Abstract
Recently, the science behind mindfulness meditation has increasingly turned toward how and why its practice can result in such varying psychological change. This chapter investigates and identifies equanimity as one of the key facets of mindfulness therapeutic effectiveness. This validation work seeks to propose equanimity as a distinct secular construct to be further examined in clinical settings. Therefore, the studies reviewed within this chapter were motivated by the lack of comprehensive empirical research into the construct of equanimity within Mindfulness-Based Interventions (MBIs). Often, MBIs implicitly cover equanimity; however, at the time when the Equanimity Barriers Scale (EBS) was developed, there had been no specific psychometric scales that measure equanimity or barriers to equanimity, and no primary operational definition is available in Western science. This restricts scientific research and understanding into the psychologically therapeutic elements of mindfulness practice. This chapter seeks to present validation of the first scale to measure barriers to equanimity, henceforth known as the EBS. The proposed EBS was validated by four separate studies. The first principal component analysis (n = 453) was utilized in order to explore underlying factors associated with barriers to equanimity. The second validation stage refined the factors via confirmatory factor analysis (n = 108), and the third stage (n = 302) tested convergent and discriminant validity of the scale. The final validation stage (n = 327) tested differences between groups in relation to the EBS with age, anxiety, depression, and mental well-being. The findings demonstrated how a person with fewer barriers to equanimity is more likely to be able to emotionally regulate, have greater self-compassion, mindfulness, and mental well-being, whereas a person who has higher barriers to equanimity has greater risk of anxiety, depression, and difficulties in emotional regulation. The development of a new model and scale to measure barriers to equanimity extends the body of knowledge related to the adoption of equanimity within person-centered therapy, clinical psychology, and general health and well-being. Understanding barriers to equanimity enables individuals to strengthen mindfulness practice and continue advancement in well-being with openness and less discrimination.