What’s the project?
This project at Royal Holloway University is aiming to help us understand the impact of the ancient Greek philosophy Stoicism on psychological wellbeing when applied to modern life.
Stoic philosophers offered guidance on how to live well, what truly matters in life, and ways to reduce human suffering. Some of the practices involved in living like a Stoic are similar to cognitive behavioural therapy, an evidence-based approach to treating psychological distress.
Other Stoic perspectives and practices are unique, and have not been well researched, despite gaining lots of popularity in the self-help community recently.
They are interested in understanding if a 14-day online programme which teaches Stoic philosophy is psychologically beneficial, and if so, how.
Find out more
What will my participation involve?
- If you decide to take part, you will need to complete a consent form.
- Then you will need to do some brief questionnaires about your mental health.
- Once finished, if you are still eligible to take part, you will receive a link to a contact details form (first name and email address), and asked to share some demographic information (age, gender etc.) and some initial questionnaires (about your wellbeing, mental health, and Stoic attitudes). This should take around 20 minutes to complete.
- Once complete, you will be randomly allocated to either the Stoic training programme group or to a waiting list group. Both groups will have a chance to do the Stoic training programme.
What happens if I’m in the Stoic training programme group?
- You can start the online 14-day Stoic training programme straight away. The programme will involve 10 minutes of reading every two days on key Stoic concepts, and you will also be asked to do three daily Stoic practices that will take around 15 minutes per day in total.
- When the 14-day programme has finished, you will be asked to compete a set of questionnaires about your wellbeing, mental health, and Stoic attitudes (15 minutes to do).
- One month after this, you will be asked to complete these same set of questionnaires (15 minutes to do). You will then have finished the study. You must complete all these questionnaires to be eligible for the prize draw (see prize draw section).
What happens if I’m in the waiting list group?
- Two weeks after you are allocated to this group, you will receive a link to complete a set of questionnaires on mental health, wellbeing, and Stoic attitudes (15 minutes to do).
- One month later, you will be asked to complete these again (15 minutes to do). You will be eligible for the prize draw when all these sets of questionnaires are completed. You will then have finished the study.
If you would like to, you will then have access to the 14-day Stoic training programme.
If you decide to do the programme, we will send you a link to the same set of questionnaires as previously once you finish the programme, and another set, one-month after you finish.
You do not have to complete either of these sets of questionnaires to be eligible for the prize draw.
How many people do we need?
We are looking to recruit 154 people to take part in this study.
To take part in this study you must be 18 years or older, be living in the UK, and have access to the internet either via your phone, computer, or another device.
If you are currently receiving treatment for a mental health problem (either through therapy or medication) or self-identify as experiencing severe mental health difficulties or of being in a mental health crisis.
If you are already using formal Stoic practices, or you have engaged in another Stoic training programme (e.g. Stoic Week) you will not be eligible for the study.
You will be entered into a prize draw to win a £100 amazon voucher.
If you are interested in this opportunity and eligible based on the above criteria, please email [email protected] and we will send you a link to the information sheet for the study.
Alternatively you can take a look at the Research Participant Information Sheet.
The deadline to apply is 5pm on the 30th of November 2024.
Please note that the McPin Foundation regularly promotes opportunities on behalf of other institutions; we are not responsible for the continuation or contents of further correspondence with any project partners where we are not listed as the project main point of contact.