SCIENCE & RESEARCH
Compassion, Science and Research
Compassion and Research Events Occurring Across Australia
Future Directions in Compassion Science
A new report on the science of compassion by Dr Lynne Reeder and her international research colleague Dr Marcela Matos on the Future Directions in Compassion Science has just been released. Some of the key points from this report include:
- Research in compassion science is consistently finding that the motivation of compassion fosters improved mental and physical health, and has profound effects on social relationships in families, groups, communities and between communities.
- Many scientific studies show that different motives organise our minds and bodies quite differently. For example, the way our attention is directed, our thoughts are focused, and our intended behaviours are enacted, differ significantly as to whether our motives are – competitive self-focused, anger or fear based – or cooperative and compassion based.
- There are many practical applications of compassion, including for business and commerce – e.g. studies conducted by Assoc Prof Daniel Martin have found that compassion training can improve the psychological safety and well-being of employees and therefore mitigate the negative behaviours within businesses that can disrupt valuable innovations.
- Prof Tania Singer, Director of the Social Neuroscience Lab, Max Planck Society, Germany highlights how compassion training works. Her world leading studies which include the use of fMRI’s in assessing differences before and after compassion training – show that it works by supporting the upregulation of our systems of care and affiliation… in compassion you accept the reality that is out there, but you activate the system which will allow you to be resilient against the potential negative effect of overwhelm and empathic distress.
Dr James Kirby Presentation
The recording from the presentation by Dr James Kirby on his new book – Choose Compassion: Why it matters and how it works, is now available. This recording also contains an interview between James Kirby and Lynne Reeder on specific aspects of his book – https://business.sydney.edu.au/events/research/2022/bhmb/acc-scholars-event
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
As the global coordinator for the Charters’ Science and Research sector, Dr Lynne Reeder is undertaking a project to define the research directions in compassion science. Drawing on the Oxford Handbook of Compassion Science, one of the first leading academic publications to synthesise the theory and the application of this discipline, she is interviewing world leading experts that contributed to the Handbook. These videoed discussions will explore the:
- research outlined by the authors in the Oxford Handbook
- subsequent research that has occurred in the past six years
- implications for future research directions
Dr James Kirby from the Compassionate Mind Research Group at the University of Queensland was the first to be interviewed and he covered why a Compassion-Focused parenting approach is important, why it needs to sit alongside a public health approach, and provides a description of some of the elements of this approach.
ACC Scholars
The ACC Scholars group was established in 2018 to connect compassion researchers in Australia to share their research and findings locally and internationally through the international Charter movement. The ACC Scholars forum was held in Sydney in late November 2019, examining the Australian research of compassion.
In 2020 the National Compassion Scholars Forum took place on Monday Nov 9. This National Forum entitled ‘Managing Change and Complexity with Compassion: New Research and Applications’ featured speakers including Prof William Mobley, Director of the Institute of Empathy and Compassion, UC San Diego.
Read more below.
- The ACC Scholars Network was established to support and grow the emerging research discipline of compassion science in Australia;
- The Network comprises researchers from across Australia, and was established in conjunction with the University of Sydney’s Body, Heart and Mind in Business Research Centre (BHMB);
- Dr Lynne Reeder, National Director of the Australian Compassion Council (ACC) invited Prof Felicia Huppert to be the Founding Director of this Network. Felicia is Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Founding Director of the Well-being Institute, University of Cambridge, UK; Honorary Professor with the Body Heart and Mind in Business Research Group, University of Sydney Business School; Visiting Professorial Fellow, School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
- Map and distribute information on the compassion research, and its application occurring within Australia;
- Bring together Network members by holding at least two ACC Scholars meetings each year;
- Act as a knowledge portal by distributing the work of the Scholars through conferences and other meetings and disseminating journal and other scholarly articles via the ACC and BHMB webpages and other public platforms.
- Share information on how compassion research is being, and can be, further deployed and applied more effectively in business, health, education and other policy settings;
- Promote the ACC Scholars Network webpage as the ‘go to site’ for global research center’s looking for collaborations with investigation partners in Australia.
- Develop and distribute media stories and articles on Scholars compassion research.