Mindfulness test (MAAS)
See what the scale measures, how it is scored, and how a result is read against the population that actually fits you.
The Mindful Attention Awareness Scale is the most widely cited single-factor measure of dispositional mindfulness. Developed by Kirk Warren Brown and Richard Ryan in 2003, its fifteen short statements describe everyday lapses of attention - running on automatic, eating without noticing, arriving somewhere with no memory of the drive - and ask how often each happens, so a higher score reflects a more present, attentive way of moving through ordinary life.
The model
What it measures
The MAAS measures one specific thing: present-moment attention and awareness, the receptive noticing of what is happening right now. It is deliberately unidimensional - one total score, no separate subscales - and it captures this single facet rather than the whole of mindfulness.
This is an honest narrowing. Mindfulness as a broader construct also involves non-judging, acceptance, describing inner experience and not over-reacting to it; multi-facet scales such as the FFMQ try to map all of those. The MAAS focuses only on attention and awareness, which is its main strength (a clean, well-validated single index) and its main limitation. The aspects below are illustrative ways that present-moment attention shows up day to day, not separately scored subscales.
- MAMindful Attention & Awareness
Receptive attention to and awareness of present-moment experience - the single attention facet of mindfulness, not the whole construct.
Facets: Noticing the present moment, Acting with awareness (not on autopilot), Attending to feelings and surroundings, Staying focused on what is happening now.
The evidence
Science and validity
The MAAS is one of the most thoroughly validated mindfulness measures. Internal consistency is consistently strong - Cronbach's alpha typically falls between about .80 and .90 across samples and translations - and test-retest reliability is good. It shows the expected known-groups pattern (experienced meditators score higher than non-meditators) and correlates positively with well-being and emotion regulation and negatively with rumination and anxiety, supporting both convergent and discriminant validity.
You rate fifteen statements about everyday experience on a 6-point frequency scale from 1 (almost always) to 6 (almost never). Every item describes a lapse of attention - mindlessness - so the scoring is intuitive: because the anchors run from frequent (1) to rare (6), a higher response already means more mindfulness and no item reversal is needed. The fifteen items are averaged to a single 1-6 score. There are no clinical cut-offs; the result is read against a comparison group, not a pass/fail threshold.
Where you stand
How a score becomes a percentile
A raw score only means something against a comparison group. For example, on the 1-6 metric an averaged mindfulness score of 4.5 sits a little under one standard deviation above the typical adult average (where the mean is near 4.0), placing it around the 78th percentile - more present-moment attention than roughly four in five adults. Drag the slider to see how a score maps to a percentile; your real result is matched to the population that fits you when you take the test.
The reference data
Benchmarked against the population that fits you
We benchmark your result against the population that actually resembles you, across 15 reference groups.
Each reference group is used as its own benchmark, not to rank one country against another.
How it works
What the questions feel like
Illustrative statements showing the style of the items. These are examples, not the official scored items.
I can be moving through my day without much awareness of what I am doing.
Illustrative example in the style of the scale, not an official scored item.
I arrive somewhere and realise I paid no attention to the journey there.
Illustrative example, not an official scored item.
I find it hard to keep my attention on what is happening in the present.
Illustrative example, not an official scored item.
I notice I have eaten something with little awareness that I was eating.
Illustrative example, not an official scored item.
Honest strengths and limitations
Strengths
- The most cited single-factor mindfulness measure in the world, with strong reliability across many languages.
- Short (about 5 minutes), free for research and education, and intuitive - everyday-language items with no reverse-scoring step.
- A clean, single score that is easy to interpret and to track over time.
Limitations
- It measures only one facet of mindfulness - present-moment attention and awareness - and not the broader picture of non-judging, acceptance and not over-reacting that fuller scales capture.
- Like all self-reports it can be shaped by mood and self-presentation, and people new to mindfulness may not notice their own lapses of attention, which can inflate scores.
- It is a normal-range trait index, not a clinical tool, and norms vary by sample and language, so a percentile is a guide, not a verdict.
See your full profile
A complete report, matched to the population that fits you, with plain-language interpretation of every trait.
Frequently asked questions
What does the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale measure?
It measures dispositional mindfulness defined narrowly as present-moment attention and awareness - how often you act with awareness rather than on autopilot. It is one facet of mindfulness, not the whole construct, and it gives a single total score rather than separate subscales.
How is the MAAS scored?
Each of the fifteen items is rated 1 (almost always) to 6 (almost never). Because every item describes a lapse of attention and the anchors run from frequent to rare, higher responses already mean more mindfulness, so no reversal is needed - the items are simply averaged to a 1-6 score. There are no clinical cut-offs; the score is read against a comparison group.
Does a high MAAS score mean I am fully mindful?
Not on its own. The MAAS captures present-moment attention and awareness, which is one important facet of mindfulness but not all of it. A high score means you tend to be attentive and present in daily life; qualities like non-judging and acceptance are measured by other, multi-facet scales.
Is the MAAS free to use?
Yes, for research and education with attribution to Brown & Ryan (2003), via the self-determination theory site. On Psychology.me, the free Snapshot gives you a quick read on present-moment attention alongside other measures.
Related tests
- Brown, K. W., & Ryan, R. M. (2003). The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(4), 822-848.
- Carlson, L. E., & Brown, K. W. (2005). Validation of the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale in a cancer population. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 58(1), 29-33.
The Mindful Attention Awareness Scale is the work of Kirk Warren Brown and Richard Ryan (2003) and is free for research and education with attribution; this independent informational page describes the instrument.