Baljinder K Sahdra
Biographic Data
| ID | 770473 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Baljinder K Sahdra |
| GIVEN NAMES | Baljinder K |
| FAMILY NAME | Sahdra |
| SIGNATURE | SAHDRA B K |
| AFFILIATIONS | Australian Catholic University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-5064-7783 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 38 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 78 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 38 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2007 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Time series machine learning for idionomic process-based treatment planning: A tutorial on tsBoruta
Heterogeneity in the links of psychological (in)flexibility subprocesses and well-being: Idionomic insights from an experience sampling study
Psychological flexibility reliably predicts well-being, but the strength, nature and sequence of relationships between components of these constructs are likely to considerably vary between individuals. This study used emerging idionomic methods to examine within-person links between psychological flexibility/inflexibility sub-processes and hedonic well-being using ecological momentary assessment data ( n = 167; 76% female college students; M age…
Beyond the average: Idionomic evidence of individual-specific variability in the psychological flexibility-mood relationship
Past research has relied on normative analyses for establishing the positive relationship between psychological flexibility (PF) process and well-being. These analyses, however, assume that aggregate-level effects (i.e., this positive relationship) also apply to most individuals, limiting our ability to explore the dynamic and complex nature of PF processes that interact with individual factors. Idionomic analyses, which use idiographic effects a…
One Size Does Not Make All Happy: Idionomic Links Between Striving for Positive States and Happiness in Experience Sampling
Striving for happiness can sometimes increase happiness but can also backfire and reduce it. To explore this paradox, we used idionomic methods—balancing individual-level analysis with group-level generalization—to examine how striving for happiness influences momentary happiness. Our data included ecological momentary assessment (EMA) surveys ( n = 2251) from 167 participants (75.6% female; M age = 23.96, SD = 8.7). Each individual’s data were f…
From experiential attachment to nonattachment: A theory-informed review of harmful and healthy pursuits of comfort, approval, competence, status, and control
Distinct pathways to well-being: Exploring valued action and mood among stoics and non-stoics
To examine the relationship between valued action and mood, this study analyzed Ecological Momentary Assessment data from a transdiagnostic in- and out-patient sample (EMA; N = 134; 62 female, 72 male; 62 inpatient, 72 outpatient; M age = 36.6 years, SD = 11.6). Individual time series models were constructed to capture each participant's unique relationship between valued action and mood. The models were then meta-analyzed, revealing substantial …
Experience-sampling methods for self-compassion research: A meta-analysis
Self-compassion is a sensitivity to attend to one’s own suffering with a desire to take helpful action to alleviate it. Applying experience sampling methods (ESM) to self-compassion research may provide insight to the dynamic and context-specific impacts of self-compassion on psychological well-being and distress. This meta-analysis provides a synthesis of the recent growth in self-compassion ESM studies. We compare the methodologies in ESM studi…
An Idionomic Network Analysis of Trichotillomania Treatment Processes: Gathering Group-Level and Individual-Level Insights to Inform a Personalized Therapeutic Framework
The Equality Paradox: Gender Equality Intensifies Male Advantages in Adolescent Subjective Well-Being
Individuals’ subjective well-being (SWB) is an important marker of development and social progress. As psychological health issues often begin during adolescence, understanding the factors that enhance SWB among adolescents is critical to devising preventive interventions. However, little is known about how institutional contexts contribute to adolescent SWB. Using Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015 and 2018 data from 78 c…
Does Mindfulness Improve Intergroup Bias, Internalized Bias, and Anti-Bias Outcomes: A Meta-Analysis of the Evidence and Agenda for Future Research
Whereas mindfulness has been shown to enhance personal well-being, studies suggest it may also benefit intergroup dynamics. Using an integrative conceptual model, this meta-analysis examined associations between mindfulness and (a) different manifestations of bias (implicit/explicit attitudes, affect, behavior) directed toward (b) different bias targets (outgroup or ingroup, e.g., internalized bias), by (c) intergroup orientation (toward bias or …
Testing the applicability of idionomic statistics in longitudinal studies: The example of ‘doing what matters’
