Assistant Professor of Sociology Jaime Kucinskas recently served as one of two external reviewers for Rachel Lilley’s viva voce at Aberystwyth University in Wales.
Titled “Rethinking Government Capacities to Tackle Wicked Problems: Mind, Emotion, Bias and Decision-Making. An Experimental Trial using Mindfulness and Behavioural Economics,” the dissertation is an innovative action-based study examining the efficacy of a mindfulness and behavior economics-based intervention with top leaders in the Welsh government.
Kucinskas said that Lilley’s multi-method study shows how her intervention helped leaders to be more self-aware about the relational nature of much of their work and how their emotions and habits affect their work.
Lilley’s intervention also is being used in alignment with the Welsh government’s 2015 Well-being of Future Generations Act which mandates that all actions of Welsh Government must take into account sustainability, long-term thinking, people’s well-being, and community engagement.
