Certitude in an Epitome: Validation of a Dualism Scale
The relationship between implicit and explicit attitudes towards dualism and the soul was investigated in the present study. 43 participants completed both a computer response time task and dualism self-report measure. Most participants were college students, both males and females from various religious and racial backgrounds. The participants completed the experiment on a laptop computer where they were given a categorization task in which they classified the meaning of words as either “true” or “false.” A factor analysis of the self-report measure revealed four factors that became the three subscales of soul, brain, and mind. The explicit attitudes measures lead to a 12 item dualism scale. Data was analyzed through a correlational analysis to examine the correlation between participants’ self-report and their reaction times. The dualism scale was found to be fairly reliable and was validated in terms of the reaction time measure. There was a correlation overall between implicit and explicit attitudes towards dualism. Findings will help lead to future research interested in studying the changes that occur with people’s attitudes towards dualism and the soul.