Recent & Upcoming Talks

The Anderson is pleased to present, as a component of the programming for Conscious, Subconscious, (Collective) Unconscious (Feb. 11 – Mar. 4), Consciousness: The Science, Metaphysics, and Poetics with neurologist Dr. Eben Alexander, Dr. Polina Beloborodova, and Filmmaker/ Traditional African cosmologist Marques Redd.

In this talk, Dr. Polina Beloborodova, PhD candidate at VCU Psychology Department, will present her recent study on how being present helps us to connect with others and overcome loneliness and isolation. She will also give tips on starting a meditation practice and share her experience of integrating her practice into daily life and research work.

Psychometric network analysis showed that Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire subscales were more closely connected with other constructs than among themselves; thus the scale measures mindfulness-related constructs rather than a unique construct.

Self-compassion is connected to social dominance orientation through empathy and might therefore offer a target for interventions that seeks to promote social equality.

This is the first professional discussion in Russia aimed to unite the topics of sustainable lifestyle and personal well-being.

Temporal patterns of loneliness, connection, and depression in two independent student samples revealed that social well-being declined towards the end of academic semester, whereas depression increased. Higher mindfulness was concurrently related to lower loneliness, higher felt connection to others, and lower depression. Mindful states also predicted later, lower levels of loneliness and depression.

To stydy the psychological mechanisms of career calling discernment, we examined temporal relations between calling, life meaning, and personal life position and tested an intervention aimed to help college students to find their callings.

In this study, we qualitatively investigated college students’ perceptions of calling in Russia, the country whose culture is often said to combine the traits of both Western and Eastern cultures. They saw it as something more than a mere job, were intrinsically motivated to find it and dedicate themselves to it, associated calling with the usage of their abilities, and at the same time expected it to make them more energized and bring success without considerable effort.