Personal transformation is inherently difficult to define and measure, is often self-determined, and is multifaceted in its range of subjective, objective, material and context-specific indicators. But it is clear that personal transformation can be assessed to have taken place by the people who have experienced it, it has correlating neural mechanisms and behavioral outcomes that can be observed and measured, it matters for its participants, and contributes to how they see themselves, how they navigate relationships, and how they act in the world. Personal transformation involves a fundamental change in the structure and functioning of the brain and physiology, resulting in a more positive orientation towards self and the surrounding world. 

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There are a wide range of tools that have been developed for evaluating components of personal transformation, including those measuring self-assessed perspectives, observed behavior, neural activity, or external, material conditions. However, no single tool is likely to be adequate on its own without deeper qualitative evaluation.

Each of the domains of transformation that affects the individual has a relational, community or societal intersection. And research indicates that these personal domains interact with each other too.  As such, personal transformation is embedded in, influenced by, and affects how we relate with one another.  

This complex interrelationship most strongly and consistently seems to drive a prosocial orientation and behavior - including charitable altruism, helping behavior, concern, social responsibility, collective problem-solving, high-levels of support, civic engagement, positive behavior and social communications. Prosocial behavior is influenced by a five-part path of personal transformation, including:

1. Self-awareness & Self-Knowledge

2. Self-Regulation & Self-Management

3. Understanding Others

4. Connecting with Others

5. Prosocial Orientation and Behavior

While existing research does not demonstrate a causal link between personal transformation’s influence on prosocial behavior and positive systemic change, we propose it is through this pathway that personal transformation is most likely to create the positive conditions for the advancement of social change. 

Based upon the evidence presented in this literature review, we propose a conceptual model for the five-part pathway of how the domains of personal transformation interrelate and influence social change, attempting to draw together from the evidence presented, a theoretical, operational model for this relationship. We further share a sample list of the most commonly used and key measurement tools and a list of essential studies for each topic.

In what ways does personal transformation positively influence the advancement of positive social change?

Global Grassroots is an international non-governmental organization (NGO), founded in 2004, which operates a mindfulness-based leadership program and social venture incubator for women survivors of war in East Africa. We embarked upon this literature review to help us understand the link between personal transformation and social impact.  To answer this question, we needed to understand how various domains of personal transformation are defined, what happens within individuals and their  community when it takes place, how it transforms the people who experience it, and what outcomes result that may be relevant. This exploration involved a six-month review of more than 370 key academic and scientific articles across five domains of personal transformation. 

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The key question we were eager to answer through this review was: in what ways does the cultivation of human qualities such as mindfulness, agency, wellbeing, social intelligence, belonging or compassion contribute to a prosocial orientation and positively influence the advancement of positive social change?  Over the years, we have invested deeply in the personal growth, inner leadership, wellbeing, hard skills, and the ideas of our change agents. We have witnessed their personal transformation as they have advanced their own solutions for the betterment of their community.  It has been our observation and theory of change that personal transformation is important for and takes place as an integral part of most long-term, sustainable, positive social change. 

For example, to be able to ensure all girls receive an education within a society that prioritizes boys’ schooling, it requires more than school fees. It likely requires a belief-system shift regarding a girls’ role in a family, a change in societal norms valuing girls, a change in household operations and behavior to ensure girls are given time to go to school, a change to existing structures to provide the resources to meet girls’ unique needs once attending, a change in the way that girls are treated by teachers and male classmates, and a change in a girl’s self-perception relating to her rights and future.  We know this kind of deeper transformation is necessary to sustain advances in equity, rights, opportunity and social justice. But, it is not easy to measure these intangible experiences themselves, and there is little consensus on how to define the nature of personal transformation or the metrics with which to assess it. To this end, Global Grassroots conducted a review of the literature to help explain what is known about the process and experience of inner change and how it might be relevant to social change.

We explored a range of literature, including clinical studies, meta-analyses, literature reviews, analyses of scholarly discourse, reviews of measurement tools, proposed operational definitions and mechanisms, and working papers from practitioners. Our criteria included those studies that provided insight and critique on the definition, measures, mechanisms, outcomes, and potential evidence of the social impact of personal transformation. 

We chose these particular five domains because they are the areas of personal transformation we have witnessed most on an ongoing basis and because there already exists a body of clinical work trying to understand the mechanisms and outcomes of each of them. We have undertaken this study at this time because there is a growth of interest in expanding from an exclusive focus on the external and concrete measures of social progress to including the contribution of more intangible, personal shifts towards long-term social change. Our contemporaries in the social justice and international development arena know that something is transpiring among the individuals and communities with whom they work. They believe that the internal condition of people matter, that relationships between them drive connection and community, and that their beliefs and values shape how institutions serve or disadvantage others - and change.  Our approach and intention with this literature review, then, was to understand within each of these themes: the consensus definition of each concept; the documented mechanisms of such transformation; potential outcomes; measurement tools for and concerns with measuring each concept; future recommendations for research; and, the scientific and academic evidence for any relevance to social change.

Despite a lack of consensus on the precise definitions and metrics that would adequately capture all aspects of personal transformation, evidence suggests that it involves a process of self-development with a range of positive outcomes.  Additional research, especially in non-clinical settings, is still necessary to determine whether and how prosocial behavior results in systemic social transformation. For now, we hope that this review engenders greater dialogue about what is known and what more needs to be explored to understand more deeply the relationship between personal transformation and social change.