This study evaluated idionomic methods for identifying within-person links between therapeutically relevant processes and outcomes, using an ecological momentary assessment dataset of valued action and hedonic well-being (participants (n) = 425; 71.76% female; age = M(SD) = 22.20 (6.85); sampling design: 3–4 prompts per day; total measurements (n) = 6456). We compared the idionomic approach, integrating idiographic and nomothetic insights, with t…
The compassion connection: Experience sampling insights into romantic attraction
Our study examines the relationship between self-compassion, other-compassion, and romantic attraction in couples, and questions the psychological homogeneity assumption—the idea that psychological responses are uniform across individuals and couples. We analyzed data from 161 participants in 84 couples, with an average age 32 (SD = 12.02), using smartphones for event sampling six times daily over a week to measure self-compassion, other-compassi…
The roles of social–emotional skills in students’ academic and life success: A multi-informant and multicohort perspective
41); (b) inclusion of multi-informant ratings substantially enhanced the ability of social-emotional skills in predicting outcome variables, with parent- and self-rated skills playing important, unique roles; (c) by modeling skills at the facet level rather than at the domain level, we identified the key skills for different outcomes and found significant variation in facets' predictive utility even within the same domain; and (d) although the ol…
Understanding and Improving Emotion Regulation: Lessons from Psychological Science and the Humanities
Most psychology researchers define emotion regulation as manipulating the quality, duration, of intensity of emotions. This definition often assumes that the goal of life is to maximize positive emotions and minimize negative ones (hedonism). To understand the limitations of this definition, and the possibility of other definitions of emotion regulation, one must look to the humanities. Philosophy and research can be used to discuss the paradox o…
Evolving an idionomic approach to processes of change: Towards a unified personalized science of human improvement
High school students’ tenacity and flexibility in goal pursuit linked to life satisfaction and achievement on competencies tests
Academic self-concept formation and peer-group contagion: Development of the big-fish-little-pond effect in primary-school classrooms and peer groups
How do peer groups influence academic self-concept formation? We evaluate developmental issues in the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE; negative effects of class-average achievement on math self-concept [MSC]) and its generalizability to peer-group-average achievement (1,017 primary-school students tested in Years 4 and 6, 46 classes, 130 peer groups). The effects of peer-group-average and class-average achievement on MSC were both negative whe…
Developing an item pool to assess processes of change in psychological interventions: The Process-Based Assessment Tool (PBAT)
The role of achievement, gender, SES, location and policy in explaining the Indigenous gap in high‐school completion
Internationally, there is a gap in high‐school completion rates for Indigenous and non‐Indigenous students. In Australia, gap estimates are commonly based on lag indicators, precluding examination of underlying mechanisms. Using two longitudinal representative samples of Australian youth, we explored differences in high‐school completion between Australian Indigenous and non‐Indigenous rates, and whether the gap varies for students of similar aca…
A configural approach to aspirations: The social breadth of aspiration profiles predicts well-being over and above the intrinsic and extrinsic aspirations that comprise the profiles
), with Profile 3 reliably experiencing the highest well-being. To demonstrate the incremental value of our approach to more traditional variable-centered methods, we used profile membership to predict well-being while controlling for the aspirations that comprise the profiles. Even in these conservative tests, profile membership explained additional variance in well-being. However, the real-life significance of the size of the incremental value …
The consequences of compulsion: A 4-year longitudinal study of compulsive internet use and emotion regulation difficulties
Little is known about how compulsive Internet use (CIU) relates developmentally to different aspects of emotion regulation. Do young people engage in CIU because they have difficulty regulating emotions (the "consequence" model), does CIU lead to emotion regulation problems (the "antecedent" model), or are there reciprocal influences? We examined the longitudinal relations between CIU and 6 facets of difficulties in emotion regulation. Adolescent…
Compulsive internet use and the development of self‐esteem and hope: A four‐year longitudinal study
