Hypothesis
The hypothesize of the study is based on equanimity and its relationship with mindfulness-awareness. Hence the following forms the hypothesis of the study;
- The legitimacy of factors is assumed to be one-dimensional.
- The new serenity measure would significantly negatively correlate with neuroticism on the five-factor personality scale model when testing for divergent validity.
- The renewed standard of serenity should have a significant, positive similarity with the nonattachment scale when testing for validity convergence.
- Equanimity had a strong relationship with the mindfulness-awareness.
Method
The study adopted a quantitative approach technique from which data was collected from 241 respondents. Out of the 241 respondents,52 were male and 189 were female. The methods used for analysis entailed factor and reliability analysis as explained below;
Factor Analysis
Factor analysis simplifies a broad set of variables in a small group of variables. The technique reduces a comprehensive set of variables to fewer variables grouped into factors or summarized into components (Cureton, 2017). Data reduction or condensation ensures uncovering cluster responses hence remaining with elements that have more weight. This study adopted the factor analysis technique to find unique responses obtained from the respondent. This exercise seeks to factor out components under the equanimity scale that are less significant.
Reliability Analysis
Reliability analysis is adopted to measure the internal consistency of the data collection tool. Thus, the method establishes the extent to which a scale within a questionnaire can produce reliable and consistent results (Bashir & Marudhar, 2018). The coefficient value generated by the Cronbach alpha provides the overall status of the questionnaire, and the higher the value of Cronbach alpha, the better the questionnaire.
Results
Factor Analysis
KMO and Bartlett’s Test
KMO and Bartlett’s test checks whether the variables in the questionnaire correlates with each other. Hence the test checks for multicollinearity and provides the basis for continuation with factor analysis. A KMO value of greater than 0.5 provides a sufficient reason for continuity with factor analysis. From the test results, the value of the KMO is 0.886, which is a value above the threshold of 0.5. Hence, there is enough reason to conduct a factor analysis.
Table 1
| KMO and Bartlett’s Test | ||
| Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy. | .886 | |
| Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity | Approx. Chi-Square | 15002.761 |
| df | 4278 | |
| Sig. | .000 | |
Scree Plot
The scree plot involves plotting each of the eigenvalues of the factors. The curve is usually a downward curve in which it guides in the extraction of factors. In this case, the extraction is based on the elbow’s position or the breaking point in the plot. The factors above the elbow, or break in the plot, to be retained. The selection and the generation are based on eigenvalues (Cureton, 2017. However, the plot does not limit the selection of factors as there is an alternative for eigenvalues in which the use of a fixed number of factors can be adapted to extract the factors. In this study, four factors were specified in the extraction of the components.
Rotated Component Matrix
The rotated component matrix guides in formulating present the pattern across the component, making it easier to interpret. The technique used for rotation is called Varimax, in which variables are minimized and arranged as per the factors with higher weights.
