Purpose: To assess a core characteristic of dispositional mindfulness, namely, open or receptive awareness of and attention to what is taking place in the present.
Sources:
- http://selfdeterminationtheory.org/mindfulness-attention-awareness/
- https://ppc.sas.upenn.edu/resources/questionnaires-researchers/mindful-attention-awareness-scale
- https://kirkwarrenbrown.vcu.edu/wp-content/scales/MAAS%20trait%20research-ready%20+%20intro.pdf
Short description: The concept of mindfulness has a long lineage, dating back more than 2500 years, and writings in SDT have discussed the importance of this, and related qualities of consciousness for behavioral self-regulation and well-being. Mindfulness is an open or receptive awareness of and attention to what is taking place in the present. The construct has been operationalized in dispositional terms by the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), a 15-item self-report instrument with a single factor. The scale has been validated in college, working adult, and cancer patient populations. A description of the scale and its validation can be found in Brown and Ryan (2003).
Sample questions:
From trait version:
Instructions: Below is a collection of statements about your everyday experience. Using the 1-6 scale below, please indicate how frequently or infrequently you currently have each experience. Please answer according to what really reflects your experience rather than what you think your experience should be. Please treat each item separately from every other item.
Sample questions:
- I could be experiencing some emotion and not be conscious of it until some time later.
- I forget a person’s name almost as soon as I’ve been told it for the first time.
- I find myself doing things without paying attention.
Paid or free: Free
Reliability/validity measures: “Across many studies conducted since 2003, the trait MAAS has shown excellent psychometric properties. Factor analyses with undergraduate, community and nationally sampled adult, and adult cancer populations have confirmed a single factor scale structure (Brown & Ryan, 2003; Carlson & Brown, 2005). Internal consistency levels (Cronbach’s alphas) generally range from .80 to .90. The MAAS has demonstrated high test-retest reliability, discriminant and convergent validity, known-groups validity, and criterion validity.”
Setting: Open
Stakeholder(s):
- Individuals
- Students
- Workplace
- Educational instructors
Type of measurement: Questionnaire.
Possible uses:
- Personal development
- Learning advising sessions
Ease of implementation: Easy. 15 items, est. 5 min.
Advantages: Easy to answer and administer
Drawbacks:
- The concept of consciousness is difficult to measure.
- Self-report
- It is only a measure of present or short-term minfdulness
Studies this has been used in:
- Brown, K.W. & Ryan, R.M. (2003). The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 822-848.
- Ryan, R.M. & Deci, E.L. (2004). Autonomy is no illusion: Self-Determination Theory and the empirical study of authenticity, awareness, and will. In J. Greenberg, S. Koole & T. Pyszczynski (Eds.), Handbook of Experimental Existential Psychology (pp. 449-479). New York, NY: Guilford