OBJECTIVE: Compulsive internet use (CIU) has been linked to decrements in mental health and well-being. However, relatively little is known about how CIU relates to evaluations of the self, and in particular, whether CIU is antecedent to or is a consequence of negative evaluations of one's social worth (self-esteem) and general efficacy (hope). To examine this, we explored the longitudinal relations between CIU and the development of self-esteem …
Does your mindfulness benefit others? A systematic review and meta‐analysis of the link between mindfulness and prosocial behaviour
Mindfulness‐based meditation practices have received substantial scientific attention in recent years. Mindfulness has been shown to bring many psychological benefits to the individual, but much less is known about whether these benefits extend to others. This meta‐analysis reviewed the link between mindfulness – as both a personality variable and an intervention – and prosocial behaviour. A literature search produced 31 eligible studies ( N = 17…
Discrimination as a frame-of-reference effect in overlapping friendship communities of ethnically diverse youth
We provide evidence for a frame-of-reference effect involving discrimination. Individuals' relative standing in their friendship communities with high group-level discrimination reliably predicted the individuals' well-being levels, regardless of ethnicity. The results highlight the importance of identifying overlapping friendship communities for understanding the dynamics of discrimination and well-being of ethnically diverse youth. (PsycINFO Da…
Is Self‐Compassion Selfish? The Development of Self‐Compassion, Empathy, and Prosocial Behavior in Adolescence
Both self-compassion and empathy have been theorized to promote prosociality in youth, but there is little longitudinal data examining this possibility. We assessed self-compassion, empathy, and peer-rated prosociality yearly, in a cohort of 2,078 youth across 17 schools (M age at T1 = 14.65 years; 49.2% female), as they progressed from Grade 9-12. We utilized multi-level modeling to predict prosocial behavior, nested within students, classes, an…
A longitudinal person-centered perspective on youth social support: Relations with psychological wellbeing
Past research suggests that perceived social support from parents, teachers, and peers are all positively associated with wellbeing during adolescence. However, little longitudinal research has examined the implications of distinctive combinations of social support for developing adolescents. To address this limitation, we measured multiple dimensions of social support, psychological ill-health, and wellbeing in a sample of 2034 Australian adoles…
The development of compulsive internet use and mental health: A four-year study of adolescence
Is compulsive Internet use (CIU) an antecedent to poor mental health, a consequence, or both? Study 1 used a longitudinal design to track the development of CIU and mental health in Grade 8 (N = 1030 males, 1038 females, Mage = 13.7), 9, 10, and 11. Study 2 extended Study 1 by examining the kinds of Internet behaviors most strongly associated with CIU within males and females. Structural equation modeling revealed that CIU predicted the developme…
Security enhancement, self-esteem threat, and mental depletion affect provision of a safe haven and secure base to a romantic partner
We recently showed that security priming facilitates safe haven support and overrides the detrimental effects of mental depletion (Mikulincer, Shaver, Sahdra, & Bar-On, 2013, Can security-enhancing interventions overcome psychological barriers to responsiveness in couple relationships? Attachment & Human Development, 15, 246-260.). Here, we extend these findings by examining another contextual barrier to caregiving (self-worth threat) and the eff…
Contextual Positive Psychology: Policy Recommendations for Implementing Positive Psychology into Schools
There has been a rapid growth in positive psychology, a research and intervention approach that focuses on promoting optimal functioning and well-being. Positive psychology interventions are now making their way into classrooms all over the world. However, positive psychology has been criticized for being decontextualized and coercive, and for putting an excessive emphasis on positive states, whilst failing to adequately consider negative experie…
The roles of social–emotional skills in students’ academic and life success: A multi-informant and multicohort perspective
41); (b) inclusion of multi-informant ratings substantially enhanced the ability of social-emotional skills in predicting outcome variables, with parent- and self-rated skills playing important, unique roles; (c) by modeling skills at the facet level rather than at the domain level, we identified the key skills for different outcomes and found significant variation in facets' predictive utility even within the same domain; and (d) although the ol…
Comparing Attachment Theory and Buddhist Psychology
