Welcome to Wired for This—a deep dive into how we think, believe, change, and connect. In this limited series, we’ll explore the psychology of human behavior and neuroscience—what drives us forward, what holds us back, and how we navigate a world bursting with noise, contradiction, and complexity.
Dr. Paul A. O’Keefe is a social psychologist and professor of organisational behaviour at the University of Exeter Business School. His research examines how psychological barriers—particularly beliefs about abilities, interest, and opportunity—shape the goals people pursue and their potential to achieve them. He and his team design growth-mindset interventions, tested through randomized controlled field experiments, to foster thriving in work, education, and health contexts. Dr. O’Keefe also directs the Mindsets & Motivation Lab and serves as an Associate Editor at Journal of Experimental Psychology: General.
The transcript for this episode is available here.
Links/Sources mentioned:
- Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, by Carol Dweck
- Stop Trying to ‘Find’ Your Passion — There’s a Better Way to Love What You Do, by Paul O’Keefe for Scientific American
- The Mindsets & Motivation Lab, led by Paul O’Keefe at the University of Exeter Business School.
Examples of their research we mentioned:
- O’Keefe, P. A., Ramya, S. M., & Horberg, E. J. (2025). A growth-theory-of-interest intervention helps align science students with a new multidisciplinary curriculum. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 81, 102371.
- O’Keefe, P. A., Horberg, E. J., Lee, F., & Dweck, C. S. (2023). Implicit theories of opportunity: When opportunity fails to knock, keep waiting or start cultivating? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 124(6), 1146–1173.
- O'Kee
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.