Welcome to Wired for This—a deep dive into how we think, believe, change, and connect. In this limited series, we’ll explore the psychology of human behavior and neuroscience—what drives us forward, what holds us back, and how we navigate a world bursting with noise, contradiction, and complexity. Dr. Paul A. O’Keefe is a social psychologist and professor of organisational behaviour at the University of Exeter Business School. His research examines how psychological barriers—particularly beliefs about abilities, interest, and opportunity—shape the goals people pursue and their potential to achieve them. He and his team design growth-mindset interventions, tested through randomized controlled field experiments, to foster thriving in work, education, and health contexts. Dr. O’Keefe also directs the Mindsets & Motivation Lab and serves as an Associate Editor at Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. The transcript for this episode is available here. Links/Sources mentioned: Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, by Carol DweckStop Trying to ‘Find’ Your Passion — There’s a Better Way to Love What You Do, by Paul O’Keefe for Scientific AmericanThe Mindsets & Motivation Lab, led by Paul O’Keefe at the University of Exeter Business School. Examples of their research we mentioned: O’Keefe, P. A., Ramya, S. M., & Horberg, E. J. (2025). A growth-theory-of-interest intervention helps align science students with a new multidisciplinary curriculum. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 81, 102371.O’Keefe, P. A., Horberg, E. J., Lee, F., & Dweck, C. S. (2023). Implicit theories of opportunity: When opportunity fails to knock, keep waiting or start cultivating? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 124(6), 1146–1173. O'Keefe, P. A., Horberg, E. J., Dweck, C. S., & Walton, G. M. (2023). A growth-theory-of-interest intervention increases interest in math and science coursework among liberal arts undergraduates. Journal of educational psychology, 115(6), 859.O’Keefe, P. A., Lee, H. Y., & Chen, P. (2021). Changing students’ beliefs about learning can unveil their potential. Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 8(1), 84-91.O’Keefe, P. A., Dweck, C. S., & Walton, G. M. (2018). Implicit theories of interest: Finding your passion or developing it?. Psychological science, 29(10), 1653-1664. The Utility-Value Intervention, a book chapter by Chris Hulleman and Judith Harackiewicz____________ Wired for This is produced and edited by Nwabata Nnani and hosted by Celia Ford. American Scientist has been in publication since 1913 and is published by the nonprofit Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Honor Society. The magazine focuses on producing narrative-driven features by scientists about their own peer-reviewed work. The publication also produces shorter-form staff-written news articles, as well as blogs, multimedia, and social media. See more at www.americanscientist.org Subscribe to American Scientist, today. Music by Nat Keefe Follow us on social media: Bluesky Facebook Instagram LinkedIn
