Valuing and adapting appreciative inquiry to enhance well-being using a neuropsychotherapeutic framework

• Main Author: Dirk J. Geldenhuys
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: AOSIS 2020-12-01
• Series: SA Journal of Industrial Psychology
• Subjects: appreciative inquiry; memory systems; neural networks; neuropsychotherapy; well-being; interventions; organisations.
• Online Access: https://sajip.co.za/index.php/sajip/article/view/1823
• ISSN: 0258-5200; 2071-0763

Orientation: Considering the impact of the unprecedented worldwide changes on employee well-being; well-being will increasingly become a competitive edge for organisations. The focus of this study was on appreciative inquiry (AI) as intervention for well-being; to hypothesise why and under what circumstances AI could be effective, and what can be performed to enhance its effectiveness, especially in respect of improving the well-being of employees. Research purpose: The purpose of this study was to valuate and refine AI as an intervention aimed at facilitating well-being in the workplace, using a neuropsychotherapeutic approach as framework. Motivation for the study: Appreciative inquiry is well known in the management and organisational sciences as an approach and a method to facilitate change. Despite the importance of well-being for organisations, in the academic literature, reporting on the use of AI as an intervention to facilitate well-being remains largely limited. Furthermore, no evidence of a similar study using a neuropsychoterapeutic framework could be found in the English literature. Research approach/design and method: This was a conceptual analysis with theory adaption as an approach. Appreciative inquiry was chosen as a domain theory and neuropsychotherapy as a method theory. Firstly, AI was discussed, after which the focus fell on neuropsychotherapy with the focus on well-being. Neuropsychotherapy was then used to evaluate and refine AI as an intervention directed at well-being. Main findings: It was found that neuropsychotherapy served as a valuable method theory to refine AI for enhancing well-being. Practical/managerial implications: Appreciative inquiry in its more traditional form can be used to facilitate employee well-being in general but will probably be less effective in changing hard-wired neural circuits for the better. For employees who experience high levels of stress, a refinement of AI is needed, in line with neuropsychotherapy. Contribution/value add: This study contributed to the literature on well-being interventions.