Table 2:
| Rotated Component Matrix | ||||||||||
| Component | ||||||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
| I found that I was very irritable | .845 | |||||||||
| I found myself getting agitated | .839 | |||||||||
| I felt that I was rather touchy | .824 | |||||||||
| I found myself getting upset rather easily | .823 | |||||||||
| I was in a state of nervous tension | .792 | |||||||||
| I found myself getting upset by quite trivial things | .787 | |||||||||
| I tended to over-react to situations | .785 | |||||||||
| I felt that I was using a lot of nervous energy | .777 | |||||||||
| I found it hard to calm down after something upset me | .741 | |||||||||
| I found it difficult to relax | .730 | |||||||||
| I found it difficult to tolerate interruptions to what I was doing | .720 | |||||||||
| I found it hard to wind down | .711 | |||||||||
| I found myself getting impatient when I was delayed in any way (e.g., elevators, traffic lights, being kept waiting) | .692 | |||||||||
| I was intolerant of anything that kept me from getting on with what I was doing | .667 | |||||||||
| I get upset easily | .528 | -.508 | ||||||||
| I have frequent mood swings | .493 | -.438 | ||||||||
| My emotional state often changes quickly | -.486 | .412 | ||||||||
| I am easily bothered by unexpected events | -.456 | .375 | ||||||||
| I get frustrated if things don’t go to plan | -.437 | .388 | ||||||||
| I seldom feel blue | ||||||||||
| When I am driving, I become agitated if another car cuts me off | ||||||||||
| I can remain calm during difficult times | .716 | |||||||||
| I can remain calm, even when things don’t go my way | .699 | |||||||||
| I face life’s challenges calmly | .688 | |||||||||
| I can remain impartial during positive or negative events | .673 | .306 | ||||||||
| I can readily adapt to life’s ups and downs | .629 | |||||||||
| I can remain calm even when presented with a challenging situation | .619 | |||||||||
| I find that I can be calm and/or happy even if things are not going my way | .610 | |||||||||
| It takes a lot for me to lose my cool | .599 | |||||||||
| I do not handle stressful situations well | -.457 | .545 | ||||||||
| I notice that I don’t take difficulties so personally | -.362 | .540 | ||||||||
| I can accept the flow of events in my life without hanging onto them or pushing them away | .525 | .303 | ||||||||
| I can quickly move on from disappointments | .504 | |||||||||
| I can observe unpleasant feelings without being drawn into them | .498 | .445 | ||||||||
| I am relaxed most of the time | .325 | -.487 | -.306 | |||||||
| I find I can be happy almost regardless of what is going on in my life | -.306 | .474 | ||||||||
| I can remain open to thoughts and feelings that come into my mind, even if they are negative or painful | .466 | .423 | ||||||||
| I do not get overly emotional when remembering past events | .459 | |||||||||
| I can remain open to what life offers me regardless of whether it seems desirable or undesirable at a particular time | .447 | .329 | ||||||||
| I can experience compassion for people I disagree with | .415 | .366 | ||||||||
| I can let go of regrets and feelings of dissatisfaction about the past | .368 | .304 | .350 | |||||||
| I find myself doing things without paying attention. | .795 | |||||||||
| I rush through activities without being really attentive to them. | .768 | |||||||||
| I do jobs or tasks automatically, without being aware of what I’m doing. | .753 | |||||||||
| It seems I am “running on automatic,” without much awareness of what I’m doing. | .718 | |||||||||
| I get so focused on the goal I want to achieve that I lose touch with what I’m doing right now to get there. | .688 | |||||||||
| I find myself listening to someone with one ear, doing something else at the same time. | .603 | |||||||||
| I drive places on ‘automatic pilot’ and then wonder why I went there. | .559 | |||||||||
| I tend to walk quickly to get where I’m going without paying attention to what I experience along the way. | .546 | |||||||||
| I snack without being aware that I’m eating. | .508 | |||||||||
| I find it difficult to stay focused on what’s happening in the present. | .490 | .329 | ||||||||