We focus on some similarities and differences between attachment theory and Buddhist psychology. Both systems highlight the importance of giving and receiving love and of minimizing anxious clinging or avoidant aloofness and suppression of unwanted mental experiences. However, the two differ in their conception of security in adulthood. Attachment theory suggests that security is rooted in mental representations of a self that has been reliably l…
Is Self‐Compassion Selfish? The Development of Self‐Compassion, Empathy, and Prosocial Behavior in Adolescence
Both self-compassion and empathy have been theorized to promote prosociality in youth, but there is little longitudinal data examining this possibility. We assessed self-compassion, empathy, and peer-rated prosociality yearly, in a cohort of 2,078 youth across 17 schools (M age at T1 = 14.65 years; 49.2% female), as they progressed from Grade 9-12. We utilized multi-level modeling to predict prosocial behavior, nested within students, classes, an…
A configural approach to aspirations: The social breadth of aspiration profiles predicts well-being over and above the intrinsic and extrinsic aspirations that comprise the profiles
), with Profile 3 reliably experiencing the highest well-being. To demonstrate the incremental value of our approach to more traditional variable-centered methods, we used profile membership to predict well-being while controlling for the aspirations that comprise the profiles. Even in these conservative tests, profile membership explained additional variance in well-being. However, the real-life significance of the size of the incremental value …
The role of achievement, gender, SES, location and policy in explaining the Indigenous gap in high‐school completion
Internationally, there is a gap in high‐school completion rates for Indigenous and non‐Indigenous students. In Australia, gap estimates are commonly based on lag indicators, precluding examination of underlying mechanisms. Using two longitudinal representative samples of Australian youth, we explored differences in high‐school completion between Australian Indigenous and non‐Indigenous rates, and whether the gap varies for students of similar aca…
Discrimination as a frame-of-reference effect in overlapping friendship communities of ethnically diverse youth
We provide evidence for a frame-of-reference effect involving discrimination. Individuals' relative standing in their friendship communities with high group-level discrimination reliably predicted the individuals' well-being levels, regardless of ethnicity. The results highlight the importance of identifying overlapping friendship communities for understanding the dynamics of discrimination and well-being of ethnically diverse youth. (PsycINFO Da…
Group Identification and Historical Memory
Differences in ingroup identification can influence the accessibility of historical memories. In Study 1, the authors examined individual differences in identity; in Study 2 they experimentally manipulated identity. In Study 1, high identifiers recalled fewer incidents of ingroup violence and hatred than did low identifiers. High and low identifiers did not differ in their recall of ingroup suffering. In Study 2, participants in the high-identity…
A Scale to Measure Nonattachment: A Buddhist Complement to Western Research on Attachment and Adaptive Functioning
The Buddhist notion of "nonattachment" (release from mental fixations) is related to but distinguishable from the Western construct of attachment. Secure (or insecure) attachment is based on internal working models related to security (or insecurity), whereas nonattachment is based on insight into the constructed and impermanent nature of mental representations. Based on historical and contemporary Buddhist scholarship, we designed the Nonattachm…
Intensive Meditation Training Improves Perceptual Discrimination and Sustained Attention
The ability to focus one’s attention underlies success in many everyday tasks, but voluntary attention cannot be sustained for extended periods of time. In the laboratory, sustained-attention failure is manifest as a decline in perceptual sensitivity with increasing time on task, known as the vigilance decrement. We investigated improvements in sustained attention with training (~5 hr/day for 3 months), which consisted of meditation practice that…
Enhanced response inhibition during intensive meditation training predicts improvements in self-reported adaptive socioemotional functioning
We examined the impact of training-induced improvements in self-regulation, operationalized in terms of response inhibition, on longitudinal changes in self-reported adaptive socioemotional functioning. Data were collected from participants undergoing 3 months of intensive meditation training in an isolated retreat setting (Retreat 1) and a wait-list control group that later underwent identical training (Retreat 2). A 32-min response inhibition t…
Comparing Attachment Theory and Buddhist Psychology
We focus on some similarities and differences between attachment theory and Buddhist psychology. Both systems highlight the importance of giving and receiving love and of minimizing anxious clinging or avoidant aloofness and suppression of unwanted mental experiences. However, the two differ in their conception of security in adulthood. Attachment theory suggests that security is rooted in mental representations of a self that has been reliably l…
