Levin, M. E., Lillis, J., & Biglan, A. (2015). The Potential of Community-Wide Strategies for Promoting Psychological Flexibility. The Wiley Handbook of Contextual Behavioral Science, 483-495.
This chapter explores that there is enough evidence to justify efforts to increase the prevalence of psychological flexibility in populations and examines the impact of such increases on population well-being. It briefly describes ideas for increasing the prevalence of psychological flexibility and the research that could advance this goal. Empirical work on population-based acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) interventions could move forward in numerous ways. A contextual behavioral science (CBS) analysis highlights the importance of additional public health factors, including promoting and reinforcing positive intergroup behaviors as well as increasing psychological flexibility. The chapter shows how a CBS approach might target a prevalent, multifaceted societal issue through a combination of strategies seeking to prevent discriminatory behaviors and promote positive intergroup contact in the context of psychological flexibility processes including personal values, perspective-taking/empathy, and awareness, acceptance, and defusion from prejudiced reactions.