The science behind our work

Neuroscience of psychological safety

There are systems in our brain devoted to modelling what others are thinking and feeling.(Article)
There is a network in our brain that responds to everything we associate with our identity including our possessions, people we know and identify with, and our perceived status. Abraham, A. (2013). The world according to me: personal relevance and the medial prefrontal cortex. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 7, 341. (Article)
Language that evokes safety and security reduces threat response in the brain. Rowe, A. C., Gold, E. R., & Carnelley, K. B. (2020). The effectiveness of attachment security priming in improving positive affect and reducing negative affect: A systematic review. International journal of environmental research and public health , 17(3), 968. (Article)
Images of care and support reduces threat response in the brain. Norman, L., Lawrence, N., Iles, A., Benattayallah, A., & Karl, A. (2015). Attachment-security priming attenuates amygdala activation to social and linguistic threat. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 10(6), 832-839. (Article)

Labelling emotions reduces distress. Torre, J. B., & Lieberman, M. D. (2018). Putting feelings into words: Affect labeling as implicit emotion regulation. Emotion Review, 10(2), 116-124. (Article)
Having a more nuanced vocabulary of emotion words is associated with resilience. Tugade, M. M., Fredrickson, B. L., & Feldman Barrett, L. (2004). Psychological resilience and positive emotional granularity: Examining the benefits of positive emotions on coping and health. Journal of personality, 72(6), 1161-1190. (Article)
Processing negative emotions by reframing and meaning making promotes adaptive responses to distressing events. Gross, J. J. (2015). Emotion regulation: Current status and future prospects. Psychological inquiry, 26(1), 1-26. (Article)
Emotional wellbeing can be enhanced through deliberate practices. The neuroscience of positive emotions and affect: Implications for cultivating happiness and wellbeing Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews Alexander, R. et al., (2021). (Article)

Average accuracy in inferring what the other was thinking or feeling was 30% for friends and 20% for strangers. Stinson, L., & Ickes, W. (1992). Empathic accuracy in the interactions of male friends versus male strangers. Journal of personality and social psychology, 62(5), 787. 1992 May;62(5):787-97. (Article)
Average accuracy in inferring what the other was thinking or feeling in couples when discussing one of the most serious problems they were experiencing conflict over was 50%. Thomas, G., & Fletcher, G. J. (2003). Mind-reading accuracy in intimate relationships: assessing the roles of the relationship, the target, and the judge. Journal of personality and social psychology, 85(6), 1079. (Article)
Perspective seeking is better than perspective taking. Epley, N. (2014). Be Mindwise: Perspective Taking vs. Perspective Getting. (Article)

Neutral language reduces perceived blame and severity of deserved punishment. Fausey, C. M., & Boroditsky, L. (2010). Subtle linguistic cues influence perceived blame and financial liability. Psychonomic bulletin & review, 17(5), 644-650. (Article)
Fausey, Caitlin M., and Lera Boroditsky. (2011). "Who dunnit? Cross-linguistic differences in eye-witness memory." Psychonomic bulletin & review, 18(1), 150-157. (Article)
Rogers, S. L., Howieson, J., & Neame, C. (2018). I understand you feel that way, but I feel this way: The benefits of I-language and communicating perspective during conflict. PeerJ, 6, e4831. (Article)

86% of employees and executives cite the lack of effective collaboration and communication as the main causes for workplace failures. (Salesforce)
9 out of 10 managers avoid constructive feedback for fear of negative reactions from employees. (Leadership IQ)
98% of managers wish they had received more training to handle issues including performance management and conflict resolution. (Forbes)
Only 2 in 10 employees strongly agree that their performance is managed in a way that motivates them to do outstanding work. (Gallop)
2/3 of managers uncomfortable communicating with employees. (HBR)
57% of employees prefer corrective feedback to praise or recognition while 70% of managers don’t like giving corrective feedback. (HBR)
Without continued support 80% of managers revert to their old ways within 6 months of training. (Grovo)
61% of employees say they would like to learn how to manage workplace conversations with more confidence. (Chartered Management Institute)
Minorities in a workforce are even more likely to be discouraged by poorly delivered feedback. (Journal of Vocational Behavior)