Go Luck
Yourself! Dr Matthew Smith Department of Psychology Buckinghamshire New University
Context • PhD research • The Luck Factor • Positive Psychology – Positive emotions – Gratitude – Optimism – Mindfulness – Resilience
Go Luck
Yourself!
What is ‘luck’? • Dictionary definition: Noun: success or failure apparently brought by chance rather than through one’s own actions; chance considered as a force that causes good or bad things to happen; … Oxford English Dictionary (2012). Oxford University Press. http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/luck Go Luck
Yourself!
Overview • Research project Sept-Nov 2014 • Six fortnightly sessions – Attendance and online
• Psychological assessments – Perceived Luckiness; Optimism; PANAS; State anxiety
• Luck Journals – Qualitative accounts
Go Luck
Yourself!
Go Luck
Yourself! Embracing luck Recognising the role of luckÂ
The good luck mindset Expect good luck
Opportunity knocks Noticing and creating opportunities
Go with the flow Trust in unplanned events
Stercus accidit* Develop resilient thinking
*Sh*t happens
Some initial findings • 66 participants signed up and completed online measures at Time 1 – 54 females; 12 males – Mean age 42.11 years (SD=11.04)
• Only 14 completed online measures at Time 2 – Significant increase in Perceived Luckiness (!) – Marginally significant increase in LOT-R scores – No sig changes in Positive or Negative Affect – No sig change in state anxiety Go Luck
Yourself!
• 20 completed and submitted Luck Journal – Accounts of ‘luck’ experiences • • • •
unplanned events; coincidences; how things might have been different; “small things have happened because of things I wouldn’t normally do…”
– Ways of interpreting events • e.g. ‘bad luck’ vs. ‘unlucky’
– Thoughts about the sessions and how to apply ideas
Go Luck
Yourself! Dr Matthew Smith Department of Psychology Buckinghamshire New University matthew.smith@bucks.ac.uk twitter: @go_luckyourself