The Consciousness Quotient Inventory © is currently in the international stage of development. Developing of the national versions of the BCQI, in different languages and on various populations is welcomed. You are invited to contribute to this science effort. For more informations please contact the author, Ovidiu Brazdau.
The Consciousness Quotient Inventory contains 62 items, presented below. There are 6 dimensions of the conscious experience, that form the Consciousness Quotient: physical, emotional, mental (cognitive), spiritual, social-relational and self-consciousness. These six dimensions are the main six factors of the CQ Inventory, the instrument that measures the experience of being conscious.
For answers, the Inventory uses a Likert scale with 5 degrees, from 1 to 5 points, showing the gradual agreement of the subject for each item: Strongly disagree, Disagree, Neutral, Agree, Strongly agree.
The primary six factors of the Consciousness Quotient ©:
1. Physical Consciousness: refers to the ability of being conscious of the body and organism, and of the physical elements of the environment (8 items)
2. Emotional Consciousness: describes the ability of being conscious of your own emotions and feelings, and generally, to be conscious of any emotional feeling (10 items)
3. Mental (Cognitive) Consciousness: refers to the ability of being conscious of your own ideas, of the mental stream generally (9 items)
4. Spiritual Consciousness: refers to the ability of being conscious about yourself as a part of the universe, and describes the ability of being conscious about the multiple connections with the surrounding life (13 items)
5. Social – Relational Consciousness: refers to the ability of being conscious about human relationships and the connections with the people you interact with (9 items)
6. Self-Consciousness: Consciousness of Self or Self-Awareness refers to the ability of being conscious about your own person, your own self; this factor describes the ability of the reflexivity of the human being, of being able to look upon itself in an objective way (13 items).
The 9 secondary factors of the Consciousness Quotient ©
In order to describe other facets of he conscious experience, The Inventory has other 9 secondary factors. 34 of the 62 items of the Scale contribute to the secondary factors. The first seven of the secondary factors presented below have items inspired and adapted after the following international scales: „Self-Consciousness Scale” (Fenigstein, 1975), Mindfulness Attention and Awareness Scale-MAAS (Brown and Ryan, 2003), Psychological Well-Being Scales (Ryff, 1995). 24 items of the 62 are adapted from these scales.
1) Internal State Awareness: refers to the ability of being conscious specifically about the inner changes. These items are take part of the emotional and mental consciousness factors (3 items: 9, 10, 22).
2) Self-Reflectiveness: refers to the ability of being conscious in a reflective way about you own person. All the items contribute to the Self-Consciousness factor (5 items: 53, 54, 55, 56, 57).
3) Mindfulness: refers to a way of looking at yourself and your environment in a non-judgmental way. The items are spread into Physical, Emotional and Mental Consciousness factors (5 items: 6, 7, 14, 15, 25).
4) Autonomy: refers to the degree of autonomy- the individualization of a person; in other words, the ability to function autonomous, without requiring external support. All the items contribute to Self-Consciousness factor (3 items: 58, 59, 60).
5) Personal Growth: refers tot the ability of being conscious about the evolutionary transformation one person goes through. The items are part of the Self-Consciousness factor (2 items: 61,62).
6) Positive Relations with Others: is the ability of being conscious about inter-personal relationships. The items are part of the Social-Relational Consciousness factor (3 items: 45, 46, 47).
7) Purpose in Life: refers to existence of a purpose in life. Purpose is the context of meaning within which one makes life choices. The items are part of the Spiritual Consciousness factor (3 items: 33, 34, 35).
8. Verbal Expression: describes the ability of expressing the conscious content through verbal communication. The items are spread one in each main factors (6 items: 4, 12, 21, 30, 43, 52)
9) Openness toward new experiences: refers to the ability of being conscious about new information; generally it is the ability of being open to any new things happening to one. The items are part of the Spiritual Consciousness and Self-Consciousness factors (5 items: 38, 39, 40, 61, 62)
Further Development of the CQ Inventory ©. A conclusion by Ovidiu Brazdau, the author.
“Introducing the Consciousness Quotient in the scientific field I think will be a long term process. I expect that my perspective will be proven valid by future studies, especially as the cognitive psychology viewpoint seems to embrace new perspectives. The CQ Inventory seems to have good methodological indicators. It has passed the core statistical tests. From the secondary factors, only “mindfulness” seems to behave erratically and needs some more studies to see if its items must be kept or eliminated from the Scale.
I estimate that some studies on monks, especially Buddhist monks might provide some answers to that, as mindfulness is a term inspired from Buddhist knowledge. I hope that in time, CQ Inventory will develop. Perhaps some items will be eliminated, and others will appear. It is in our human nature to develop further scientific knowledge.
I invite any researcher to use the CQ Inventory on various populations. My hope is that in time, The Consciousness Quotient concept and the CQ Inventory will be as spread as the IQ term and IQ tests. Please correspond with my by email so that we can share intentions regarding CQ Inventory.”
