The Relationship Between Body, Mind, and Social Characteristics in a Sample of a Training Program for Developing Social and Personal Resources: A Network Analysis

Christoph Janka (), Maike Höcker and Thomas E. Dorner
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Christoph Janka: Center for Public Health, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Kinderspitalgasse 15/1, 1090 Vienna, Austria
Maike Höcker: Faculty of Medicine, University of Duisburg-Essen, Hufelandstraße 55, 45147 Essen, Germany
Thomas E. Dorner: Center for Public Health, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Kinderspitalgasse 15/1, 1090 Vienna, Austria

IJERPH, 2024, vol. 21, issue 12, 1-21

Abstract: In this cross-sectional study, the interactions between demographic characteristics and the body, mind, and social dimensions among participants of a holistic training program for social and personal development were examined and compared to a control group. The sample involved 223 adults from Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, with 80 (37.2%) participants in the training group already having finished the training. To explore the variable relationships and compare group structures, advanced network analyses and a network comparison test were applied. The network analysis identified the training as a central variable, being linked to aspirations for societal impact and personal growth (0.31), aspirations for the pursuit of fame and wealth (0.29), transcendence (0.19), the desire to improve the quality of relationships (0.19), aspirations for personal wellbeing and relationships (0.15), and the presence of social resources (0.13). The group comparison revealed that the control group primarily connected through the “Sense of Coherence—Meaning in Life” axis, whereas the training group showed more complex linkages involving wellbeing, life satisfaction, meaning in life, and transcendence, underlining the training program’s positive effect on personal growth, societal impact aspirations, and transcendence. Overall, the network comparison test revealed significant differences in network structure and overall connectivity between the training and the control group.

Keywords: network analysis; network comparison test; training; personal growth; transcendence; wellbeing; life satisfaction; sense of coherence; social relationships; meaning in life (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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