Research and Evidence
Research, Evidence, and Practical Application
Dr. Lee R. Roberts
My research explores behaviour, resilience, engagement, leadership, values, learning, and intentional human development. This work seeks to connect credible evidence with practical application while remaining clear about the limits of what research can support.
Areas of Research
Behavioural Wellbeing
Choices, habits, values, character, resilience, and intentional development.
Resilience & Engagement
How people adapt, remain engaged, and continue developing under challenge.
Leadership & Values
The relationship between values, behaviour, decision-making, and leadership.
Learning & Behaviour
How personality, behaviour, and individual differences influence learning and development.
Conceptual Paper - Behavioural Wellbeing
Behavioural Wellbeing: An Evidence-Informed Framework for Intentional Human Development
This conceptual paper examines the scientific foundation and appropriate boundaries of the Behavioural Wellbeing framework. It considers how repeated choices and behaviours may contribute to character, resilience, meaningful relationships, leadership, and long-term development while remaining aligned with personal values. The paper integrates research from eudaimonic wellbeing, self-determination theory, psychological flexibility, habit science, behavioural change, resilience, psychological capital, and related fields. It also identifies areas where the framework is supported by existing evidence and areas requiring further empirical testing.
Keywords: behavioural wellbeing · human flourishing · habits · resilience · values · psychological flexibility
Exploratory Study - Personality and Work Engagement
Big Five Personality Traits and Work Engagement: An Exploratory Study of Context-Dependent Associations
This exploratory study examines whether Big Five personality traits are associated with work engagement and whether those relationships remain consistent across different workplace contexts. Twenty-nine employees from Canadian foodservice distribution and emergency services completed personality and work-engagement measures around a three-session workplace training sequence. Conscientiousness and extraversion showed the strongest positive associations in the foodservice setting, but these patterns did not replicate in emergency services and were weak in the combined sample. The findings suggest that personality may help individuals reflect on behavioural tendencies, but trait-engagement relationships are context-sensitive and should not be used to label employees or prescribe fixed learning approaches.
Keywords: Big Five · work engagement · conscientiousness · extraversion · behavioural wellbeing
Comparative Study - Workplace Learning
Do Workplace Learning Preferences Generalize Across Industries? A Comparative Study of Foodservice and Emergency Services
This exploratory comparative study examines whether employees in different occupational settings share similar workplace learning preferences and engagement responses. Twenty-nine employees from foodservice distribution and emergency services experienced collaborative, lecture-based, and e-learning sessions. Preference patterns differed substantially: emergency-services participants strongly favoured collaborative learning, while foodservice employees showed a more varied mix of preferences. Changes in overall work engagement also differed between settings, although the difference was not statistically significant. The findings suggest that learning preferences are shaped by occupational context, topic relevance, prior experience, and course design rather than by a universally preferred format. The study supports adaptable, multimodal learning systems rather than one-size-fits-all training prescriptions.
Keywords: workplace learning · training preference · occupational context · employee engagement · behavioural wellbeing
Exploratory Pre-Post Study - Training and Engagement
Workplace Training and Work Engagement: An Exploratory Pre-Post Study in Two Canadian Work Settings
This exploratory pre-post study examines whether work engagement changed following a sequence of three workplace training sessions in two Canadian organizations. Twenty-nine employees from foodservice distribution and emergency services completed a measure of work engagement before training and again one week after the final session. Average engagement increased modestly, but the overall change did not reach conventional statistical significance, and individual responses varied considerably. The results therefore suggest possible short-term benefit for some employees without establishing that training, or any particular delivery format, caused higher engagement. The study highlights the value of evaluating behavioural wellbeing alongside learning outcomes while using stronger future designs that separate training topic, delivery format, and organizational context.
Keywords: behavioural wellbeing · work engagement · workplace learning · employee training · pre-post study
Qualitative Study - Learning Engagement
Why Employees Engage in Workplace Learning: A Qualitative Descriptive Study of Relevance, Interaction, and Agency
This qualitative descriptive study explores what employees themselves identified as contributing to engagement and disengagement across collaborative, lecture-based, and e-learning experiences. Evidence from 29 employees in foodservice distribution and emergency services produced four recurring themes: relevance gives learning a reason, participation sustains attention, agency over pace and access supports engagement, and no single format is sufficient. Collaborative learning was valued for interaction and practical participation; lectures could be effective when structured, credible, and relevant; and e-learning offered flexibility and immediate practice when content was appropriately challenging. The findings suggest that effective workplace learning should combine relevance, active practice, usable resources, and meaningful choice rather than assigning employees to fixed learning-style categories.
Keywords: qualitative description · workplace learning · employee voice · behavioural wellbeing · engagement
Cross-Sectional Study - Leadership and Resilience
Inclusive Leadership and Leader Resilience: A Cross-Sectional Study of Behavioural Wellbeing at Work
This cross-sectional study examines the relationship between inclusive leadership behaviours and resilience among 31 adults with current or recent leadership experience. Participants completed validated measures of inclusive leadership and resilience. Inclusive leadership was positively associated with resilience, with the statistical model explaining 38.1% of the observed variance in resilience. The findings do not establish causality, but they suggest that openness, accessibility, availability, and employee voice may be connected to leaders' ability to recover from stress. The study supports a relational view of behavioural wellbeing in which resilience is not understood solely as individual toughness, but may also be supported by behavioural and interpersonal conditions that encourage information sharing, shared responsibility, and psychological safety.
Keywords: behavioural wellbeing · inclusive leadership · resilience · psychological safety · values-based leadership
Qualitative Thematic Study - Values-Based Leadership
Principled Action Under Constraint: A Thematic Study of Values-Based Leadership and Behavioural Wellbeing