Development of a Porous Theory of Mind scale and the relation with paranormal beliefs

Abstract

We report the results of an empirical investigation of the extent to which supernatural believers endorse a porous conception of the mind, i.e., the belief that one’s thoughts can be directly perceived by others. We developed a porous theory of mind (PToM) scale, tested its factor structure by using both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, and showed the relation of PToM with supernatural beliefs in three studies in the Netherlands and one study with North-American participants. We found that endorsement of a PToM is positively related to paranormal beliefs. We also showed that the endorsement of a porous view of the mind differs between people from different religious backgrounds (i.e., Protestants vs. Catholics; spiritualists vs. religious believers). The finding that supernatural believers endorse a porous conception of the mind fits well with recent work in the field of the anthropology of religion and the psychology of paranormal beliefs. We propose that our PToM scale provides a parsimonious measurement tool (i.e., consisting only of 4 items) that circumvents socially desirable responding, while providing direct insight in the endorsement of paranormal beliefs.

Religious Unbelief in Three Western European Countries: Identifying and Characterizing Unbeliever Types Using Latent Class Analysis

“…Furthermore, spiritual but not religious participants endorsed stronger belief in free will, which could be related to a stronger endorsement of afterlife beliefs (e.g., obtaining rewards by performing good deeds). In line with previous studies (van Elk, 2018), they also viewed the human mind more as a porous entity than a bounded entity, which implies the possibility of direct communication with the supernatural (e.g., hearing voices of supernatural agents etc. ).…”

“…Because both nonreligious individuals (Saroglou, Delpierre, & Dernelle, 2004) and spiritual but not religious individuals (Saroglou & Munoz-García, 2008;Saucier & Skrzypińska, 2006) value traditions less than religious individuals, we explore whether non-traditionalism is typical for all or for only some types of unbelievers. We also examine beliefs related to free will and determinism, and people's perception of the mind as a bounded vs. a porous entity (van Elk, 2018). Religious believers tend to differ in their free will beliefs, with some believing that everything that happens in the world is ordained by God, while others believe humans are inherently free to choose (van Elk, Rutjens, & van Harreveld, 2017).…”