In addition to our measure of Immersion, we provide a measure of Psychological Safety (called 'safety' in the platform).
What is Psychological Safety??? Yowza, that is a good question. There is a lot of talk about psychological safety these days. Because it really is so important. According to Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson, who coined the term, "psychological safety is a belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns or mistakes."
Essentially, Psychological Safety is the freedom to think and act without fear. And that freedom is everything. It is such a buzz-word these days (take a look at Google's Aristotle project to learn why) and so important because creating an environment in which people/employees/teammates/etc. feel comfortable to take risks is key to fostering innovation in the workplace or any place.
Our measure of safety is on a scale from 1-100 (similar to Immersion), with a higher number indicating a greater level of safety. Think of high safety like low anxiety, and the inverse for low safety. And we've named our categories of Psychological Safety to align with this – “Zen” is the highest level of safety while “Very Unsafe” means those participants are likely super stressed or uncomfortable. A low safety rating would be equivalent to having far too many things on your plate to manage, or staying quiet in a work meeting because you feel unwelcome to pipe up.
Why is does this matter to you? High safety ensures your audience has the capacity to fully engage, absorb information, and contribute in group settings! Psychological safety is usually positively correlated with immersion as well, so participants who feel psychologically safe tend to also be more immersed.
**Note: Safety measures are only available for experiences or content longer than 5 minutes. Additionally, you'll see our granular output of safety provides scores every 2 minutes. Why? Psychological Safety is a slower-moving brain process - think of it as a mood (slower to change compared to emotions).
If you want to learn more, check out our blog on Psychological Safety and measuring readiness here.
Once you measure the Psychological Safety of your target group, you may wonder how you might begin to improve this measurement and promote safety and comfort. Not to worry, we have many tips to do that!
Have questions about Psychological Safety that weren't answered in this article? No worries! Reach out to your Customer Success representative, or email us at: