Development and validation of the Purity Orientation-Pollution Avoidance Scale: A study with Japanese sample

Abstract

We constituted a scale to measure people’s tendency towards Purity Orientation or Pollution Avoidance (POPA), based on the purity/sanctity subscale of the Moral Foundations Theory. For validation, we administered several scales along with POPA. In study 1, we developed the scale and measured the relationship between the degree of one’s POPA, disgust, and animism. We identified four factors as POPA subscales. In study 2, we investigated the test-retest reliability of POPA and conducted questionnaire surveys to measure attitudes toward paranormal phenomena and the degree of concern for each of the moral foundations. The results showed the validity of the scale, based on the moderate correlations with other scales. In Study 3, we executed an Affect Misattribution Procedure experiment, presenting participants with three kinds of visual images (pollution, positive, and negative) for comparison. It was found that those who had higher scores on the POPA scale selectively experienced a negative mood to the stimuli after viewing images of pollution. Compared to the disgust scale, the POPA scale effectively elucidated the negative feelings when pollution images were presented. The POPA scale can be a promising tool to better understand the phenomena involving purity foundation in the Japanese context.