Mindful Partnering: Introducing a Theoretical Construct and Testing Psychometric Properties of the Mindful Partnering Measure

Abstract

Although evidence suggests many benefits of mindfulness, interpersonal forms of mindfulness are understudied. We present the conceptualization of a novel theoretical construct, mindful partnering, as interpersonal mindfulness with ones’ romantic partner; we also present initial validation of the Mindful Partnering Measure (MPM). Participants were 599 individuals from: (1) an undergraduate student sample recruited from a University subject pool (used for exploratory factor analyses, N = 335) and (2) a sample of married adults that was recruited through Mechanical Turk (used for confirmatory factor analyses, N = 264, subsets used for construct validity N = 147, and test-retest analyses N = 53). Results of the EFA and CFA supported a five-factor structure with the subscales: (1) mindful awareness, (2) nonreactivity, (3) emotional awareness, (4) acceptance/compassion, and (5) self-compassion. Tests of internal consistency, construct validity, and test-retest reliability in the sample of married adults provided evidence for reliability and validity of the total MPM to assess mindful partnering, as well as the mindful awareness and acceptance/compassion subscales. However, the other subscales did not demonstrate adequate test-retest reliability. Use of this measure in further research will allow for the study of the potential correlates and benefits of mindful partnering to further our understanding of this novel construct.

Keywords:

• Mindfulness
• relationships
• marriage
• psychometrics
• questionnaire

Compliance with ethical standards

There are no conflicts of interest to report.

This research involved human participants, and procedures were compliant with ethical standards of research.

All participants completed informed consent before study procedures.