Belief in the Powers of Mindfulness Scale (BPMS)

Abstract

The Belief in the Powers of Mindfulness Scale (BPMS), developed by Rahmani, van Mulukom, and Farias in 2023, is a psychological instrument designed to quantify core beliefs regarding the transformative potential of mindfulness on both individual behavior and societal outcomes. The scale development process was rigorous, integrating insights derived from initial fieldwork and subsequent thematic analysis of in-depth interviews to formulate the item pool. The resulting 9-item measure was administered to an online sample of adults spanning ages 18 to 73 years. Subsequent psychometric evaluation, including factor analysis, strongly supported a clear, single-dimensional structure for the scale, confirming its utility in measuring expectations related to the power of mindfulness.

Keywords

Mindfulness, Mindfulness Expectations, Mindfulness Power Beliefs, Psychological Measurement, Attitude Measures, Spirituality, Psychological Scales

Authors

Rahmani, Masoumeh; van Mulukom, Valerie; Farias, Miguel

Purpose

The primary objective of the BPMS is to systematically assess the extent of an individual’s conviction regarding the broad, transformative powers attributed to mindfulness practices, ranging from personal development to large-scale social change.

This measurement tool provides researchers with a standardized method to explore the psychological underpinnings of why individuals adopt or promote mindfulness, moving beyond simple practice frequency to assess underlying belief systems.

Construct

The BPMS measures the latent construct of “Belief in the Powers of Mindfulness.” This construct encompasses the psychological expectation that engaging in mindfulness meditation or adopting a mindful approach to life yields profound, positive transformative results, both internally (e.g., self-improvement, wisdom, compassion) and externally (e.g., improved relationships, reduced global violence).

The scale captures the degree to which respondents view mindfulness as a powerful tool capable of delivering significant personal and social benefits, positioning it as a measure of specific expectations or attitudes rather than actual behavioral skills.

Validity

The scale demonstrated robust convergent validity through several key findings. As hypothesized, greater belief in the transformative powers of mindfulness correlated positively with both the duration and frequency of an individual’s meditation practice.

Furthermore, self-reported mindfulness skills were significantly and positively associated with higher BPMS scores. Demographic analysis revealed that older participants scored higher than younger participants, and respondents from the USA exhibited greater beliefs than those from the UK. Notably, higher levels of spirituality showed a significant positive association with transformative mindfulness beliefs, whereas religiosity did not show this relationship.

Reliability

The internal consistency of the BPMS was found to be excellent, indicating high reliability among the 9 items measuring the single construct.

Statistical analysis utilizing two common metrics confirmed this finding: both Cronbach’s alpha and McDonald’s omega coefficients for the scale were reported at 0.89. This high coefficient suggests that the items consistently measure the same underlying dimension.

Factor Analysis

A principal axis factor analysis was performed to examine the dimensional structure of the BPMS. The results strongly supported a unidimensional model for the 9-item scale.

The analysis revealed that the first unrotated factor accounted for a substantial 54.0% of the common variance, corresponding to an eigenvalue of 4.86. Given the significant tapering observed in the scree plot and the fact that the subsequent factor’s eigenvalue was low (0.85), accounting for only 9.4% of the common variance, researchers concluded that no further factors needed to be analyzed, confirming the scale’s intended single-factor structure.

Instrument

Test Type: Original rating scale.

Format: Items are rated using Likert scale response options. The anchors range from Strongly disagree (–2.5) to Strongly agree (2.5).

Language Available: English

Population Group: Human; Male; Female

Age Group: Adulthood (18 yrs & older); Young Adulthood (18-29 yrs); Thirties (30-39 yrs); Middle Age (40-64 yrs); Aged (65 yrs & older)

Population Details: Location: United States; United Kingdom. Respondents: Adults (18-73 years).

Test Methodology: Test Validity; Convergent Validity; Test Reliability; Internal Consistency; Factor Analysis; Qualitative Assessment Methods. The scale consists of 9 items and is administered electronically.

Keywords

Psychological Scale, Expectations, Mindfulness, Transformative Beliefs, Factor Structure, Psychometrics

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier:

• Farias, Miguel: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5925-795X

Affiliation Email addresses:

• Rahmani, Masoumeh: Victoria University of Wellington School of Social and Cultural Studies

• van Mulukom, Valerie: Coventry University Brain, Belief and Behaviour Lab, Centre for Trust, Peace, and Social Relations

• Farias, Miguel: Coventry University Brain, Belief and Behaviour Lab, Centre for Trust, Peace, and Social Relations

Correspondence Address:

• Rahmani, Masoumeh: [email protected]

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Permissions: May use for Research/Teaching.

Commercial Use: No

Fee: No

Test Year: 2023

Website for permissions: creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Reference’s

Rahmani, M., van Mulukom, V., & Farias, M. (2023). Believing in the powers of mindfulness: A thematic narrative approach and the development of a new scale. Mindfulness, 14(7), 1689–1704. doi.org/10.1007/s12671-023-02164-x

Items of the Belief in the Powers of Mindfulness Scale (BPMS)

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

Belief in the Powers of Mindfulness Scale (BPMS)

1. Mindfulness Meditation makes us much more compassionate.

2. Accepting reality without judgments has enabled me to develop more meaningful relationships with others.

3. Mindfulness Meditation allows me to see the negative aspects of my behavior and to improve my relationship with others.†

4. If everyone did Mindfulness Meditation, there would be much less violence in the world.

5. Mindfulness Meditation should be taught as part of the school curricula.

6. Mindfulness Meditation provides me with a tool to navigate an inner map to wisdom.

7. Mindfulness Meditation allows me to understand the truth about myself and others.

8. Becoming mindful is something I really value in my life.

9. Mindfulness Meditation allows me to see the negative aspects of my behavior and to improve myself.

Note

†Given the double-barreled nature of this item (i.e., two statements within one item), we suggest that in future research this item is either split into two or used without the second statement given Item 2; i.e., “Mindfulness Meditation allows me to see the negative aspects of my behavior.”

For this scale, participants are asked to indicate their agreement with each of the statements on a Likert scale anchored from Strongly disagree (–2.5), to Disagree (–1.5), Somewhat disagree (–0.5), Somewhat agree (0.5), Agree (1.5), and Strongly agree (2.5).