| I break or spill things because of carelessness, not paying attention, or thinking of something else. | .436 | .394 | ||||||||
| I tend not to notice feelings of physical tension or discomfort until they really grab my attention. | .429 | |||||||||
| I find myself preoccupied with the future or the past. | .400 | |||||||||
| I could be experiencing some emotion and not be conscious of it until sometime later. | .383 | |||||||||
| I forget a person’s name almost as soon as I’ve been told it for the first time. | .363 | |||||||||
| I am consciously aware of a sense of my body as a whole | .736 | |||||||||
| I have the sense that I am fully aware of what is going on around me and inside me | .607 | |||||||||
| I can take time to respond to difficulties | .596 | |||||||||
| I can separate myself from my thoughts and feelings | .337 | .495 | ||||||||
| I view things from a wider perspective | .335 | .482 | ||||||||
| I am open to reflecting on my past mistakes and failings | .468 | |||||||||
| I can actually see that I am not my thoughts | .314 | .466 | ||||||||
| I can slow my thinking at times of stress | .419 | .439 | ||||||||
| I am open to all life experiences, whether positive or negative | .352 | .431 | ||||||||
| I am comfortable being an ordinary, less than perfect human being | .429 | |||||||||
| I can treat myself kindly | .425 | .350 | ||||||||
| I am satisfied with life | .814 | |||||||||
| So far I have gotten the important things I want in life | .785 | |||||||||
| In most ways, my life is close to my ideal | .300 | .780 | ||||||||
| The conditions of my life are excellent | .745 | |||||||||
| If I could have my life over, I would change almost nothing | .689 | |||||||||
| I am able to accept myself as I am | .317 | .336 | .407 | |||||||
| I am not interested in abstract ideas | .729 | |||||||||
| I have difficulty understanding abstract ideas | .658 | |||||||||
| I am not really interested in others | .658 | |||||||||
| I do not have a good imagination | .517 | .463 | ||||||||
| I am not interested in other people’s problems | .488 | .371 | ||||||||
| If I see food I enjoy, I have to eat it straight away | .327 | |||||||||
| I am the life of the party | .787 | |||||||||
| I talk to a lot of different people at parties | .778 | |||||||||
| I keep in the background | .767 | |||||||||
| I don’t talk a lot | .757 | |||||||||
| I like order | .724 | |||||||||
| I get chores done right away | .710 | |||||||||
| I often forget to put things back in their proper place | .703 | |||||||||
| I make a mess of things | -.339 | .529 | ||||||||
| I feel others’ emotions | .600 | .326 | ||||||||
| I treat everyone I meet (e.g., friends, family, strangers) equally | .491 | |||||||||
| I feel comfortable saying sorry if something is my fault | .485 | |||||||||
| I can sympathize with others’ feelings | .460 | |||||||||
| I have a vivid imagination | .596 | |||||||||
| I view all things in my life, whether good or bad, as being temporary | .369 | |||||||||
| Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.
Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization. |
||||||||||
| a. Rotation converged in 9 iterations. | ||||||||||
Reliability Analysis
Cronbach’s alpha is represented in the reliability statistics in which the measure of internal consistency is established (Bashir & Marudhar, 2018). The Reliability statistics table provides a coefficient of 0.828. This value indicates that there is an internal consistence of .828 which imply that that 82.8% of the variance in the data is reliable. The total item statistics table shows how the statistics of the total item behaves when a single item is deleted or removed from the procedure.
Table 3
| Reliability Statistics | ||
| Cronbach’s Alpha | Cronbach’s Alpha Based on Standardized Items | N of Items |
| .828 | .819 | 46 |
| Item Statistics | |||
| Mean | Std. Deviation | N | |
| I face life’s challenges calmly | 5.14 | 1.273 | 241 |
| I can remain calm during difficult times | 5.40 | 1.258 | 241 |
| I feel comfortable saying sorry if something is my fault | 6.17 | 1.050 | 241 |
| I view all things in my life, whether good or bad, as being temporary | 4.99 | 1.424 | 241 |
