Relationship of Mindfulness Training to Awareness, Acceptance and Social Attitudes

1. Relationship of Mindfulness Training to Awareness, Acceptance and Social Attitudes Sue C. Jacobs, Ph.D., Anne P. Weese, M.S., Richard C. Zamora, M.S., Maria Aleksandrova-Howell, M.A., Julie Beth Swagerty, M.S., Nathan D. Richards, B.S. Oklahoma State University Results Participants who have had mindfulness training also had higher awareness and acceptance scores. The participants (who had reported mindfulness training) with higher AWARENESS scores also had higher Diversity of Contact and Relativistic Appreciation scores. Introduction We define mindfulness as “the tendency to be highly aware of one’s internal and external experiences in the context of an accepting, nonjudgmental stance towards those experiences (Cardaciotto et. al., 2008) Researchers suggest that the applying mindfulness and acceptance training may be effective in reducing prejudice (Lillis & Hayes, 2007). In the current study we examined the relationship between mindfulness training and awareness and acceptance . We expected those with mindfulness training to have greater awareness and acceptance. We also expected those with greater awareness to be more comfortable with diversity. Discussion/Future Direction Possible limitations include the self-reporting nature of the surveys and that the survey was administered via the internet which could cause some bias in whether or not the participants chose to respond. Strengths include the diversity of the participants. Based on these findings, the researchers are excited about possible future projects. It is our intention to implement mindfulness training in classroom and experimental settings in order to better understand the impact of mindfulness training and awareness and acceptance and on prejudice bias awareness and acceptance of diversity.. Additional examination into which types of mindfulness training (mindful walking, imagery, etc.) have the greatest effect on acceptance and awareness would also be beneficial. • Methods • 494 mostly Caucasian (72.7%) and female (71.5%) participants completed the survey online via SurveyMonkey. Over 35% of the participants (median age 26.5; 18-72) reported having training in mindfulness with 23.3% practicing regularly. The following scales were completed: • Philadelphia Mindfulness Scale • Miville-Guzman Universality-Diversity • Scale • Demographic Form Contact Information Please send inquiries to Sue C. Jacobs, PhD. at sue.c.jacobs@okstate.edu or (405) 744-9895