Sutton, AM

Wicks, C

E-space: Manchester Metropolitan University's Research Repository

How	  can	  we	  measure	  the	  impact	  of	  self-­‐awareness	  at	  work?	  	  Construc7on	  of	  the	  Self-­‐Awareness	  Outcomes	  Ques7onnaire	  Introduc7on	  A#empts	  to	  improve	  an	  individual’s	  self-­‐awareness	  are	  made	  in	  ﬁelds	  as	  diverse	  as	  employee	  development	  [1],	  counsellor	  training	  [2]	  and	  con?nuing	  professional	  development.	  There	  is	  good	  evidence	  for	  the	  beneﬁcial	  consequences	  of	  self-­‐awareness	  in	  everyday	  life	  [3],	  but	  the	  prac?cal	  impact	  of	  self-­‐awareness	  at	  work	  remains	  diﬃcult	  to	  measure.	  	  Current	  research	  into	  self-­‐awareness	  tends	  to	  focus	  on	  related	  concepts	  such	  as	  mindfulness	  [4]	  or	  to	  opera?onalise	  self-­‐awareness	  as	  a	  personality	  trait	  [5].	  Given	  the	  substan?al	  investment	  of	  ?me	  and	  money	  by	  organisa?ons	  and	  individuals	  in	  ac?vi?es	  promo?ng	  self-­‐awareness,	  a	  reliable	  and	  valid	  measure	  of	  actual	  workplace	  outcomes	  is	  an	  essen?al	  step	  in	  assessing	  the	  return	  on	  these	  investments.	  We	  address	  this	  need	  by	  developing	  the	  Self-­‐awareness	  Outcomes	  Ques?onnaire	  (SAOQ).	  	  Research	  Aims	  •  To	  create	  an	  ini7al	  self-­‐report	  measure	  of	  self-­‐awareness	  correlates	  •  To	  further	  explore	  and	  iden7fy	  the	  outcomes	  associated	  with	  self-­‐awareness	  Applica7ons	  •  The	  SAOQ	  enables	  prac??oners	  and	  researchers	  to	  measure	  the	  prac7cal	  impact	  of	  self-­‐awareness	  interven7ons	  on	  employees’	  work	  lives.	  	  •  Because	  items	  were	  originally	  developed	  from	  a	  longitudinal	  study,	  the	  SAOQ	  can	  be	  used	  to	  demonstrate	  both	  the	  short-­‐	  and	  long-­‐term	  u7lity	  of	  improved	  self-­‐awareness	  in	  a	  range	  of	  developmental	  contexts	  at	  work.	  	  •  We	  also	  contribute	  to	  improved	  theore7cal	  understanding	  of	  the	  self-­‐awareness	  and	  mindfulness	  concepts,	  par?cularly	  the	  intriguing	  ﬁnding	  that	  mindfulness	  shows	  a	  similar	  (nega?ve)	  pa#ern	  of	  outcomes	  to	  rumina?on.	  	  •  Finally,	  our	  results	  indicate	  that	  students	  on	  counselling	  or	  therapy-­‐related	  courses	  report	  more	  costs	  of	  self-­‐awareness	  than	  equivalent	  business	  students.	  It	  is	  important	  that	  any	  interven7ons	  designed	  to	  improve	  self-­‐awareness	  include	  appropriate	  support	  to	  help	  par?cipants	  to	  deal	  with	  these	  costs.	  Limita7ons:	  Further	  work	  is	  needed	  to	  conﬁrm	  the	  factor	  structure	  in	  diﬀerent	  popula?ons.	  	  Results	  Ques?onnaire	  development	  Factor	  analysis	  was	  conducted	  on	  the	  SAOQ	  items	  (alpha	  factoring	  	  with	  promax	  rota?on	  to	  maximise	  alpha	  reliability	  of	  the	  resul?ng	  	  subscales).	  Items	  which	  did	  not	  load	  clearly	  (above	  .4)	  on	  a	  single	  	  factor	  were	  excluded	  and	  resul?ng	  factors	  with	  a	  reliability	  α	  >	  .7	  were	  retained.	  	  Factor	  analysis	  was	  rerun	  on	  the	  remaining	  38	  items,	  resul?ng	  in	  a	  4	  factor	  structure	  which	  explained	  45%	  of	  the	  variance.	  The	  subscales	  represent	  3	  groups	  of	  beneﬁts	  of	  self-­‐awareness	  and	  one	  of	  costs.	  Rela?onship	  between	  self-­‐awareness	  measures	  and	  SAOQ	  +	  /	  –	  indicates	  posi?ve	  /	  nega?ve	  correla?on	  (p<.05)	  In	  addi?on,	  increased	  engagement	  in	  mindfulness	  or	  self-­‐awareness	  prac?ces	  is	  associated	  with	  increased	  Reﬂec%ve	  Self-­‐Development	  and	  Acceptance	  but	  also	  increased	  Costs.	  Self-­‐Awareness	  Outcomes	  T-­‐test	  comparisons	  of	  the	  subsample	  groups	  conﬁrmed	  the	  theore?cally	  expected	  diﬀerences	  in	  self-­‐awareness	  between	  the	  groups.	  