Psychological flexibility is not a single dimension: The distinctive flexibility profiles of underweight, overweight, and obese people
Security enhancement, self-esteem threat, and mental depletion affect provision of a safe haven and secure base to a romantic partner
We recently showed that security priming facilitates safe haven support and overrides the detrimental effects of mental depletion (Mikulincer, Shaver, Sahdra, & Bar-On, 2013, Can security-enhancing interventions overcome psychological barriers to responsiveness in couple relationships? Attachment & Human Development, 15, 246-260.). Here, we extend these findings by examining another contextual barrier to caregiving (self-worth threat) and the eff…
Intensive meditation training influences emotional responses to suffering
Meditation practices purportedly help people develop focused and sustained attention, cultivate feelings of compassionate concern for self and others, and strengthen motivation to help others who are in need. We examined the impact of 3 months of intensive meditative training on emotional responses to scenes of human suffering. Sixty participants were assigned randomly to either a 3-month intensive meditation retreat or a wait-list control group.…
The development of compulsive internet use and mental health: A four-year study of adolescence
Is compulsive Internet use (CIU) an antecedent to poor mental health, a consequence, or both? Study 1 used a longitudinal design to track the development of CIU and mental health in Grade 8 (N = 1030 males, 1038 females, Mage = 13.7), 9, 10, and 11. Study 2 extended Study 1 by examining the kinds of Internet behaviors most strongly associated with CIU within males and females. Structural equation modeling revealed that CIU predicted the developme…
Contextual Positive Psychology: Policy Recommendations for Implementing Positive Psychology into Schools
There has been a rapid growth in positive psychology, a research and intervention approach that focuses on promoting optimal functioning and well-being. Positive psychology interventions are now making their way into classrooms all over the world. However, positive psychology has been criticized for being decontextualized and coercive, and for putting an excessive emphasis on positive states, whilst failing to adequately consider negative experie…
When Empathy Matters: The Role of Sex and Empathy in Close Friendships
Based on prior theory and research (Ciarrochi & Heaven, 2009; Eagly & Wood, 1999), we hypothesized that the link between empathy and friendship would be moderated by sex: Girls will nominate empathic boys as friends, whereas boys will not tend to nominate empathic girls. We collected measures of empathy, friendship social support, and close friendship nominations in grade 10 across 1,970 students in 16 schools ( M age = 15.70, SD = .44; males = 9…
A longitudinal person-centered perspective on youth social support: Relations with psychological wellbeing
Past research suggests that perceived social support from parents, teachers, and peers are all positively associated with wellbeing during adolescence. However, little longitudinal research has examined the implications of distinctive combinations of social support for developing adolescents. To address this limitation, we measured multiple dimensions of social support, psychological ill-health, and wellbeing in a sample of 2034 Australian adoles…
A worthy self is a caring self: Examining the developmental relations between self‐esteem and self‐compassion in adolescents
OBJECTIVE: Self-compassion has been framed as a healthy alternative to self-esteem, as it is nonevaluative. However, rather than being alternatives, it may be that the two constructs develop in a mutually reinforcing way. The present study tested this possibility among adolescents. METHOD: A large adolescent sample (N = 2,809; 49.8% female) reported levels of trait self-esteem and self-compassion annually for 4 years. Autoregressive cross-lagged …
Compulsive internet use and the development of self‐esteem and hope: A four‐year longitudinal study
OBJECTIVE: Compulsive internet use (CIU) has been linked to decrements in mental health and well-being. However, relatively little is known about how CIU relates to evaluations of the self, and in particular, whether CIU is antecedent to or is a consequence of negative evaluations of one's social worth (self-esteem) and general efficacy (hope). To examine this, we explored the longitudinal relations between CIU and the development of self-esteem …
Does your mindfulness benefit others? A systematic review and meta‐analysis of the link between mindfulness and prosocial behaviour
