Jacobi Christopher J, Varga Peter J, Vaidyanathan Brandon
Department of Sociology, Nuffield College, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
Department of Experimental Psychology, Christ Church, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
Front Psychol. 2022 Aug 9;13:923940. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.923940. eCollection 2022.
In response to the mental health crisis in science, and amid concerns about the detrimental effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on scientists, this study seeks to identify the role of a heretofore under-researched factor for flourishing and eudaimonia: aesthetic experiences in scientific work. The main research question that this study addresses is: To what extent is the frequency of encountering aesthetics in terms of beauty, awe, and wonder in scientific work associated with greater well-being among scientists? Based on a large-scale ( = 3,061) and representative international survey of scientists (biologists and physicists) in four countries (India, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States), this study employs sets of nested regressions to model the associations of aesthetic experiences with flourishing while controlling for demographic factors and negative workplace and life circumstances such as burnout, job/publication pressure, mistreatment, COVID-19 impacts, other stressful life events, serious psychological distress, and chronic health conditions. The results show that the frequency of aesthetic experiences in scientific work in the disciplines of biology and physics has a very large and statistically significant association with flourishing and eudaimonia that remains robust even when controlling for demographic factors and negative workplace and life circumstances, including COVID-19 impacts. Aesthetic experiences in scientific work are even as strongly associated with flourishing as the presence of serious psychological distress and are most strongly associated with the flourishing domain of meaning in life, thus pointing to a link with eudaimonic well-being. In line with neurophysiological evidence and positive psychological models of flow, self-transcendence, and intrinsic motivation, aesthetics are a key source of flourishing for scientists in the disciplines of biology and physics. While future research needs to test the causal mechanism, the strength of the findings could encourage leaders of scientific labs and research organizations generally to remove obstacles to experiencing the aesthetic dimensions of science. Fostering cultures in which the aesthetic experiences that are intrinsic to scientific practice are fully appreciated might potentially protect or boost flourishing by reducing the impacts of burnout, job/publication pressure, and mistreatment-related experiences in science.
针对科学界的心理健康危机，以及人们对新冠疫情对科学家的不利影响的担忧，本研究旨在确定一个迄今为止研究不足的促进蓬勃发展和实现幸福安康的因素的作用：科学工作中的审美体验。本研究要解决的主要研究问题是：在科学工作中遇到美、敬畏和惊奇等审美体验的频率在多大程度上与科学家更高的幸福感相关？基于对四个国家（印度、意大利、英国和美国）的科学家（生物学家和物理学家）进行的大规模（n = 3,061）且具有代表性的国际调查，本研究采用多组嵌套回归来建立审美体验与蓬勃发展之间的关联模型，同时控制人口统计学因素以及负面的工作场所和生活状况，如职业倦怠、工作/发表压力、虐待、新冠疫情影响、其他压力性生活事件、严重心理困扰和慢性健康状况。结果表明，生物学和物理学学科中科学工作的审美体验频率与蓬勃发展和幸福安康有着非常大且具有统计学意义的关联，即使在控制人口统计学因素以及包括新冠疫情影响在内的负面工作场所和生活状况时，这种关联依然稳健。科学工作中的审美体验与蓬勃发展的关联程度甚至与严重心理困扰的存在一样强烈，并且与生活意义这一蓬勃发展领域的关联最为紧密，从而表明与幸福安康的福祉存在联系。与神经生理学证据以及心流、自我超越和内在动机方面的积极心理学模型一致，审美是生物学和物理学学科中科学家蓬勃发展的关键来源。虽然未来的研究需要检验因果机制，但这些发现的力度可能会普遍鼓励科学实验室和研究组织的领导者消除体验科学审美维度的障碍。培育充分欣赏科学实践中固有审美体验的文化，可能会通过减少职业倦怠、工作/发表压力以及科学中与虐待相关经历的影响，来潜在地保护或促进蓬勃发展。
