The National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being describes our social well-being dimension as "developing a sense of connection, belonging, and a well-developed support network, while also contributing to our groups and communities."
Positive psychologists offer six techniques for nurturing social well-being:
Positivity Resonance: a concept developed by Dr. Barbara Fredrickson in which two people can generate positive energy in one another and cause it to grow through three intertwined actions:
bidirectional exchange of positive expression (such as warmth and openness)
biobehavorial synchronous movements, i.e., mirroring one another's body language, smiles, and other nonverbal cues
mutual investment in one another's well-being
Capitalization: the act of sharing good news with another person and the resulting magnification of the effect of the original positive experience
Active Constructive Responding (ACR): a communication style in which a person responds to another person's positive news with eagerness, enthusiasm, or delight and actively follows up with positive probing questions or reflections (contrasted with passive constructive responding, active destructive responding, and passive destructive responding)
Constructivist Listening: described by the National Equity Project (an education reform organization) as "an effective strategy for engaging in conversations that are both intellectually demanding and emotionally challenging"; the purpose of this form of listening "is for the benefit of the speaker, not the listener"
Perspective-Giving & Perspective-Taking: a communication exercise to help ameliorate attitudes and empathy in members of groups in conflict due to a perceived or actual power differential
The "Hive Switch": a concept coined by Dr. Jonathan Haidt to describe a phenomenon in which individuals realize they have become part of and fused within a positive collective, transcending self-interest and merging with something larger than ourselves; hive switches can occur through synchronous physical movement or bonding events like flash mob dances, parades, festivals, carnivals, rock concerts, and so on
Social Dimension Resources:
© Heidi K. Brown 2022
All content on this site is for educational and
informational purposes only and should not be
construed as legal, psychological, or medical advice.