Invitation to Participate – Study on Mental Fitness and Executive Leadership

I am currently conducting a research study as part of my Master’s in Business Psychology at the University of Seeburg in Salzburg/Austria, focusing on mental fitness and its impact on leadership performance under pressure.

The study explores how executives manage stress and conflict, maintain clarity, and lead effectively in high-stakes environments — and how mental fitness contributes to these outcomes.

Your participation would involve completing two confidential online assessments at the beginning of the research period. Then one group will participate for the following six weeks in the PQ Mental Fitness Program (cost EUR 450 instead of EUR 990). The control group will not participate in the program. After 6 six weeks, both groups will complete again the online assessments and a comparison will be made if the PQ mental fitness group now reports statistically significant improvement of their mental fitness and stress scores. An optional additional review period will be made after 3 months for those willing to continue with the program and those who opt to only redo the tests.

The PQ Mental Fitness Program is independently developed and operated by Positive Intelligence, based on the New York Times bestselling book by Shirzad Chamine. The program has been tested and applied by CEOs, executive teams, and professionals worldwide, with over one million participants to date reporting significant growth in both their personal and professional development.

For more information, visit: https://www.positiveintelligence.com/program/

Participants in the study will therefore benefit of personal insights into their own mental fitness profile. Participation takes approximately 20-30 minutes for the mental fitness test and stress profile in total.

Participants in the PQ Mental Fitness Program (https://www.matthiasberger.net/post/positive-intelligence-a-mental-fitness-program) can opt to do this self paced, or participate in a weekly group meeting (max. 5 participants) with peers.

Your input will contribute to advancing the understanding of leadership resilience and performance psychology at the executive level — and may also provide you with valuable self-reflection on how you respond under pressure.

All data will be handled confidentially and for academic and participants purposes only.

Details of the Research Study can be found below.

If you’re open to contributing, please click the link below to take part:

PQ: https://assessment.positiveintelligence.com/pq/definition

PSS Test:

STUDY DETAILS:

1. Research Question

How does mental fitness influence leadership behavior and stress resilience among senior executives (B- to C-Suite)?

Or more precisely:

Executives with higher mental fitness demonstrate significantly greater self-regulated leadership and lower burnout tendencies under pressure compared to executives with lower mental fitness.

2. Scientific Theory

Critical rationalism by Karl Popper.

Rationale:

• Empirically testable hypothesis (e.g., “Mental fitness reduces burnout risk”).

• Approach allows for quantitative data analysis (e.g., PQ scores, stress scales, performance ratings).

• Aligns with empirical–scientific tradition common in business psychology.

3. Study Design

Design: Quantitative experimental study (pre–post design with control group)

Sample: 60 executives (intervention vs. control group)

Intervention: 6–8 weeks of mental fitness training (based on PQPRO)

Instruments:

• PQ Score or Mental Fitness Index

• Perceived Stress Scale (PSS)

Hypothesis (H₁): After the intervention, executives will show significantly higher mental fitness, lower perceived stress, and reduced burnout levels compared to baseline.

Analysis: Mixed ANOVA or repeated measures t-test.