Taylor Winter

Loneliness is a growing epidemic leading to diminished wellbeing and early death. In Aotearoa, Māori are disproportionately affected by loneliness, compounded by cultural disconnection. One reason loneliness affects us so strongly is because the groups we represent are our source of wellbeing and identity. The ‘social identity approach’ is a relatively cost-effective group-based intervention that has been shown to outperform mainstream cognitive behavioural therapy for reducing loneliness.

In his New Zealand Mana Tūāpapa Future Leader Fellowship, Dr Taylor Winter (Ngāi Tahu) will draw on social psychology, Bayesian statistics, and mātauranga Māori to better understand and address the issue of loneliness in the Aotearoa context. He will investigate two mediums for intervention: the Māori martial art Mau Rākau (culturally focused), and the tabletop roleplaying game Dungeons and Dragons (social identity focused). Dr Winter will then fuse these two mediums together to develop, evaluate, and validate a tool to facilitate belonging and cultural re-embedding.

Mau Taiaha at Te Pā o Rākaihautū of the local peka of Te Whare Tū Taua o Waitaha. Source: kindly shared by the peka.