individuals evolves over successive periods. However, much of the flow between segments represents random fluctuations in period-to-period purchasing rather than true change to underlying loyalty. Accurate analysis requires true change to be separated from these stochastic changes, for example through benchmarks derived from conditional trend analysis (CTA). While CTA considers the two-period case, it provides no guidance for changes seen across three-periods. The three-period case is nonetheless regularly reported by panel companies and relied on by managers. We therefore develop the three-period CTA, using a tri-variate NBD, to allow the analysis of buyer flow across three successive periods. We provide an empirical illustration and demonstrate fresh insights into the evolution of consumer loyalty. The findings allay oft-raised concerns about supposedly 'lost' buyers, as perceived customer loss is often simply regression to the mean of the buying rates. Accordingly, the three-period CTA shows predictable proportions of buyers who move between different buying-weight segments, including first-year buyers who were apparently 'lost' in the second year but return to buy the brand in the third year.

More than 5.89 million people have died from COVID-19. Due to COVID-19, there is a need for organizations to reconsider their structures and systems in response to increased remote working and decreased face-to-face (FTF) interactions. This study analyzes organizational relationships, specifically the supervisor-subordinate relationship. This study examines the link between supervisor-subordinate immediacy and organizational identification in mediated communication. Participants from three nations (n = 1776) were explored to test the assumption that supervisor-subordinate immediacy explains organizational identification. The United States, Australia, and England were chosen as focal nations due to the differing government responses to the COVID-19 outbreak. Results revealed supervisors' perceived computer-mediated immediate behaviors and subordinates' perceived immediacy with their supervisors were positive predictors of organizational identity. U.S. supervisors were perceived to use higher levels of computer-mediated immediacy behaviors and have more perceived immediacy than Australian and English supervisors. Australian supervisors had higher levels of perceived immediacy than English supervisors.

To identify the effect of marketing actions on consumer purchasing, analysts must disentangle the dynamic component of purchasing from expected period-to-period stochastic fluctuations. This is done by comparing marketplace observations to the conditional expectation of future purchasing. Current methods of deriving the conditional expectation contain systematic bias and rely on certain unrealistic modelling assumptions. We therefore propose a new model to predict future consumer purchases in grocery retailing. The new model is a mixture of Erlang-2, Poisson and lognormal distributions or a condensed Poisson lognormal model (CPLN). Using two grocery retailing datasets from the UK, we demonstrate that the CPLN model predicts future consumer purchases well with error of 7% and 9%, respectively. Compared with the previous benchmark model, the condensed Negative Binominal Distribution (CNBD), the CPLN model reduces error by 50% (7% versus 14%) and 67% (9% versus 27%), respectively. Theoretical and practical implications for retailers are discussed.