The Psychological Mindedness Scale: factor structure, convergent validity and gender in a non-psychiatric sample

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.