Skepticism and Open-Mindedness: A Large-Scale Investigation of Oberg's Dictum Open Access

Abstract

Given the prevalence of misinformation in society, it is of great importance to identify who may fall prey to misinformation and why. Oberg’s dictum is a saying that states that individuals should be moderately open, but that past a certain level, openness may predispose to irrationality. Oberg’s dictum suggests a curvilinear relation between openness and unsupported beliefs, whereby high levels of openness are associated with much higher levels of endorsement. Nevertheless, this widely cited principle has never been put to an empirical test. In the present study, I sought to elucidate evidence for Oberg’s dictum by examining associations between Openness to Experience and endorsement of unsubstantiated beliefs such as conspiracy theories, pseudoscience, paranormal beliefs, and susceptibility to pseudo-profound bullshit. Additionally, I conducted a factor analysis to examine the two facets of Openness, Imagination and Intellect, to determine whether either would have higher associations with the beliefs.  A mixed-gender sample of individuals from North America, Australia, and New Zealand (N=565) was recruited via Prolific, an online crowdsourcing platform. I administered multiple self-report measures of openness and measures assessing the endorsement of beliefs. 

Consistent with previous research, two factors of Openness were uncovered in a factor analysis.  Results suggested that Imagination, but not Intellect, may be a risk factor for endorsement of pseudoscientific beliefs given significant correlations with said measures. Results also suggested that Intellect may be protective against conspiratorial beliefs.

Support for Oberg’s dictum was not found, as significant curvilinear trends were not detected. However, future studies should still examine openness and misinformation, examining the theory within different populations and societies.  

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

BACKGROUND………………………………………..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..….1

    Introduction……………………………………………………………………..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..……..1

    Openness…………………………………………………………..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..….4

    Types of Misinformation…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..7

    Conspiracy Theories…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..………….7

    Pseudoscience…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..……11

    Paranormal Beliefs…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..….12

    Pseudo-profound Bullshit…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…12

    Current Study…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…13

METHODS..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..……………………………...14

    Participants and Procedure. .…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..….…14

    Measures..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..……………………………16

    Openness.. …..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…………………………..16

    Factor analysis across openness measures..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…………18

    Beliefs in conspiracy theories ..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…………………………….18

    Beliefs in pseudoscience and the paranormal..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…….20

    Measures of patternicity and bullshit receptivity…………………………………………………….21

RESULTS..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..………………………………..23

DISCUSSION..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..….. …..…..………………………….26

    Key Findings..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..….. …..…..…..………………………26

    Limitations..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..………………………...27

    Future Directions..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…...……………….28

REFERENCES..…..…..…..…..…..…..…...…..…..…..…..……..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…….31

TABLED RESULTS..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..….…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..……41

    T1: Factor pattern matrix.…..…..…..…..…..…..….…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…………………….41

    T2: Total variance and eigenvalues of factor analysis…………………………………………..42

    T3: Intercorrelations among openness facets.…..…..…..…..…..…..….…..…..…..…...…..43

    T4: Correlations between openness factors.…..…..…..…..…..…..….…..…..…..……………44

    T5: Correlations between openness factors and conspiracy measures…………………45

    T6: Openness factors and pseudoscience and paranormal measures…………………..46

    T7: Openness factors and patternicity and bullshit receptivity measures………….….47

    T8: Imagination and Intellect in predicting endorsement of various beliefs……….…48

FIGURES.…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..….…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…………….…...49

    F1: Scree plot………..…..…..…..…..….…..…..…..…..…..…..…..……………………………………….49

    F2: Novel Art Evaluation Task…………....…..…..…..…..….…..…..…..…..…..…..…….………..50

    F3: Additions to Dead and Alive Contradictory Beliefs measure…………………………..56

    F4: Distribution of Actively Open-Minded Thinking total scores………..…………………57

    F5: Distribution of BFAS total scores.…..…..…..…..….…..…..…..…..…..…..………………….58

    F6: Distributions of HEXACO total scores..…..…..…..…..….…..…..…..…..…..…..………….59

    F7: Distribution of IPIP-NEO total scores.…..…..…..…..….…..…..…..…..…..…..…………..60

    F8: Distribution of Vaccine Conspiracy Belief Scale total scores. …..…..…..…..….…..61

    F9: Distribution of GCBS total scores……..…..…..…..….…..…..…..…..…..…..……………….62

    F10: Distribution of Dead/Alive total scores.…..…..…..…..….…..…..…..…..…..…..………63

    F11: Distribution of CAM total scores.…..…..…..…..….…..…..…..…..…..…..……………….64

    F12: Distribution of PSEUDO total scores. …..…..…..…..….…..…..…..…..…..…..…………65

    F13: Distribution of RPBS total scores.…..…..…..…..….…..…..…..…..…..…..………………66

    F14: Distribution of Snowy Picture total scores…………………………………………………..67

    F15: Distribution of BSR total scores.…..…..…..…..….…..…..…..…..…..…..………………68

    F16: Distribution of Art Evaluation Task total scores…………………………………………69

    F17: Distribution of the Coin Toss Pattern Perception total scores……………………70

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	Psychology
Subfield / Discipline	Clinical Psychology
Degree	B.A.
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Psychology, Social Psychology, General
Keyword	Oberg's Dictum Openness to Experience Skepticism
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Scott O. Lilienfeld, Emory University
Committee Members	Tracy Scott, Emory University Jessica M. Barber, Emory University

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