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Assessing superstitious belief.

Neil Dagnall1, Andrew Parker, Gary Munley

  • 1Department of Psychology and Social Change, Manchester Metropolitan University, Elizabeth Gaskell Campus, Hathersage Road, Manchester, United Kingdom M13 0JA. N.Dagnall@mmu.ac.uk

Psychological Reports
|July 21, 2009
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

This study assessed superstitious belief items, finding that modifications did not enhance their psychometric properties. Further development is needed to accurately measure superstitious beliefs.

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Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Cognitive Science
  • Social Psychology

Background:

  • Superstitious beliefs are common cognitive phenomena.
  • Existing measurement tools require psychometric evaluation.
  • Wiseman and Watt's (2004) scale is a key instrument for assessing superstitious beliefs.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the psychometric properties of Wiseman and Watt's (2004) superstitious belief items.
  • To compare the original items with modified versions emphasizing good or bad luck.
  • To determine the factorial structure of superstitious belief.

Main Methods:

  • Standard psychometric analyses were performed.
  • Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using maximum likelihood estimation was conducted.
  • Cronbach's alpha was calculated to assess internal consistency.

Main Results:

  • Modifying the items did not significantly improve psychometric properties.
  • Positive Item 3 consistently performed poorly across analyses.
  • A two-factor solution was preferable to a one-factor solution for both item sets.

Conclusions:

  • The current superstitious belief items require further refinement and development.
  • The factorial structure of superstitious belief needs more robust validation.
  • Future research should incorporate Rasch methods for comprehensive analysis.