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  • Writer's pictureAnna Sutton

Sadder but wiser?


One of the things I've always found fascinating in the research around self-awareness is the so-called 'sadder but wiser' paradox. Essentially research seems to show that learning more about ourselves not only makes us wiser, but can also make us sadder (see here). Some of this is down to how we focus on ourselves: do we tend to ruminate over our negative perceptions and emotions or do we reflect more objectively, in a spirit of being open to finding out more? The more we can engage in the reflective side, the more positive the outcomes are for us.

In a recently published study, I identified four different kinds of outcomes associated with increased self-awareness, three of which captured these positive outcomes and one of which captured the more difficult elements. (You can read the full paper here.)

  • Firstly, people develop their ability to use reflection to support their own self-development and learning.

  • Secondly, they have an increased acceptance and understanding of themselves and others.

  • Thirdly, they report being more proactive at work.

  • And finally, there was a recognition of the emotional costs of self-awareness such as feeling vulnerable or anxious.

Recognising that self-awareness comes with costs as well as benefits is important. For example, my research indicates that while mindfulness, which is often offered as part of an employee well-being programme, certainly has beneficial effects (particularly related to being proactive at work), it is also associated with increased emotional costs.

It is also really helpful to have a way of measuring what some of the positive outcomes are. If work organisations are promoting self-awareness techniques such as mindfulness sessions, medit

From this research, I've developed a questionnaire which I hope will allow people to do just this: the Self-Awareness Outcomes Questionnaire. The SAOQ identifies the main impacts of self-awareness on our day-to-day lives and shows which outcomes are associated with different mindfulness and self-awareness techniques. I'm happy to make it available free of charge to anyone who would like to use it in their own research.

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