Kelly McGonigal

McGonigal, who is the identical twin of game designer Jane McGonigal, was brought up in New Jersey by public school teacher parents who emphasized intellectual attainment.ELLE Magazine, June 22, 2011 [http://www.elle.com/pop-culture/reviews/super-girl-2 Super girl] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140618192352/http://www.elle.com/pop-culture/reviews/super-girl-2 |date=2014-06-18 }} Although she is now grateful for their protectiveness, McGonigal says it seemed like "lockdown" at the time, describing her upbringing as "both good and stressful".

She received a B.A. in psychology and a B.S. in mass communication at Boston University, and her Ph.D. at Stanford University, where she is a lecturer in psychology and teaches a public course on willpower.{{Cite web|url=http://kellymcgonigal.com/about-kelly-mcgonigal/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140416191747/http://kellymcgonigal.com/about-kelly-mcgonigal/|url-status=dead|title=Kelly McGonigal's website About|archive-date=April 16, 2014}}

A practitioner of meditation, McGonigal was the chief editor of peer-reviewed journal the International Journal of Yoga Therapy from 2005 to 2012 and advocated yoga and similar mindfulness practices as a way to re-charge and direct attention and mental resources so as to achieve desired outcomes. The rationale was based on studies on the effect of meditation on the brain, and the Ego depletion model, also called the 'strength' theory of self-control, proposed by a team led by Roy Baumeister. McGonigal's simple summary of the 'strength' theory of self-control: "Self-control is like a muscle. When used, it gets tired".Watson, D.L., Self-Directed Behavior: Self-Modification for Personal Adjustment, 10th ed. (2013) Cengage Learning, page 4 As a writer and researcher on self-control, McGonigal has frequently been cited for her views on how willpower can be built up and directed.New York Times, January 6, 2012, [https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/nyregion/at-candle-79-an-organic-vegan-book-party.html?_r=0 At the Table | Candle 79, You Say You Made a Resolution]washingtonpost.com live Q and A, July 24, 2007, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2007/07/23/DI2007072300775.html Debt and Stress, Kelly McGonigal][http://msbusiness.com/businessblog/2013/09/04/biz-video-kelly-mcgonigal-make-stress-friend/ Mississippi Business Journal blog] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402153558/http://msbusiness.com/businessblog/2013/09/04/biz-video-kelly-mcgonigal-make-stress-friend/ |date=2015-04-02 }} September 4, 2013Molbray. Scot, Huffington Post, 10/12/13 [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cooking-light/cooking-light-weight-loss-challenge_b_4070741.html Who is thin and why]Mundahl, Steven, The Alchemy of Authentic Leadership (2013) Balboa Press, page 42NBC Today show [http://www.nbc.com/news-sports/today-show/2012/01/willpower-is-key-to-keep-new-year-resolutions/ 'Willpower' is key to keep New Year resolutions] Having emphasized the role of meditation practices for fighting stress to enable better functioning in challenging circumstances, McGonigal altered her standpoint somewhat in 2013, and now emphasizes the attitude taken to stress as the crucial factor.Huff post Lifestyle, Jan Bruce, 09/30/2013 [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mequilibrium/stress-is-good_b_3998259.html Stress is good]

McGonigal defines willpower as "the ability to do what you really want to do when part of you really doesn't want to do it", and says that humans experience conflicts between impulse and self-control in personal and social contexts, giving examples such as: craving for sweet foods, the urge to be sarcastic or complaining, and the desire to procrastinate.{{cite book|title=Maximum Willpower: How to master the new science of self-control|last=McGonigal |first=Kelly|publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-0230761551|year=2012|pages=288}}{{rp|14}} Humans have evolved adaptations to control their instincts and successfully resist impulsive drives, because living in groups requires self-control and this—McGonigal says—means taking the harder option.{{rp|10–11}} According to McGonigal, willpower failure or success can spread through a group, because humans tend to mirror the behavior of those they are socially connected with.{{rp|189}}

The part of the self that enables us to act in a way that is consistent with our long-term goals is based in the prefrontal cortex, and McGonigal advocates body-mind practices that she says prioritize the function of the prefrontal cortex, rather than parts of the brain that are orientated toward instant responses, which is the brain's default setting when under stress.{{rp|34}}Revive Your New Year's Resolutions. Parade Magazine February 19, 2012

