Mindsponge mechanism

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Mindsponge is a conceptual framework that helps explain how an individual’s mindset changes, adapts, or develops based on the information (or value) absorbing and ejecting processes. The term “mindsponge” derives from the metaphor that the mind is analogized to a sponge that squeezes out unsuitable values and absorbs new ones compatible with its core value.. Originally, the framework was used to study acculturation phenomena and the development of global mindset at individual and organizational levels by answering the question: “What is the determining mechanism of absorbing and ejecting cultural core values in a mindset?”. More specifically, it demonstrates a global mindset as a dynamic process of inducting and expelling socio-cultural values. Through this process, executives, managers, and corporations could replace inappropriate values with new values that help them adapt to multicultural and global settings , eventually improving their happiness at work .

Main components

The conceptual diagram of Mindsponge mechanism. Reproduced from Vuong and Napier

The conceptual diagram of the mindsponge framework consists of five components: 1) mindset, 2) comfort zone, 3) multi-filtering system, 4) cultural and ideological setting, and 5) cultural values . Such components and their connections are constructed by referring to prior prominent theories and models: self-affirmation theory, multi-filtering process, information processing model, inductive attitude, and model of acculturation.

The framework is constructed assuming that every person has a mindset, which is a non-empty set of core cultural values or beliefs that are central to individual identity. The mindset is demonstrated by the red nucleus located in the middle of the diagram. An individual uses the core values as benchmarks explicitly and implicitly, especially when they need judgment on the usefulness and appropriateness of emerging cultural values (or information) and when they need to make decisions and responses. This function of the mindset gives the individual a self-protection mechanism of their “self”, which is analogous to the self-affirmation theory. However, the core values can still be changed by attacks of emerging values and clashes with other core values.

The mindset is surrounded by a light blue circle, which is called the comfort zone. Values that are close and supportive to the mindset are constituting this zone. The comfort zone is a buffer playing two functions. First, the comfort zone protects the mindset from external shocks – for instance, cultural shocks. Second, the comfort zone helps filter and evaluate information regarding the appropriateness and usefulness of any emerging value.

When information or cultural values enter the comfort zone from the environment, they also enter the multi-filtering system. The 3D multiple filters inductive attitude and trust evaluators are two fundamental parts of the system. The 3D multiple filters play two roles: 1) integration and 2) differentiation. While integration synthesizes and incorporates information and value that are compatible with the core values, differentiation measures the difference between the emerging and existing values to assess the cost and benefit of accepting or rejecting the emerging values (or even replacing old core values with the new ones). The closer the new values get to the mindset, the more stringent evaluation they receive.

The blue arrows represent the inflow of the entering information or values, whereas the orange arrows indicate the outflow of inappropriate information or values. Both flows are driven by the 3D multi-filtering process and inductive attitude. Inductive attitude and the 3D multi-filter process facilitate trust-building exercises for comfort zone values. By reaching the critical mass, the emerging value is allowed to enter the core mindset by the trust evaluator. In reverse, a core value can lose its trust level then the evaluator forces it out of the nucleus. The trust evaluator, which can be understood as the cost-benefit judgment of the individual, plays the guarding role during the whole filtering process, at any place and any time.

Based on the information processing mechanism of the mindsponge, there can be two extremes. The first case is when an individual completely ignores the emerging values from the surrounding environment. This is because the 3D multi-filtering process does not work, and the individual’s “radar” is not turned on, making the individual not receptive to the information from the environment. Another reason lies in the cost of absorbing new values or information. In other words, the individual perceives incorporating new values or information into the mind to be too expensive, so the existing set of values is kept unchanged. The second extreme case is when the individual is so eager to change that they can easily replace their existing core values or beliefs with the new ones. This situation is attributable to the negligent trust evaluators, making the individual perceive the cost to change relatively low.

Applications

As a conceptual framework for information processing, the mindsponge concept has been applied in various fields of social sciences. It is often used for studying and explaining the cultivation process of a global mindset, innovation, and creativity . Specifically, the framework was used to design the i2Metrix survey, which measures Vietnamese leading businesses’ inclusive corporate innovation capacity through ten dimensions. Among those dimensions, the Mindsponge dimension focuses specifically on the ability to absorb and integrate emerging cultural values into the corporate mindset for innovative change and creative performance. Due to the ability to demonstrate the dynamic process of new-value absorption and inappropriate-value replacement at the individual level, the mindsponge concept is recommended as a promising tool to explore whether the interaction between expatriates’ personality and experience of cultural differences could influence creativity

The mindsponge framework could explain many socio-cultural issues. Besides the acculturation process, it is also used in conjunction with the concept of cultural additivity in examining the acceptance and rejection of religious values in spiritual healing . The study shows that cultural additivity and the mindsponge mechanism allow the additions of new and contradicting values, which makes the adaptation to spiritual practices and the reception of different traditions and values more applicable. Based on the mechanism of Mindsponge, Ärleskog et al. suggested that building a structured reflection model to raise awareness constantly might change the healthcare users’ perspective, which consequently helps improve the co-production practices

The complexity and dynamic of mindsponge are also useful in studying mental health and psychological issues, like how depressive disorders are attributable to acculturative stress . More specifically, individuals living in a new environment with different cultural settings need to adapt and establish their social networks. Making new friends in a new cultural environment is equivalent to accepting new cultural values, so the filtering process will be performed to evaluate whether to trust the new friends/values or not. During this process, if the individual trusts the new friends/values, they will let the friends/values come closer to themselves/mindset. In contrast, if conflicts happen between the new friends/values and the individuals/mindsets, the individual’s filter will push the new values away from the mindset, creating a larger emotional distance between the individual/mindset and the new friends/values. Such distance might result in loneliness which is one of the primary predictors of depression.

The mindsponge was recently expanded to be the theoretical foundation for investigating how the mind processes suicide-related information . The psychological mechanism of the formation or cessation of suicidal thoughts focuses on two principles in the framework: information accessibility (the availability of information sources and the subjective perception about them) and information filtering (with cost-benefit judgments). The information process of Mindsponge also enabled the exploration into the psycho-religious mechanism of suicidal ideation and suicide attack .

Another major application of the mindsponge mechanism is implied in the study assessing the ideological homogeneity within entrepreneurial finance

References

This article "Mindsponge mechanism" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Mindsponge mechanism. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

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