| I treat everyone I meet (e.g., friends, family, strangers) equally | 4.93 | 1.603 | 241 |
| I can remain calm, even when things don’t go my way | 5.29 | 1.193 | 241 |
| I can readily adapt to life’s ups and downs | 5.41 | 1.148 | 241 |
| I can remain impartial during positive or negative events | 4.74 | 1.262 | 241 |
| If I see food I enjoy, I have to eat it straight away | 4.39 | 1.825 | 241 |
| I am open to reflecting on my past mistakes and failings | 4.95 | 1.126 | 241 |
| It seems I am “running on automatic,” without much awareness of what I’m doing. | 3.69 | 1.457 | 241 |
| I rush through activities without being really attentive to them. | 3.73 | 1.393 | 241 |
| I do jobs or tasks automatically, without being aware of what I’m doing. | 3.64 | 1.413 | 241 |
| I find myself listening to someone with one ear, doing something else at the same time. | 3.37 | 1.469 | 241 |
| I find myself doing things without paying attention. | 3.73 | 1.303 | 241 |
| I am able to accept myself as I am | 3.85 | .860 | 241 |
| I can separate myself from my thoughts and feelings | 3.31 | .987 | 241 |
| I have the sense that I am fully aware of what is going on around me and inside me | 3.65 | 1.010 | 241 |
| I am consciously aware of a sense of my body as a whole | 3.41 | 1.130 | 241 |
| I can take time to respond to difficulties | 3.54 | .979 | 241 |
| I view things from a wider perspective | 4.08 | .820 | 241 |
| I am the life of the party | 2.56 | 1.157 | 241 |
| I get chores done right away | 3.38 | 1.163 | 241 |
| I have a vivid imagination | 3.81 | 1.097 | 241 |
| I don’t talk a lot | 3.27 | 1.225 | 241 |
| I am not interested in other people’s problems | 4.02 | 1.060 | 241 |
| I often forget to put things back in their proper place | 3.73 | 1.257 | 241 |
| I am not interested in abstract ideas | 3.91 | 1.075 | 241 |
| I talk to a lot of different people at parties | 2.84 | 1.339 | 241 |
| I feel others’ emotions | 4.13 | .894 | 241 |
| I like order | 3.99 | .960 | 241 |
| I have difficulty understanding abstract ideas | 4.01 | 1.063 | 241 |
| I keep in the background | 3.11 | 1.204 | 241 |
| I am not really interested in others | 4.20 | .977 | 241 |
| I make a mess of things | 3.98 | 1.123 | 241 |
| I do not have a good imagination | 4.19 | 1.023 | 241 |
| In most ways, my life is close to my ideal | 4.83 | 1.667 | 241 |
| The conditions of my life are excellent | 5.31 | 1.477 | 241 |
| I am satisfied with life | 5.37 | 1.429 | 241 |
| If I could have my life over, I would change almost nothing | 4.46 | 1.796 | 241 |
| I was in a state of nervous tension | 2.15 | 1.080 | 241 |
| I found myself getting upset rather easily | 2.05 | 1.015 | 241 |
| I found myself getting upset by quite trivial things | 1.85 | .960 | 241 |
| I found myself getting agitated | 2.10 | 1.026 | 241 |
| I found that I was very irritable | 1.98 | 1.012 | 241 |
| I felt that I was rather touchy | 1.99 | .970 | 241 |
| Summary Item Statistics | |||||||
| Mean | Minimum | Maximum | Range | Maximum / Minimum | Variance | N of Items | |
| Item Means | 3.884 | 1.846 | 6.174 | 4.328 | 3.344 | 1.107 | 46 |
| Item Variances | 1.486 | .673 | 3.330 | 2.657 | 4.948 | .383 | 46 |
| Item-Total Statistics | |||||
| Scale Mean if Item Deleted | Scale Variance if Item Deleted | Corrected Item-Total Correlation | Squared Multiple Correlation | Cronbach’s Alpha if Item Deleted | |
| I face life’s challenges calmly | 173.51 | 333.659 | .527 | .739 | .818 |
| I can remain calm during difficult times | 173.25 | 335.565 | .492 | .726 | .819 |
| I feel comfortable saying sorry if something is my fault | 172.48 | 346.509 | .312 | .417 | .824 |
| I view all things in my life, whether good or bad, as being temporary | 173.66 | 337.757 | .383 | .371 | .822 |
| I treat everyone I meet (e.g., friends, family, strangers) equally | 173.73 | 343.525 | .231 | .292 | .827 |
| I can remain calm, even when things don’t go my way | 173.36 | 335.665 | .520 | .641 | .819 |
| I can readily adapt to life’s ups and downs | 173.24 | 334.859 | .563 | .632 | .818 |
| I can remain impartial during positive or negative events | 173.91 | 337.950 | .437 | .548 | .821 |
| If I see food I enjoy, I have to eat it straight away | 174.27 | 342.379 | .209 | .296 | .828 |