According to McGonigal, the practice of meditation is an effective way to establish the primacy of the prefrontal cortex, thus enabling a choice to do the harder thing, when that is required for attaining a long-term goal.{{rp|24}} McGonigal believes exercising self-control can help build up willpower in the same way as, over time, physical exercising can increase capacity to exercise. She says: "If you do it with awareness and intention, it can make you stronger. The strength develops over time, even if you feel temporarily weaker. But I think this only works when you have this mindset, and feel like you are consciously choosing to "use" your willpower. If you feel like you are being drained by everything you "have" to do (or not do), that lack of autonomy is even more stressful than exercising self-control."Kelly McGonigal's comment on [http://kellymcgonigal.com/willpowerinstinct/ The Willpower Instinct] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140416191750/http://kellymcgonigal.com/willpowerinstinct/ |date=2014-04-16 }} The promise of happiness from cravings often misleads in McGonigal's view, and she gives techniques of mindfully focusing attention on the actual experience when indulging a craving or temptation, so as to compare it with the expectation of reward that preceded it.{{rp|128–129}}

One use of willpower that McGonigal sees as counterproductive is thought suppression or trying not think about temptations such as cravings. McGonigal believes thoughts become more intrusive through thought suppression, and it is best to simply register that an unwanted thought has occurred without believing in it or acting on it.{{rp|234}} Energy to pursue activities is less scarce than to resisting temptation, says McGonigal, suggesting that people give their brains healthy "wants" such as vegetables or a walk after lunch, so that weight loss becomes a by-product of choice.Los Angeles Times, April 05, 2014, Lily Dayton, [https://web.archive.org/web/20140414052534/http://articles.latimes.com/2014/apr/05/health/la-he-willpower-20140405 Sprinkling of willpower]

Learning to be a friend and mentor to ourselves rather than equating self-control with self-criticism is the attitude that she advocates.{{rp|151}}{{Cite web|url=http://kellymcgonigal.com/willpowerinstinct/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140416191750/http://kellymcgonigal.com/willpowerinstinct/|url-status=dead|title=Kelly McGonigal website: The Willpower Instinct|archive-date=April 16, 2014}}

In a talk given at TEDGlobal 2013 that has more than 30 million online views on the TED website, McGonigal said she had re-evaluated her ideas about stress in the light of new research on how the beliefs held about stress, such as thinking of stress as bad, can affect health. Citing a study suggesting that those who believe stress is bad for them suffer an adverse effect on their life expectancy, she now emphasizes that choosing to view one's stress response as helpful creates the "biology of courage", while connecting with others under stress can create resilience.June 11, 2013, TED Blog, [http://blog.ted.com/2013/06/11/the-upside-of-stress-kelly-mcgonigal-at-tedglobal-2013/ The upside of stress: Kelly McGonigal at TEDGlobal 2013]Kristen Shorten, news.com.ua, October 2, 2013, [http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/killer-or-saviour-why-everything-we-think-about-stress-is-wrong/story-fneuz9ev-1226731533798 Killer or saviour? Why everything we think about stress is wrong] According to McGonigal, "[t]he old understanding of stress as an unhelpful relic of our animal instincts is being replaced by the understanding that stress actually makes us socially smart – it's what allows us to be fully human."{{Cite web|url=http://conferences.ted.com/TEDGlobal2013/program/speakers.php|title=TEDGlobal 2013, Speakers|access-date=2014-04-15|archive-date=2013-12-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131212071307/http://conferences.ted.com/TEDGlobal2013/program/speakers.php|url-status=dead}} The thesis behind the TED talk and book have subsequently been found by some as possibly flawed.{{Cite web |title=MIND Reviews "The Upside of Stress" - Scientific American |website=Scientific American |date=July 2015 |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/mind-reviews-the-upside-of-stress/}}

• Yoga for Pain Relief: Simple Practices to Calm Your Mind and Heal Your Chronic Pain (2009, {{ISBN|978-1572246898}})
• The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It (2012, {{ISBN|978-1583335086}})
• The Neuroscience of Change: A Compassion-Based Program for Personal Transformation (2012, {{ISBN|978-1604077902}})
• The Upside of Stress: Why Stress Is Good for You, and How to Get Good at It (2015, {{ISBN|978-1583335611}})
• The Joy of Movement: How Exercise Helps Us Find Happiness, Hope, Connection, and Courage (2019, {{ISBN| 9780525534105}})

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• [http://kellymcgonigal.com/ Where Science and Compassion Meet] Website of Kelly McGonigal.
• [https://www.ted.com/talks/kelly_mcgonigal_how_to_make_stress_your_friend How to make stress your friend] Kelly McGonigal talk at TEDGlobal 2013
• [https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/mind-reviews-the-upside-of-stress/ MIND Reviews "The Upside of Stress" - Scientific American] MIND Reviews "The Upside of Stress" (Scientific American).

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Category:Stanford University faculty

Category:1977 births

Category:Living people

Category:21st-century American psychologists

Category:Positive psychologists

Category:American twins

Category:Identical twins