Mindfulness‐based meditation practices have received substantial scientific attention in recent years. Mindfulness has been shown to bring many psychological benefits to the individual, but much less is known about whether these benefits extend to others. This meta‐analysis reviewed the link between mindfulness – as both a personality variable and an intervention – and prosocial behaviour. A literature search produced 31 eligible studies ( N = 17…
Discrimination as a frame-of-reference effect in overlapping friendship communities of ethnically diverse youth
We provide evidence for a frame-of-reference effect involving discrimination. Individuals' relative standing in their friendship communities with high group-level discrimination reliably predicted the individuals' well-being levels, regardless of ethnicity. The results highlight the importance of identifying overlapping friendship communities for understanding the dynamics of discrimination and well-being of ethnically diverse youth. (PsycINFO Da…
Is Self‐Compassion Selfish? The Development of Self‐Compassion, Empathy, and Prosocial Behavior in Adolescence
Both self-compassion and empathy have been theorized to promote prosociality in youth, but there is little longitudinal data examining this possibility. We assessed self-compassion, empathy, and peer-rated prosociality yearly, in a cohort of 2,078 youth across 17 schools (M age at T1 = 14.65 years; 49.2% female), as they progressed from Grade 9-12. We utilized multi-level modeling to predict prosocial behavior, nested within students, classes, an…
The consequences of compulsion: A 4-year longitudinal study of compulsive internet use and emotion regulation difficulties
Little is known about how compulsive Internet use (CIU) relates developmentally to different aspects of emotion regulation. Do young people engage in CIU because they have difficulty regulating emotions (the "consequence" model), does CIU lead to emotion regulation problems (the "antecedent" model), or are there reciprocal influences? We examined the longitudinal relations between CIU and 6 facets of difficulties in emotion regulation. Adolescent…
A configural approach to aspirations: The social breadth of aspiration profiles predicts well-being over and above the intrinsic and extrinsic aspirations that comprise the profiles
), with Profile 3 reliably experiencing the highest well-being. To demonstrate the incremental value of our approach to more traditional variable-centered methods, we used profile membership to predict well-being while controlling for the aspirations that comprise the profiles. Even in these conservative tests, profile membership explained additional variance in well-being. However, the real-life significance of the size of the incremental value …
Understanding and Improving Emotion Regulation: Lessons from Psychological Science and the Humanities
Most psychology researchers define emotion regulation as manipulating the quality, duration, of intensity of emotions. This definition often assumes that the goal of life is to maximize positive emotions and minimize negative ones (hedonism). To understand the limitations of this definition, and the possibility of other definitions of emotion regulation, one must look to the humanities. Philosophy and research can be used to discuss the paradox o…
Evolving an idionomic approach to processes of change: Towards a unified personalized science of human improvement
High school students’ tenacity and flexibility in goal pursuit linked to life satisfaction and achievement on competencies tests
Academic self-concept formation and peer-group contagion: Development of the big-fish-little-pond effect in primary-school classrooms and peer groups
How do peer groups influence academic self-concept formation? We evaluate developmental issues in the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE; negative effects of class-average achievement on math self-concept [MSC]) and its generalizability to peer-group-average achievement (1,017 primary-school students tested in Years 4 and 6, 46 classes, 130 peer groups). The effects of peer-group-average and class-average achievement on MSC were both negative whe…
Developing an item pool to assess processes of change in psychological interventions: The Process-Based Assessment Tool (PBAT)
The role of achievement, gender, SES, location and policy in explaining the Indigenous gap in high‐school completion
Internationally, there is a gap in high‐school completion rates for Indigenous and non‐Indigenous students. In Australia, gap estimates are commonly based on lag indicators, precluding examination of underlying mechanisms. Using two longitudinal representative samples of Australian youth, we explored differences in high‐school completion between Australian Indigenous and non‐Indigenous rates, and whether the gap varies for students of similar aca…
Psychology (31 works) · Social Psychology (26 works) · Developmental psychology (20 works) · Clinical Psychology (15 works) · Social Psychology (13 works) · Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions (11 works) · Clinical Psychology (10 works) · Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction (9 works) · Mental Health Research Topics (8 works) · Mindfulness (8 works)