An investigation was set up to test the effectiveness of a new mindfulness breathing app for reducing perceived job stress in office workers. A small-scale pilot study was conducted before the main trial took place. This was used to check the reliability and suitability of a new 15-item Stress Perception Scale (SPS) designed to measure subjective work-related stress. Eighteen office employees of both sexes, aged 25–45, participated in the pilot study.
At the start of the study, a baseline stress score was obtained for each participant using the 15-item scale. The higher the score obtained, the greater the level of perceived stress. Participants were then instructed to use the mindfulness app for 10 minutes at the start of every workday for 4 weeks. After the 4-week period, a second stress score was obtained for each participant using the same 15-item scale.
State a directional hypothesis for this small-scale investigation.
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