| I am open to reflecting on my past mistakes and failings | 173.70 | 343.829 | .352 | .436 | .823 |
| It seems I am “running on automatic,” without much awareness of what I’m doing. | 174.96 | 329.832 | .527 | .649 | .817 |
| I rush through activities without being really attentive to them. | 174.92 | 332.190 | .506 | .660 | .818 |
| I do jobs or tasks automatically, without being aware of what I’m doing. | 175.01 | 333.625 | .469 | .626 | .819 |
| I find myself listening to someone with one ear, doing something else at the same time. | 175.28 | 337.828 | .367 | .459 | .822 |
| I find myself doing things without paying attention. | 174.92 | 334.365 | .499 | .674 | .819 |
| I am able to accept myself as I am | 174.80 | 343.191 | .499 | .495 | .821 |
| I can separate myself from my thoughts and feelings | 175.34 | 342.034 | .461 | .494 | .821 |
| I have the sense that I am fully aware of what is going on around me and inside me | 175.00 | 342.696 | .430 | .506 | .822 |
| I am consciously aware of a sense of my body as a whole | 175.24 | 339.867 | .448 | .507 | .821 |
| I can take time to respond to difficulties | 175.11 | 347.067 | .323 | .374 | .824 |
| I view things from a wider perspective | 174.57 | 341.954 | .567 | .530 | .820 |
| I am the life of the party | 176.09 | 350.463 | .185 | .652 | .827 |
| I get chores done right away | 175.27 | 348.573 | .228 | .466 | .826 |
| I have a vivid imagination | 174.84 | 349.461 | .223 | .473 | .826 |
| I don’t talk a lot | 175.38 | 353.219 | .111 | .515 | .829 |
| I am not interested in other people’s problems | 174.63 | 353.285 | .136 | .397 | .828 |
| I often forget to put things back in their proper place | 174.92 | 345.606 | .270 | .503 | .825 |
| I am not interested in abstract ideas | 174.74 | 349.919 | .218 | .509 | .826 |
| I talk to a lot of different people at parties | 175.81 | 347.105 | .219 | .574 | .827 |
| I feel others’ emotions | 174.52 | 351.801 | .215 | .360 | .826 |
| I like order | 174.66 | 350.924 | .222 | .461 | .826 |
| I have difficulty understanding abstract ideas | 174.64 | 345.265 | .340 | .471 | .824 |
| I keep in the background | 175.54 | 348.174 | .227 | .579 | .826 |
| I am not really interested in others | 174.45 | 349.123 | .267 | .549 | .825 |
| I make a mess of things | 174.67 | 348.738 | .234 | .506 | .826 |
| I do not have a good imagination | 174.46 | 347.691 | .290 | .545 | .825 |
| In most ways, my life is close to my ideal | 173.83 | 329.070 | .463 | .747 | .819 |
| The conditions of my life are excellent | 173.34 | 331.252 | .491 | .716 | .818 |
| I am satisfied with life | 173.28 | 330.612 | .523 | .784 | .818 |
| If I could have my life over, I would change almost nothing | 174.19 | 334.752 | .332 | .506 | .824 |
| I was in a state of nervous tension | 176.51 | 370.784 | -.292 | .687 | .837 |
| I found myself getting upset rather easily | 176.60 | 368.899 | -.259 | .805 | .836 |
| I found myself getting upset by quite trivial things | 176.80 | 369.408 | -.285 | .787 | .836 |
| I found myself getting agitated | 176.55 | 370.999 | -.310 | .802 | .837 |
| I found that I was very irritable | 176.68 | 369.986 | -.287 | .823 | .837 |
| I felt that I was rather touchy | 176.66 | 368.975 | -.271 | .788 | .836 |
| Scale Statistics | |||
| Mean | Variance | Std. Deviation | N of Items |
| 178.65 | 359.820 | 18.969 | 46 |
Discussion
The new equanimity scale was aided by the factor analysis method. The reduction of items facilitated the retention of critical components in the scale. The decision to subject the variable to factor analysis was guided by the initial KMO and Barletta’s test, which provided a value above the recommended threshold of 0.5. The value generated was 0.886, implying a sufficient reason for the selection of factor analysis as a component reduction technique. The reduction criteria were initially aided by the generation of a scree plot from which the plotting of each eigenvalue of the factors was conducted. The scree plot properties entailed a downward curve from which components in the data set were extracted. However, the retention of the variables was based on the position of the elbow and break in the plot.
