TOOLS FOR MEASURING INDIVIDUAL MINDFULNESS IN ORGANIZATIONS: ASSESSMENT AND COMPARISON.

Individual mindfulness appears to be critical for multiple processes necessary for an organization's survival, such as learning, sensemaking and managing the unexpected. Moreover, several positive effects of individual mindfulness on mental health of employees were discovered and scientists have invented several programs which aim to develop individual mindfulness. To objectively evaluate the effects of individual mindfulness on organizational processes, employees' health and the effectiveness of individual mindfulness development programs, it is necessary to accurately measure individual mindfulness. Although several mindfulness measurement tools have been created, there is still a lack of information to help users choose a specific measurement instrument in their situation. This paper tries to provide such information by using the traditional literature review method to assess three methods of individual mindfulness measurement based on three criteria: (1) how these instruments operationalize mindfulness, (2) what requirements they place upon respondents, and (3) how their scores correlate with mental factors: The Mindful Attention Awareness Scale, Toronto Mindfulness Scale and the Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills. Moreover, the findings of this study confirm substantial differences between the methods in these criteria and reveal a lasting lack of consensus concerning the conceptualization of individual mindfulness in organizational practice, with implications for other organizational phenomena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]