• 1. At the end of the course, students will have engaged in formal and informal mindfulness and compassion practices.
• 2. At the end of the course, students will be able to articulate relevant concepts and theories on mindfulness and compassion.
• 3. At the end of the course, students will students have gained knowledge about mindfulness and compassion interventions for organizations

How can mindfulness and compassion practices contribute to student and employee well-being?

Research shows that mindfulness and compassion practices lead to lower levels of stress, higher life satisfaction and better pro-social behaviors. Research within the field of mindfulness also contributes to marketing theory in the field of consumer psychology and neuromarketing, with implications on industrial and societal level.

Leaders may cultivate mindfulness and compassion to order to cope with the challenges of work and personal life, prevent burnout and be better equipped to empathize with coworkers. Mindful leaders develop attentional skills and emotional regulation, which help them focus on their work and create better relationships.

On the society level, citizens may cultivate mindfulness in order to deal with impulsive consumption behavior. Consumers’ ability to act mindfully might benefit from their practice in many aspects of their live, and especially when short-term rewards are chosen instead of long-term benefits. This can be related to daily decisions (e.g. choosing healthy food) until long-term decisions (financial decisions). In that sense, consumers who practice mindfulness contribute to a healthier and more sustainable society.

The concept of mindfulness has its roots in Buddhist psychology and indicates both a type of meditation practice and a personal characteristic that is developed because of this practice. Yet, there are many other levels of meditation. 

Students in class will become familiarized with different types of practices, their effects and benefits, and the theory and psychological mechanisms behind them.

There are two strains of research concerning mindfulness; one based on Ellen Langer’s work and one based on Kabat-Zin’s practice and research. Students will become acquiented with both streams of research as well as their implications in related concepts such as flow, wisdom, sustainability and creativity.

At the end of this course, students will have developed a personal mindfulness and compassion practice. They will also have the knowledge of the theories behind mindfulness and compassion. Finally, they will plan the application of their practical and theoretical learnings to a real-life case.

If the student fails the above, a retake exam will be offered  in the form of a 15-page home assignment.

long paper following the structure below:
1. Introduction and Research Question
2. Literature Review
2. How I have addressed this RQ with mindfulness/compassion in my life
3. Proposal of a mindfulness/compassion intervention for a work environment
4. Opportunities and barriers to implement mindfulness/compassion in my life and in a work setting
5. Conclusion
Students must write 15 pages total.
Students must use 5 readings from the syllabus + 5 readings of your own choosing. Students can always add more readings from the syllabus and other sources, 5 is the minimum. If students decide to use 2 or more chapters from 1 book, they count as 1 reading.
And here are the learning objectives of the exam:
1. Being able to articulate relevant literature into a research question
2. Being able to articulate concepts and theories from the syllabus
3. Being able to clarify opportunities and barriers for applying mindfulness to personal life, business theory and practice
4. Being able to communicate ideas with clarity

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Sheth, J. N., Sethia, N. K., & Srinivas, S. (2011). Mindful consumption: A customer-centric approach to sustainability. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 39(1), 21–39. https:/​/​doi.org/​10.1007/​s11747-010-0216-3

Langer, E. J. (2014). Mindfulness forward and back. In A. le, C. T. Ngnoumen, & E. J.

Langer (Eds.), The Wiley Blackwell handbook of mindfulness (p. 7–20). Wiley Blackwell.  https:/​/​doi.org/​10.1002/​9781118294895.ch1

Kabat-Zinn, Jon. (2003) Mindfulness-Based Interventions in Context: Past, Present, and Future. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, Vol. 10, p. 144–156.

Fitzsimons, G. M., & Bargh, J. A. (2004). Automatic self-regulation. In R. F. Baumeister & K. D. Vohs (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation: Research, theory, and applications (p. 151–170). The Guilford Press.

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Kabat-Zinn, Jon (2013) Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain and Illness. Chapter 18, Change: The One Thing You can be Sure Of.

Shapiro, S.L., Carlson, L.E., Astin, J.A. and Freedman, B. (2006), Mechanisms of mindfulness. J. Clin. Psychol., 62: 373-386. doi:10.1002/jclp.20237

Tang, Y. Y. (2017). The Neuroscience of Mindfulness Meditation: How the Body and Mind Work Together to Change Our Behaviour. The Neuroscience of Mindfulness Meditation: How the Body and Mind Work Together to Change Our Behaviour, 1–94. https:/​/​doi.org/​10.1007/​978-3-319-46322-3

Tang, Y. Y., Hölzel, B. K., & Posner, M. I. (2015). The neuroscience of mindfulness meditation. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 16(4), 213–225. https:/​/​doi.org/​10.1038/​nrn3916

Reznitskaya, A., & Sternberg, R. (2012). Teaching Students to Make Wise Judgments: The “Teaching for Wisdom” Program.

Rosenberg, E. L. (2004). Mindfulness and consumerism. Psychology and Consumer Culture: The Struggle for a Good Life in a Materialistic World., 107–125. https:/​/​doi.org/​10.1037/​10658-007

Gould, S., Cho, Y.-N., Dorsey, J. D., Schindler, R. M., Murdock, M. R., & Boesen-Mariani, S. (2016). Mindfulness: Its transformative potential for consumer, societal, and environmental weil-being. Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, 35(2), 198–210. https:/​/​doi.org/​10.1509/​jppm.15.139

Brown, Kirk & Kasser, Tim & Ryan, Richard & Linley, P. & Orzech, Kevin. (2009). When what one has is enough: Mindfulness, financial desire discrepancy, and subjective well-being. Journal of Research in Personality - J RES PERSONAL. 43. 10.1016/​j.jrp.2009.07.002.

Kiken, Laura & Lundberg, Kristjen & Fredrickson, Barbara. (2017). Being Present and Enjoying It: Dispositional Mindfulness and Savoring the Moment Are Distinct, Interactive Predictors of Positive Emotions and Psychological Health. Mindfulness. 8. 10.1007/​s12671-017-0704-3.

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Kudesia, R. (2015). Mindfulness and creativity in the workplace. In J. Reb & P. Atkins (Eds.), Mindfulness in Organizations: Foundations, Research, and Applications (Cambridge Companions to Management, pp. 190-212). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/​CBO9781107587793.010

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