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• Advances in technology have enabled curious individuals to easily collect, analyze, and interpret quantifiable data on their everyday experiences.  These individuals then use this data to make positive changes in their lifestyles. This self-tracking movement is known as the “Quantified Self,” and embraces the idea of self-knowledge through numbers.

• In study 1, using data collected by survey, active participants of the Quantified Self movement demonstrated higher levels of personal growth initiative, curiosity, meaning in life, general self-efficacy, creative self-efficacy, reflection, and subjective happiness than the comparison group. Curiosity, creative self-efficacy, and gender predict active participation in Quantified Self.

• In study 2, subjects participated in a week-long mobile-based experience sampling method study and were pinged six times a day and asked to input data on their experiences. At the end of the study, subjects were assessed via survey, and those higher on creative self-efficacy and metacognitive awareness, and who also perceived the mobile-based technology as user-friendly, reported increases in self-awareness, self-knowledge, curiosity, and intentions to make behavioral changes.

• Based on these findings, it is proposed that a coaching intervention to build self-experimentation capacity may lead to higher levels of optimal functioning, decision-making, and well-being. This type of “quantified” coaching intervention may be most appropriate for clients who demonstrate higher levels of creative self-efficacy, curiosity, and metacognitive awareness.

Abstract & Overview

Self-Experimentation & the Quantified Self

Study 1: Potential Benefits of SE & QS

Conclusion• Web applications, apps on smart phones, and

gadgets have progressed to the point where data collection, exploration, and interpretation can be done with the click of the button, and in those in the organizational context are already potentially equipped with these devices.

• Those who engage in “quantified coaching” and self-experimentation capacity building may reap benefits in terms of well-being and optimal functioning.

• Those higher in curiosity, creative self-efficacy, and regulation of cognition may be most likely to benefit from and sustain the proposed actions.

References

ContactJeff Fajans – jeffrey.fajans@cgu.edu , 214-766-3908Sam Spurlin – samuel.spurlin@cgu.edu, 248-840-6784QuantifiedCoaches.com

• Long-term self-experimentation (SE) as a method for generating ideas and solving ambiguous problems (Roberts, 2004), enhancing memory, improving critical thinking, and making more informed decisions. (Cowley, Lindgren, & Langdon, 2006), and examining effects of treatments and interventions (Weisse, 2012).

• In business, quantitative data is often the gold standard of truth and the basis for organizational initiatives. Why not so when it comes down to the individual?

• Quantified Self (QS): “Self-Knowledge Through Numbers”

• Originated in San Francisco when founders Gary Wolf and Kevin Kelly noticed extreme forms of self-tracking.

-Now consists of 105 meetups in 83 cities within 30 countries. -Major hub is online community at QuantifiedSelf.com.

1. They have a specific goal.2. They are curious. 3. They believe personal data is an

investment that will pay off in the future.

Participants & Procedure: A sample of graduate students and working professionals (N = 47, 20 women, 26 men, 1 declined to respond, Mage = 29.8 years, age range: 18-63) participated in a 1 week mobile-based experience sampling method study where they were pinged 6 pings a day to fill out a short survey. Each night, subjects rated on a 5 point Likert scale, “I felt creative today” as a proxy for a more state-like creative self-efficacy. At the end of week, subjects completed a different survey to assess their overall experience with the technology and the study, as well as their personality and trait-like characteristics. Subjects initially participated solely to provide data for class research project with no intentions of using the mobile-based technology for development.

Research Question: What type of people (if any) will see mobile-based ESM as an opportunity to personally develop?

Measures - End of Week Survey:• Usability of Technology (Brooke, 1996) (α = .87)

• Creative Self-Efficacy (Tierney & Farmer, 2002) (α = .73)

• Opportunity for Development (α = .87) (self-awareness, self-knowledge, curiosity, intention to make behavioral change)

• Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (regulation of cognition dimension- abridged: information management, monitoring of goals, planning)

Findings • On average very slightly experienced an opportunity

for development(M = 4.57, SD =1.24, min = 1.00, max = 6.75

• Controlling for age and sex, usability (b =.744, t = 4.04, p < .001) and creative day (b =.854, t = 4.28, p < .001) best predicted opportunity for development.

• Creative self-efficacy, monitoring, and information management significantly moderate the relationship between usability and opportunity for development.

• *See Handout for References• Curiosity (p < .001, Wald = 11.83, B =1.09) and creative

self-efficacy (p = .034, Wald = 2.811, B = .610) predicted active participation in the Quantified Self above and beyond age, gender, education level, and mobile phone type.

• The odds of a male being active in QS is 2.32 times greater than for a female.

Participants & Procedure: A sample of active participants in the Quantified Self (N = 74, 19 women, 55 men, Mage = 38.70 years, age range: 21-68) and a comparison group of non-participants (N = 138, 70 women, 68 men, Mage = 38.72 years, age range: 18-71) were recruited to take an online survey.

Why People Engage in QS and Self-Track

Who is Likely to Engage in the SE Process Long-Term?

Study 2: Will People Benefit from Self-Tracking with No Intended Goal? And Who?

Jeff Fajans, Sam Spurlin

Self-Experimentation and the Quantified Self: New Avenues for Positive Psychology-Based Coaching

Measures: • Personal Growth Initiative Scale (PGIS; Robitschek, 1999)

(α = .90)

• Curiosity and Exploration Inventory (CEI-II; Kashdan et al. 2004) (α = .92)

• Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI –knowledge of cognition dimension; Schraw & Dennison, 1994) (α = .82)

• Self-Regulation of Learning Self-Report Scale (planning (α = .92), self-monitoring (α = .83) , self-evaluation (α = .92) , reflection (α = .83), self-efficacy (α = .83) ; Toering et al., 2012)

• Creative Self-Efficacy (Beghetto, 2006) (α = .86)

• Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ, Steger et al., 2006) (α = .92, .94)

• Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS, Lyubormirsky ,et al. 2005) (α = .92)

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QS Non-QS

PGIS* CEI-II***

MLQ-Presence***

MLQ-Search*

SHS*** Creative Self-Efficacy***

Self-Efficacy**

Reflection**

* p < .05** p < .01*** p < .001

1. Needs Assessment: Where is the potential for growth? What questions does the client have? What improvements need to be made?

2. Study Design: What tools will be used? What data collection method will be used? How long will data be collected?

3. Data Collection Training: What threats to validity exist? How can you ensure the highest quality data possible?

4. Data Collection5. Data Analysis: To what extent does the

data need to be cleaned? What statistical tests should be run?

6. Interpretation: What does the data mean? What conclusions can be drawn from the data?

7. Coaching Recommendation/Intervention: What changes in behavior can be suggested? What intervention can be brought to bear on the issues raised by the data?

8. Repeat as Necessary: Make modifications to behavior and repeat steps to ensure improvement.

Potential Coaching Application

Possible Explanations

1. Personal Development as a never-ending, meaningful pursuit.

2. 40% of variance in happiness from deliberate activity (Lyubomirsky et al., 2005)

3. Process Use (Patton, 1997) – individual changes in thinking and behavior that occur as a result of the learning that occurs during the process.

4. Upward spirals of Transformational Learning (Preskill & Torres, 2000)

Who is Developmentally Ready? (Avolio & Hannah, 2009)

• Those who are confident in their abilities to engage in creative processes and feel as if they are acting creatively, those who focus on the significance and meaning of new information, and those who reflect on their progress towards meeting personal goals are all more likely to recognize mobile-based ESM and self-tracking as a unique opportunity for development.

Creative Self- Efficacy Monitoring Goals Info Management

Figure 1: Individual Differences: QS vs Non-QS