Development and validation of the multi-dimensional questionnaire of scientifically unsubstantiated beliefs
| Autor: | Brittanie Cornwell, Anna Stone, Mark R. McDermott, Rebecca Watt, Aisha Abdi, Ruby Reed, Zsofia Matyas |
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| Rok vydání: | 2018 |
| Předmět: |
Research literature
education.field_of_study media_common.quotation_subject 05 social sciences Paranormal Population 050109 social psychology 050105 experimental psychology Exploratory factor analysis Belief in God Multi dimensional 0501 psychology and cognitive sciences Consciousness Psychology education Social psychology General Psychology Reliability (statistics) media_common |
| Zdroj: | Personality and Individual Differences. 128:146-156 |
| ISSN: | 0191-8869 |
| Popis: | Objective There are several existing questionnaires measuring paranormal or scientifically unsubstantiated beliefs but none give comprehensive cover of a broad spectrum of beliefs while also being up-to-date. There is also a debate about the number of separate types of belief. Thereby, reported here is the development and validation of a new multidimensional questionnaire measure of scientifically unsubstantiated beliefs in the general UK population. Method & results In Study 1, participants (N = 393) completed a questionnaire containing a pool of 82 items covering nine facets of belief discernible conceptually within the existing research literature. Scree analysis followed by exploratory factor analysis indicated the existence of four empirically observable factors: belief in supernatural forces; belief in God and destiny; belief in alien visitation, monsters and conspiracies; and belief in consciousness beyond the body. Twenty-four items were selected as measures of these factors. Studies 2, 3 and 4 demonstrated the convergent and divergent validity of the four empirically-derived questionnaire subscales and their internal reliability. Conclusion The resultant new Multi-dimensional Questionnaire of Scientifically Unsubstantiated Beliefs (MQSUB) is a psychometrically robust measure and comprises a comprehensive framework which can be used to systematically investigate the psychological and social concomitants of such beliefs. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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