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Psychological Mindedness (PM) is a construct originally conceptualized by psychodynamically oriented psychotherapists to describe the psychological quality of perceiving relationships among thoughts, feelings, and actions, and thus appreciating their influence on human behavior (Appelbaum 1973; Beitel et al. 2005). In addition, high PM has been thought to predict a better response to treatment in psychotherapy patients (Conte, Ratto, and Karasu 1996; Farber 1985, 1989), with increased retention and engagement in the therapeutic process (McCallum and Piper 1990).
Recent studies have examined relationships among PM and hypothetically related concepts, such as personality and attachment security (Beitel and Cecero 2003). Openness to Experience ([.beta] = 0.33, t = 5.22, p < .01) and Extraversion ([.beta] = 0.21, t = 2.96, p < .01), on the NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) were positively associated with PM, while an inverse association was found with Neuroticism ([.beta] = -0.19,t = -2.70, p < .01). Attachment to Peers ([.beta] = 0.15, t = 2.14,p < .05), on the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA) was significantly associated with PM: Attachment to Mother and Attachment to Father were not significantly related to PM.
Ethnic differences have not emerged in recent studies of PM (Beitel and Cecero 2003; Beitel, Ferrer, and Cecero 2004, 2005). However, the number of Asian Americans in any given sample has been low. We have recently begun to develop norms for the PM Scale and have developed a database of 750 college students. Our recent analysis (Beitel et al. 2007) of this large data set revealed that Asian Americans (n = 61, M = 131.78, SD= 14.01) reported statistically significantly lower PM Scale scores (ANOVA,F = 4.00, p = .008) than blacks (n = 61, M = 133.67, SD = 11.75), Hispanics (n = 88, M = 134.69, SD = 11.87), and whites (n = 458, M = 136.80, SD = 12.27).