Mindfulness: A Proposed Operational Definition

There has been substantial interest in mindfulness as an approach to reduce cognitive vulnerability to stress and emotional distress in recent years. However, thus far mindfulness has not been defined operationally. This paper describes the results of recent meetings held to establish a consensus on mindfulness and to develop
conjointly a testable operational definition. We propose a two-component model of mindfulness and specify each component in terms of specific behaviors, experiential manifestations, and implicated psychological processes. We then address issues regarding temporal stability and situational specificity and speculate on the conceptual and operational distinctiveness of mindfulness. We conclude this paper by discussing implications for instrument development and briefly describing our own approach to measurement.

Key words: mindfulness, mindfulness-based treatments,
operational definitions, conceptual framework.

OUR CONSENSUS ON AN OPERATIONAL DEFINITION
We propose a two-component model of mindfulness. The first component involves the self-regulation of attention so that it is maintained on immediate experience, thereby allowing for increased recognition of mental events in the present moment. The second to inhibit secondary elaborative processing of the thoughts, feelings, and sensations that arise in the stream of consciousness. Thus, mindfulness practices are though to be associated with improvements in cognitive inhibition, particularly at the level of stimulus selection. This can be objectively measured using tasks that require the inhibition of semantic processing. Furthermore, because attention has a limited capacity, when it is released from
elaborative thinking, more resources are made available to process information related to current experience. This increases access to information that might otherwise remain outside awareness, resulting in a wider perspective on experience. Rather than observing
experience through the filter of our beliefs, assumptions, expectations, and desires, mindfulness involves a direct observation of various objects as if for the first time, a quality that is often referred to as ‘‘beginner’s mind.’’