An overview of the mindful attention awareness scale
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Mindfulness is the state
Mindfulness is the state of being aware of one’s thoughts and actions in the present moment in a nonjudgmental manner.
This recognition of the importance of mindfulness has led to the development of scales and measures, including the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS).
MAAS assesses the frequency of individuals’ open, or receptive, awareness and attention to the present moment.
Mindful attention awareness scale
Mindful attention awareness scale scoring guidelines
For each of the 15 items, participants rate their answers on a six-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (almost always) to 6 (almost never).
The items on the scale consist of an individual’s day-to-day experiences, so those who complete this scale should answer the items according to what actually reflects their daily experiences rather than what they believe their experience should be.
Mindful attention awareness scale
Mindful attention awareness scale reliability and validity
Developers of scales like the MAAS must assess the reliability and validity of these measures to ensure that the results of studies that use them are high quality.
Reliability refers to how consistently reproducible the research results are; if something is reliable, it is statistically consistent.
Validity refers to how well the results measure what they intend to measure; if findings are valid, they are statistically meaningful and accurate.
Unlike other mindfulness scales,
Unlike other mindfulness scales, the MAAS does not measure attributes associated with mindfulness, like acceptance, trust, empathy, or gratitude, just the participant’s level of mindfulness in day-to-day life.
The items assess how much an individual invests in the present moment by considering to what extent they are observing what takes place in their surroundings at any given moment.
Development of the mindful
Development of the mindful attention awareness scale
The MAAS was developed to span cognitive, emotional, physical, interpersonal, and general domains of mindfulness.
The researchers began with a list of 184 items, which they narrowed down to 55 by excluding items that mentioned intent, the “why” behind mindfulness, consequences (calmness or improved well-being), attitudes ( trust or acceptance), or technical, specialized terminology.
The researchers expected scores on the MAAS to positively correlate with scores on scales measuring emotional intelligence and openness to experiences.