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Although the concept of psychological mindedness (PM) originated in the psychoanalytic literature, its use has been expanding beyond the realm of assessing suitability for, or psychic change following, psychotherapy or psychoanalysis. For example, since PM bespeaks a capacity to tolerate psychological conflict and stress intrapsychically rather than by regressive means of conflict management or resolution such as somatization, its role, like that of alexithymia, in the genesis of psychosomatic illness is becoming evident. The Psychological Mindedness Scale (PMS), a 45-item self-report instrument intended to measure PM, was administered to a non-clinical sample of 397 undergraduates to assess the stability of its previously reported item-factor loadings and factor structure. Two main factors emerged, viz. Belief in the benefits of discussing one's problems and Access to feelings. Lower-order factors were Willingness to discuss problems with others, Interest in meaning and motivation of own and others' behaviour and Openness to change. Convergent validity of the PMS was also demonstrated by the negative correlations obtained between its total and factor/subscale scores with those of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale. The PMS needs further development to increase the congruence between its factor structure and the concept of PM. Females were also found to be more psychologically minded than males. The implications of these findings and the potential uses of this scale are discussed.
There have been various reviews of the meaning of psychological mindedness (PM; Appelbaum, 1973; Hall, 1992; McCallum & Piper, 1997a). As Hall (1992) notes, definitions of PM address two disparate personality domains: interest/ability as well as intellect/affect. Her critique of the various definitions of the concept suggests that Appelbaum's is the preferred definition, since it includes all relevant elements. We have accordingly adopted Appelbaum's definition of PM: "A person's ability to see relationships among thoughts, feelings, and actions, with the goal of learning the meanings and causes of his experience and behaviour" (1973, p. 36). This definition encompasses both the interest in and the ability to reflect on affects, thoughts and behaviour in an integrated manner. It also includes the person's interest in expanding self-awareness through such a process of reflection.
The term `psychological mindedness' originates in the psychoanalytic literature in relation to assessing a patient's suitability for psychoanalysis or psychodynamic psychotherapy (Taylor, 1995) and is...