Solloway Mindfulness Survey 2010 construct map
With a Rasch analysis, if the items fit the model, the item hierarchy generated by the data tells a story of growth in ability along the construct being measured. In this case, the item hierarchy tells a story about what growth in mindfulness practice looks like as one moves from lesser ability to greater ability. The Solloway Mindfulness Survey 2010 (SMS 2010) fits the Rasch model well, as shown in the fit statistics presented in the MBSR 2010 presentation. The reliability is high enough to justify dividing the scale into 5 levels. Individual scores can be thought of as being accurate, on average, within plus or minus .4 of a level (plus or minus 5.2 logits, in Rasch lingo).
TO VIEW
As you move up the hierarchy from bottom to top, the items tell a story about growth in mindfulness. In general, the effects of intentional attention appear to begin with increased awareness, followed by increasing openness, then an increasing ability to consciously enter a state of well-being, and finally, to an increasing ability to evoke compassion. In the following slide show, we have replaced the Rasch standardized measures with a scale that shows the mean scores from the SMS 2010. The level names are adjacent to the scores with which they are associated. Use the blue navigation arrows to view the items that represent the "milestones" for each level. (To view the output from the Rasch analysis, click here.)
NARRATIVE
Level 1—Very early intentional attention experience: When you bring intentional attention to tasks as a focused, kind, non-judgmental, curious mind, tasks are experienced as positive accomplishments. Intentional attention awakens gratitude for things usually taken for granted. With intentional attention directed to what is happening in the Present Moment, the sensations across the landscape of the body more often arise in awareness and you are more often able to follow sensations to the root causes of emotions. Your more intimate relationship with your body and emotions elicits personal insights. Intentional attention changes the way you listen to others; you more often give them your full attention. You are more able to direct your attention as a witness to your experiences as you participate in them. Increasingly you are able to notice when the past or the future is more attractive than the present moment and are able to return attention to what’s happening in the present moment.
Level 2—Beginning intentional attention: Your ability to settle your attention more often in the present moment widens your awareness and you notice things about yourself that you never noticed before. This increase in intentional attention puts the mind at ease and you find joy in ordinary experiences. You are more able to consciously examine your life. Finding yourself more comfortable with who you are you increase your ability to listen to others without making judgments. You discover a growing satisfaction with your life. With increased intentional attention, you find yourself more able to control your responses in the everyday ebb and flow of life.
Level 3—Increased intentional attention: As intentional attention becomes more frequent, you more often find yourself in touch with your sense of inner peace. You are more able to treat your thoughts as if they are ripples in a stream which you simply observe without becoming overly identified with them. Your awareness grows more fluid and you are more able to observe circumstances and events around you with that same non-judgmental attention. You are more able to direct attention to consciously reduce feelings of stress. As you increase the frequency with which intentional attention opens your awareness, you more often notice that ordinary experiences seem extraordinary. Intentional attention increases the frequency with which you are able to see the world in a fresh new way.
Level 4—Making intentional attention more continuous: This quality of attention increases the frequency with which you see the interconnectedness of all things. You increasingly find yourself able to observe your thoughts without being caught up in them.
Level 5—Deepening continuous intentional attention: As you continue to increase the frequency with which you maintain intentional attention as a focused, kind, non-judgmental, curious mind from moment to moment, your awareness opens and you discover you have the ability to transform both hurt and anger into compassion.