Items of the Consciousness Quotient Inventory ©
Important notice for professionals who use the CQ Inventory:
For answers add a Likert scale with 5 degrees, from 1 to 5 points, showing the gradual agreement of the for each item: Strongly disagree, Disagree, Neutral, Agree, Strongly agree.
Copyright notes:
1. The CQ Inventory is protected by the International Copyright Laws, and it is free to use for non-profit researches with the written approval of the author: Ovidiu Brazdau. Requests must be send by email and must contain details about the research.
2. Anyone who uses the Consciousness Quotient Inventory must include at least the following notice in the report: “The Consciousness Quotient (CQ) and Consciousness Quotient Inventory concepts were developed by psychologist Ovidiu Brazdau, PhD and first presented at the Toward a Science of Consciousness Conference, 2009. More information are available at www.consciousness-quotient.com“.
Consciousness Quotient Inventory, 2009 ©
Romanian pdf version of the Brazdau Consciousness Quotient Inventory is available here.
Physical Consciousness
1 Generally I am conscious about the changes in my body / organism
2 I quickly notice when there is a physiological change in my body (e.g. a scratch, stomach indispositions etc.)
3 I am generally aware of the moment when I get hungry or thirsty
4 It is easy for me to describe my body and its physiological changes
5 I am quick to notice when my body requires me to eat or drink some specific food
6* It happens that I eat various snacks, but only realize this after a period of time
7* It happens frequently that I break or spill things because I am not paying attention, or I am thinking of something else
8 I am usually the first who reacts to a sudden event: when a telephone rings or someone suddenly asks a question
Emotional Consciousness
9 Generally I am conscious of my inner feelings and emotions
10 I am quick to notice when a change occurs in my emotions and feelings
11 I feel deeply involved when some very emotional scenes are on TV
12 It is easy for me to talk about my emotions and feelings and I frequently express them when talking to my close friends
13 Generally I know the differences between sexual attraction and emotional attraction
14* It happens often that I experience strong emotions but I am not aware of these until sometime later
15* Generally I am conscious of my feelings and emotions only when they become intense
16 I consider myself to be a sentimental person
17 I feel compassion when I see a homeless person
18 When I am talking with someone, I can feel his/her emotional state
Mental (Cognitive) Consciousness
19 I am generally conscious of my thoughts and how they are changing
20 I am quick to notice when my thoughts, my mental vigilance changes
21 It is easy for me to talk about my thoughts and ideas, generally I easily express my thoughts
22 I know how my mind works when I solve a problem
23 I often find myself daydreaming with opened eyes
24 I am constantly examining my own ideas and perspectives about various things
25 It happens frequently to me that I lose awareness of what is happening around me when I am thinking of something important
26 I often have moments of insights, when all of a sudden my mind becomes clear and I see the solution
27 Generally I analyze a situation from a number of perspectives (what if this…, what if that…)
Spiritual Consciousness
28 Generally I am conscious that I am a part of the Universe
29 I am quick to notice when my spiritual balance with nature/universe suddenly changes
30 It is easy for me to talk about / to express in words how I see God and what is the purpose of humankind
31 I often think about humankind and its destiny
32 Generally I am interested to find out what is my purpose in life
33 I enjoy every day as it is, without worrying to much about the future
34 Some people wander aimlessly through life, but I am not one of them
35 Generally I feel as if I’ve done all there is to do in life for my years
36 I often feel connected to the present moment, to here-now energy
37 I often experience moments of inner peace
38 I am able to smile when I realize sometimes how much I complicate simple things
39 I often think about how complex life is
40 Generally I am curious and open to exploring new experiences, even if I do not like some or man of them that much
Social – Relational Consciousness
41 Generally I am aware of the effects my friends have upon me
42 I am quick to notice when some changes appear in my relationships with my friends or colleagues
43 It is easy for me to talk about my friends and my social connections
44 Generally I am conscious what is happening with the person I am talking to (facial expressions, body position etc.)
45 It is easy for me to maintain close relationships with my friends
46 I have experienced a number of warm and trusting relationships with others.*
47 People would describe me as a giving person, willing to share my time with others.
48 I am conscious of what I like and what I don’t like about the people I interact with
49 I generally know what are the needs and wishes of my close friends
Self-Consciousness
50 I am generally conscious of my own self and my personality as a whole
51 I am quick to notice changes in my own attitudes toward myself
52 It is easy for me to talk openly about myself, even if I am in with persons I do not know very well or I do not trust
53 I am constantly thinking about reasons for doing things
54 I often daydream about myself, about how I wish to be and how I would like to act
55 I often analyze my actions and attitudes
56 I always try to understand why I act in a specific way in specific circumstances
57 I sometimes try to look at myself from outside, as if I were an external observer, in order to analyze myself more clearly
58* I tend to let myself be influenced by people with strong opinions, and which I think have solid arguments
59 I have confidence in my opinions, even if they are different from the way most people think.
60 I judge myself by what I think is important, not by the others’ values, or by what others think is important.
61 I think it is important to have new experiences that challenge how I think about myself and the world.
62 For me, life has been a continuous process of learning, changing, and growth.
Items 6, 7, 14,15, 58 have reversed scoring
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