The Effect of Contemplative Practices on Faculty Perceptions of Stress
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Authors
Noyes, James C.
Date
8/3/2020
Type
text
Language
en_US
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
Electronic Thesis or Dissertation
Description
The purpose of this quantitative repeated measures study was to determine what changes (if any) occurred to perceptions of stress when fulltime faculty members incorporated contemplative practices into their daily lives. This study analyzed perceptions of stress and mindful awareness and the impacts that frequency, duration, and type of contemplative practice have on perceived stress and mindful attention. Additionally, tenure status, length of time teaching in higher education, and years teaching at current institution were analyzed for their possible impact on perceptions of stress. This study used the Perceived Stress Scale (Cohen, 1994) and the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (Brown & Ryan, 2003) to record the pre-test and post-test responses of 17 fulltime faculty members employed at higher education institutions in New Hampshire and Vermont. Statistical analysis confirmed that while perceptions of stress were correlated with mindful attention awareness, dependent variables did not significantly change perceptions of stress. The only notable exception, participants who increased the number of days they engaged in contemplative practices did see significant reductions in their perceived stress. This study was the first to examine faculty perceptions of stress and contemplative practices using a quasi-experimental design. The findings from this study provide valuable insight into the degree of stress that faculty are experiencing and what tools they are currently employing to deal with their personal and professional stressor factors. The data from this study also shows that while perceptions of stress are correlated with mindful states, more research needs to be done to better understand the inverse relationship between these two factors. Educational leaders and faculty members may find this data helpful in addressing the workplace dynamics that may contribute to faculty stress.