The specification of a fixed number of components, as indicated in the selection of components, limits the number of factors. Therefore, the scree plot was adopted for the selection of factors but was used as a guide to the criteria of selecting the variables. Using the fixed factors, ten factors were indicated to retain the definitions of the previously generated variables. However, the surrogates with the variables were reduced to ensure only the powerful surrogates were left for each variable. The weight of the factors as indicated in the rotated component matrix in which all the variables in the table were selected for the equanimity scale. The selected component for each variable is indicated in the appendices.
The new measure was further subject to a reliability analysis to confirm the consistency of the new variables. The Cronbach alpha coefficient showed that the new measure was reliable and consistent as the value generated was within the recommended range. The value generated was 0.828, indicating that 82% of the variance in the data was reliable.
References
Bashir, J., & Marudhar, M. (2018). Reliability & Validity of the Research. Scientific Journal of
India, 3(1), 66-69. doi: 10.21276/24565644/2018.v3. i1.23
Cureton, E. (2017). Factor Analysis. [Place of publication not identified]: Psychology Press.
Nair, N. (2016). Quantile-Based Reliability Analysis. [Place of publication not identified]:
Birkhauser.
Pitt, D. (2017). The paraphenomenal hypothesis. Analysis, 77(4), 735-741. doi:
10.1093/analys/anx123
Summary of selected variables from Factor Analysis
Factor 1
I found that I was very irritable
I found myself getting agitated
I felt that I was rather touchy
I found myself getting upset rather easily
I was in a state of nervous tension
I found myself getting upset by quite trivial things
Factor 2
I can remain calm during difficult times
I can remain calm, even when things don’t go my way
I face life’s challenges calmly
I can remain impartial during positive or negative events
I can readily adapt to life’s ups and downs
Factor 3
I find myself doing things without paying attention.
I rush through activities without being really attentive to them.
I do jobs or tasks automatically, without being aware of what I’m doing.
It seems I am “running on automatic,” without much awareness of what I’m doing.
Factor 4
I am consciously aware of a sense of my body as a whole
I have the sense that I am fully aware of what is going on around me and inside me
I can take time to respond to difficulties
I can separate myself from my thoughts and feelings
I view things from a wider perspective
I am open to reflecting on my past mistakes and failings
Factor 5
I am satisfied with life
So far, I have gotten the important things I want in life
In most ways, my life is close to my ideal
The conditions of my life are excellent
If I could have my life over, I would change almost nothing
I am able to accept myself as I am
Factor 6
I am not interested in abstract ideas
I have difficulty understanding abstract ideas
I am not really interested in others
I do not have a good imagination
I am not interested in other people’s problems
If I see food I enjoy, I have to eat it straight away
Factor 7
I am the life of the party
I talk to a lot of different people at parties
I keep in the background
I don’t talk a lot
Factor 8
I like order
I get chores done right away
I often forget to put things back in their proper place
I make a mess of things
Factor 9
I feel others’ emotions
I treat everyone I meet (e.g., friends, family, strangers) equally
I feel comfortable saying sorry if something is my fault
Factor 10
I can sympathize with others’ feelings
I have a vivid imagination
I view all things in my life, whether good or bad, as being temporary