Metacognition Training Boosts Resilience and Decision-Making Under Stress
A groundbreaking study led by Barbara A. Spellman suggests that 360 training in metacognition - the ability to reflect on and regulate one's thoughts and feelings - can boost resilience, reduce negative emotions, and enhance decision-making under stress. This promising approach, pioneered by researchers Ann L. Brown and John Flavell, holds potential for mental health, relationships, and high-stakes situations.
Metacognition is akin to holding a mirror up to one's mind, enabling individuals to notice and adjust their thought patterns. Key skills cultivated through metacognitive training include intellectual humility, perspective-taking, and balancing interests. These skills can be nurtured through deliberate, regular practice, such as pausing and reflecting, considering the opposite, and self-distancing.
Spellman's latest project, 'Cultivating wisdom through metacognition: A new frontier in decision-making under radical uncertainty', explores how metacognition can help navigate messy, unpredictable, or deeply personal problems. Unlike everyday shortcuts or copying role models, wisdom is the art of balancing conflicting values and adapting to change. Traditional decision-making models based on weighing pros and cons and calculating probabilities often falter in real life.
Metacognitive training, proven to reduce rumination and negative emotions while increasing resilience, offers a promising path for enhancing mental health, relationships, and decision-making in challenging situations. By cultivating skills like intellectual humility, perspective-taking, and self-distancing, individuals can adapt wisely to uncertainty and navigate life's complexities more effectively.
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