Measuring Mindfulness in Business School Students: A Comparative Analysis of Mindful Attention Awareness Scale and Langer's Scale.
Mohammed Laeequddin, K Abdul Waheed, Vinita Sahay
Behavioral Sciences January 30, 2023 DOI: 10.3390/bs13020116 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cross-sectional survey Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 221 |
| Population | MBA first- and second-year graduates |
| Measures | Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), Langer's mindfulness/mindlessness scale |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Langer’s mindfulness/mindlessness scale Measuring mindfulness |
| Key findings | Langer's mindfulness/mindlessness scale was negatively associated with the MAAS, indicating the two scales measure different aspects of mindfulness. No effect of gender, education, or professional specialization on mindfulness was found. |
Abstract
Research studies have established that mindfulness helps in psychological well-being, stress reduction, chronic pain management, behavioral therapy, and other areas including organizational development. Mindfulness often refers to a state of consciousness, but mindfulness can also be understood as a personality trait. State mindfulness is referred as the individual's capacity to cultivate a particular state of mind during meditative practice. Traits are more permanent facets of personality characteristics that are difficult to change and likely have some basis in genetics. Few scholars have criticized meditative mindfulness as a trend and cautioned that organizations should carefully consider their goals before introducing meditative mindfulness training. This dichotomy has prompted us to review the literature and carry out a comparative analysis of two divergent measurement scales of mindfulness: the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) and Langer's mindfulness/mindlessness scale. The MAAS is the most widely used mindfulness scale to measure mindfulness, and Langer's scale measures mindfulness/mindlessness. We developed hypotheses relating Langer's scale and the MAAS. Further, we studied whether there is any difference in mindfulness/mindlessness among business school students with an undergraduate background in engineering and nonengineering streams. Using a self-administered questionnaire, we measured the mindfulness levels of 221 MBA first- and second-year graduates and tested the hypothesis using partial least squares structural equations modeling (PLS-SEM). We found that Langer's mindfulness/mindlessness scale was negatively associated with the MAAS. We did not find any effect of gender, education, and professional specializations on mindfulness.
Comparable studies
Other cross-sectional and survey studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Construct Validity of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire in Meditating and Nonmeditating Samples Experienced meditators and nonmeditating comparison groups | 2008 | Cross-sectional study | |
| Neural Correlates of Dispositional Mindfulness During Affect Labeling Adult participants | 2007 | Observational cross-sectional | n = 27 |
| Assessing mindfulness in children and adolescents: Development and validation of the Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM). School-aged children and adolescents | 2011 | Cross-sectional validation study | n = 1,413 |
| Mindfulness and self-compassion as predictors of psychological wellbeing in long-term meditators and matched nonmeditators Experienced meditators and demographically matched nonmeditators | 2012 | Cross-sectional study | n = 152 |
| Mechanisms of Action in the Inverse Relationship Between Mindfulness and Psychological Distress Undergraduates | 2008 | Cross-sectional, correlational |
Citations in the library
Cited by 4
- Effect of daily mindfulness fluctuations on sleep and recovery-stress states in elite level judoka: an observational study. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living 2025
- Feasibility and effectiveness study of applying a hallucinogen harm reduction and integration model to a mindfulness thinking intervention using virtual reality: A randomized controlled trial. Digital health 2024
- Brief Online Socio-Cognitive Mindfulness Interventions Neither Improve Socio-Cognitive Mindfulness nor Cognitive Biases: A Two-Study Conceptual Replication and Reanalysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial Mindfulness June 1, 2025
- How to design a broad mindfulness program: One approach to introducing mindfulness to a STEM community within a university setting. Journal of Cellular Physiology April 12, 2024
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and 8 more in the library