Executive Summary

Heroic Public Benefit Corporation is committed to grounding the Heroic App and coaching program with empirical data. As part of this effort, Heroic conducted two pilot studies in recent years, both of which yielded substantial improvements to participants’ overall well-being, including significant increases in self-reported psychological flourishing, energy, productivity, and connection. Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky, an expert and pioneer in the field of well-being science, conducted the pilot study and described the results by saying: “I am not exaggerating when I say that the sizes of these pre-post effects were larger than I had ever witnessed in my own 35 years of research on well-being and human connection.”

Recently, Heroic sought to replicate and extend the pilot findings using a more rigorous research design. In August 2023, Heroic partnered with Mariner Wealth Associates to conduct a 30-day randomized controlled trial of the Heroic app and coaching support. Mariner Wealth Associates were invited to participate in a 30 day study and were informed that they would be asked to complete pretest and posttest surveys. Participants were also told that they may be granted access to the Heroic app and coaching resources immediately, and that all participants would have access to these resources at the end of 30 days.

Employees who opted-in to the study were randomized to one of three conditions: 1) Heroic app access, 2) Heroic app access plus coaching support, or 3) a waitlist control group. A total of 593 participants completed the pretest survey and 283 participants completed both the pretest and posttest surveys. In addition to the measures administered in the pilot studies (psychological flourishing, feelings of energy, work, and love), this study included validated measures of life satisfaction, meaning and purpose, accomplishment, and self-efficacy.

The results of this study are clear: engaging with Heroic led to significant and meaningful benefits after just 30 days. Participants who were given access to the Heroic app plus coaching support reported significant gains in every outcome (Cohen’s d effect sizes ranged from 0.31 to 0.83). Most notably, participants in the Heroic App + Coaching condition moved from about the 53rd to 70th percentile (from an average of 46.25 to 48.13) using published scale norms (Diener et al., 2010). Additional analyses revealed that participants in this group significantly outperformed the control group on every outcome at posttest.

Simply gaining access to the Heroic app (with no additional guidance, instructions, or reminders!) also resulted in benefits after 30 days, in terms of both change over time, and differences relative to the control group. For example, participants who used the Heroic app for 30 days reported feeling significantly more energized, productive, and satisfied with their lives (Cohen’s d effect sizes ranged from 0.32 to 0.40). App engagement was especially important in this group. For example, participants who were given Heroic app access (N = 60) but did not hit any targets reported a 3.1% increase in feeling energized after 30 days, whereas those who hit at least 1 target (N = 17) reported a 23.1% increase. Future research with a larger sample size can further explore how app engagement and usage patterns predict psychological outcomes. To conclude, this research corroborated the findings of Heroic’s previous pilot studies using a more rigorous research design and additional validated measures. Engaging with Heroic for just 30 days improved the well-being, self-regard, social connection, and energy of Mariner Wealth Employees—especially among those who were given access to coaching support. Heroic can continue to build on this strong evidence base by conducting additional, well-powered studies, and by investigating how app usage, engagement with coaching support, and behavior change contribute to these robust psychological benefits.

Study Design and Background

• Previous pilot research demonstrated the benefit of engaging with Heroic: increases in psychological flourishing, energy, work, and love
• This research was designed to replicate and extend the pilot studies
• Used a randomized controlled design with a waitlist control
  • Randomly assigning participants to conditions allows us to make causal claims
• Study design: Three groups were given instructions to engage with their assigned activity for 30 days:
  • Heroic access: Use the app over the next month
  • Heroic access + coaching: Use the app and join virtual coaching sessions over the next month
  • Waitlist control: Complete measures at the beginning and end of 30 days; Gain app access after 30 days  
• Outcomes:
  • Psychological flourishing
  • Energy, work, and love (using two measures for each)
  • Accomplishment, self-efficacy, meaning and purpose, life satisfaction

Results

Participants

• Managers were excluded from the RCT analyses as they were not randomly assigned to this condition
• Pretest: 593 participants were included in analyses; 638 total completed pretest (including managers)
• Posttest: 283 participants were included in analyses; 305 completed both pretest and posttest measures (including managers)

Results by Heroic Condition

App-Only

• Significant pretest to posttest improvements in all outcomes with the exception of love (both measures), accomplishment, and self-efficacy
• Differed from the control group at posttest in terms of flourishing, Heroic’s internal measures of energy, work, and love, meaning and purpose, accomplishment, and life satisfaction.

App + Coaching

• Significant pretest to posttest changes for all outcomes, with small to medium effect sizes
  • Most notably: On average, increased from about the 53rd to 70th percentile (from an average of 46.25 to 48.13) using published scale norms (Diener et al., 2010)
• Significantly different from control for all outcomes at posttest

Visualizations