ABSTRACT
Mindfulness has captured the attention of scholars and practitioners alike in recent years. As we seek to train individuals in mindfulness and increase the capacity of employees to be mindful over time, the ability to reliably and comprehensively assess mindfulness has become increasingly important. This chapter briefly reviews previous work on mindfulness, building the case for a multidimensional conceptualization of the construct in the context of the work domain. While six facets are initially proposed, empirical support emerged for a five-facet conceptualization. The five facets include nonreactivity (remaining even-keeled and balanced), observing (awareness of the big and small picture), presence (attentive to the present moment), decentering (reducing self-relevant processing), and nonjudgment (separating attention from cognition). Across four samples and over 800 participants, the Work Mindfulness Scale (WMS) consistently demonstrated a five-factor structure, showed evidence of convergent and discriminant validity, and predicted additional variance in outcomes over and above the most frequently utilized unidimensional mindfulness scale (MAAS; Brown & Ryan, 2003). Future research directions are discussed to guide further scholarship in investigating the validity and usefulness of the WMS as mindfulness continues to gain traction within the organizational sciences.