Comparison	  of	  the	  groups	  on	  the	  SAOQ	  scales	  also	  showed	  signiﬁcant	  diﬀerences:	  •  Therapists	  reported	  higher	  Reﬂec%ve	  Self-­‐Development	  and	  Proac%ve	  at	  Work	  outcomes	  than	  non-­‐therapists	  •  Students	  on	  therapy-­‐related	  courses	  reported	  higher	  Costs	  than	  business	  students	  	  Method	  We	  developed	  a	  comprehensive	  list	  of	  SAOQ	  items	  from	  three	  sources:	  	  •  a	  thorough	  literature	  search	  •  analysis	  of	  reported	  outcomes	  of	  employee	  development	  workshops	  	  •  focus	  group	  discussions	  with	  counsellors	  experienced	  in	  developing	  client	  self-­‐awareness	  This	  resulted	  in	  a	  ﬁnal	  list	  of	  83	  items	  represen?ng	  14	  diﬀerent	  groups	  of	  outcomes.	  E.g.:	  A	  stra?ﬁed	  sampling	  approach	  recruited	  215	  par?cipants	  (76%	  female,	  mean	  age	  35.8	  years)	  from	  four	  diﬀerent	  popula?ons,	  represen?ng	  theore?cally	  diﬀerent	  levels	  of	  self-­‐awareness:	  Par?cipants	  completed	  an	  online	  ques?onnaire	  ba#ery	  including:	  •  The	  SAOQ	  items	  •  Measures	  of	  diﬀerent	  conceptualisa?ons	  of	  self-­‐awareness	  	  •  Reﬂec?on-­‐Rumina?on	  Ques?onnaire	  [5]	  (Reﬂec?on	  is	  a	  type	  of	  self-­‐a#en?veness	  associated	  with	  posi?ve	  well-­‐being,	  Rumina?on	  is	  associated	  with	  nega?ve	  well-­‐being)	  •  Mindful	  A#en?on	  Awareness	  Scale	  [6]	  •  Self-­‐Reﬂec?on	  /	  Insight	  Scale	  [7]	  •  Engagement	  in	  mindfulness	  /	  self-­‐awareness	  prac?ces	  (e.g.	  medita?on,	  wri?ng	  a	  journal).	  	  Anna	  Su'on	  and	  Claire	  Wicks	  Corresponding	  author:	  a.su'on@mmu.ac.uk	  Subscale	   Example	  item	   No.	  items	  alpha	  Proac7ve	  at	  work	   I	  take	  control	  of	  my	  work	  	   9	   .81	  Acceptance	  (of	  self	  and	  others)	  I	  feel	  on	  the	  whole	  very	  comfortable	  with	  the	  way	  I	  am	  	  11	   .83	  Reﬂec7ve	  self-­‐development	  I	  focus	  on	  ways	  of	  amending	  my	  behaviour	  that	  would	  be	  useful	  	  11	   .87	  Costs	   I	  feel	  vulnerable	   7	   .77	  Reﬂec7ve	  Self-­‐development	  Acceptance	  of	  self	  and	  others	  Proac7ve	  at	  Work	  Costs	  Insight	   +	   +	   +	   –	  Self-­‐reﬂec?on	   +	   +	   +	  Reﬂec?on	   +	   +	  Rumina?on	   –	   +	  	  Mindfulness	   –	   +	  Higher levels of self-awareness Average levels of self-awareness Therapists / counsellors Employees in fields unrelated to psychotherapy  Post-graduate counselling students Post-graduate business students Group Item Understanding / acceptance of others, diversity I have compassion and acceptance for others Understanding / acceptance of self I have learnt about myself and how I see the world Costs of self-awareness I feel vulnerable 1.Wales,	  S.,	  Why	  coaching?	  Journal	  of	  Change	  Management,	  2002.	  3(3):	  p.	  275-­‐282.	  2.Lennie,	  C.,	  The	  role	  of	  personal	  development	  groups	  in	  counsellor	  training:	  understanding	  factors	  contribu%ng	  to	  self-­‐awareness	  in	  the	  personal	  development	  group.	  Bri?sh	  Journal	  of	  Guidance	  and	  Counselling,	  2007.	  35(1):	  p.	  115-­‐129.	  3.Wilson,	  T.D.	  and	  E.W.	  Dunn,	  Self-­‐Knowledge:	  Its	  Limits,	  Value	  and	  Poten%al	  for	  Improvement.	  Annual	  Review	  of	  Psychology,	  2004.	  55:	  p.	  493-­‐518.	  4.Walach,	  H.,	  et	  al.,	  Measuring	  mindfulness	  -­‐	  the	  Freiburg	  Mindfulness	  Inventory.	  Personality	  and	  Individual	  Diﬀerences,	  2006.	  40:	  p.	  1543-­‐1555.	  5.Trapnell,	  P.D.	  and	  J.D.	  Campbell,	  Private	  Self-­‐Consciousness	  and	  the	  Five	  Factor	  Model	  of	  Personality:	  Dis%nguishing	  Rumina%on	  from	  Reﬂec%on.	  Journal	  of	  Personality	  and	  Social	  Psychology,	  1999.	  76(2):	  p.	  284-­‐304.	  6.Brown,	  K.W.	  and	  R.M.	  Ryan,	  The	  Beneﬁts	  of	  Being	  Present:	  Mindfulness	  and	  Its	  Role	  in	  Psychological	  Well-­‐Being.	  Journal	  of	  Personality	  and	  Social	  Psychology,	  2003.	  84(4):	  p.	  822-­‐848.	  7.Grant,	  A.M.,	  J.	  Franklin,	  and	  P.	  Langford,	  The	  Self-­‐Reﬂec%on	  and	  Insight	  Scale:	  A	  new	  measure	  of	  private	  self-­‐consciousness.	  Social	  Behavior	  and	  Personality,	  2002.	  30(8):	  p.	  821-­‐835.	  

How Can We Measure the Impact of Self-Awareness at Work? Construction of the Self-Awareness Outcomes Questionnaire

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How Can We Measure the Impact of Self-Awareness at Work? Construction of the Self-Awareness Outcomes Questionnaire

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