FSD3259 Understanding People and Understanding Things 2013

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Study title

Understanding People and Understanding Things 2013

Dataset ID Number

FSD3259

Persistent identifier

urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3259

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

Abstract

The psychological study charted beliefs, thinking and reasoning. It surveyed, among others, the respondents' religiosity, spatial awareness, capacity for empathy, ability to understand other people and the inanimate nature, as well as their intuitive, reflective and flexible thinking. Some of the batteries of questions included standardised measures and some were developed by the researchers. The goal of the project was to examine reasoning skills, intuitive skills in psychology and physics and the relationship of these skills with supernatural beliefs. A follow-up data collection from the same respondents was conducted in 2015 and it resulted in 420 responses. This follow-up dataset is also available at FSD: FSD3260 Understanding People and Understanding Things 2013 and 2015.

The respondents were first asked about what their and their parents' jobs were or had been like, how empathetic they were (using the Short Empathy Quotient) and whether they agreed with some teleological explanations of how the natural world works (e.g. "Moss forms on rocks to slow down soil erosion"). Autistic traits were charted using the Autism Spectrum Quotient Short Form. Intuitive thinking was surveyed, and the respondents were presented five mental rotation tasks.

The respondents' gender roles were examined (Sex Role Inventory) as well as their drive to analyse and explore systems (Short Systemizing Quotient). Paranormal and magical beliefs (e.g. telepathy, witchcraft, angels, miracles) were surveyed. The respondents were presented the Revised Eyes Test where they were requested to assess the emotional states of persons based on the images of their eyes. They were also presented questions and statements relating to social intelligence (Tromsø Social Intelligence Scale) and asked whether they thought certain fictional events presented had a special purpose or significance. Leisure time activities and interpersonal relationships (Friendship Scale) were charted.

The respondents were asked whether they liked observing the order or rules of different things and whether they kept things in good order. They were presented items from the Physical Prediction Questionnaire, where they were asked to predict the direction a lever would move in response to a movement of a connected lever. A number of statements were also presented, and the respondents were asked to assess whether they were literal or metaphorical (e.g. "The house knows its history", "Flowing water is a liquid"). The tendency to think in an intuitive or analytical manner was charted using selected items from the Rational-Experiential Inventory. Schizotypal traits were surveyed (Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire Brief).

The Cognitive Reflection Test was used to measure cognitive processing. Finally, the respondents were presented a pictorial empathy test and map tasks designed by the researcher. The former charted whether certain images evoked emotions in the respondents and the latter asked them to place an image of a city on a map.

Background variables included, among others, age, gender, religious denomination, handedness, education, economic activity, place of study, field of study or work, and the most recent grade in mathematics and physics.

Keywords

beliefs; cognitive processes; emotional states; magic; perception; personality; personality traits; problem solving; reasoning; social interaction; supernatural

Topic Classification

Series

Individual datasets

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

The dataset is (B) available for research, teaching and study.

Data Collector

  • Lindeman, Marjaana (University of Helsinki. Department of Psychology and Logopedics)
  • Svedholm-Häkkinen, Annika (University of Helsinki. Department of Psychology and Logopedics)
  • Riekki, Tapani (University of Helsinki. Department of Psychology and Logopedics)

Funders

  • Academy of Finland (266573)

Time Period Covered

2013

Collection Dates

2013-10 – 2013-11

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

Finnish-speaking people aged 18 or over residing in Finland

Time Method

Cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Non-probability: Availability

The participants were recruited through open discussion forums online and student email lists. The participants were able to share the invitation with others. Participation was voluntary and there were no exclusion criteria.

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Web-based (CAWI)

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Data File Language

Downloaded data package may contain different language versions of the same files.

The data files of this dataset are available in the following languages: Finnish.

FSD translates quantitative data into English on request, free of charge. More information on ordering data translation.

Data Version

1.0

Related Datasets

FSD3260 Understanding People and Understanding Things 2013 and 2015

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

The questionnaire does not contain the images related to the Pictorial Empathy Test battery 'PET' but they are available in a separate file. In the map task, negative values for x1-y4 signify that the participant has clicked on a position outside the map. Variables x1oikein through yhtoik were added to the data based on the original researchers' syntaxes and they contain information on whether the respondent clicked on the correct spot on the map. The size of the correct spot was defined as 40 pixels wide and high. In order to have a value of 1 in variables k1oikein - k4oikein, the respondent had to have both x and y values correct - otherwise the value is 0.

The data do not contain open-ended responses or questions related to stories presented to the respondents. Image variable pet5_1 was removed from the data at the researchers' request.

Weighting

There are no weight variables in the data.

Citation Requirement

The data and its creators shall be cited in all publications and presentations for which the data have been used. The bibliographic citation may be in the form suggested by the archive or in the form required by the publication.

Bibliographical Citation

Lindeman, Marjaana (University of Helsinki) & Svedholm-Häkkinen, Annika (University of Helsinki) & Riekki, Tapani (University of Helsinki): Understanding People and Understanding Things 2013 [dataset]. Version 1.0 (2019-07-03). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3259

Deposit Requirement

Notify FSD of all publications where you have used the data by sending the citation information to user-services.fsd@tuni.fi.

Disclaimer

The original data creators and the archive bear no responsibility for any results or interpretations arising from the reuse of the data.

Related Publications Tooltip

Svedholm-Häkkinen, A. M., & Lindeman, M. (2018). Actively Open-Minded Thinking: Development of a shortened scale and disentangling attitudes towards knowledge and people. Thinking & Reasoning, 24, 2140.

Lindeman, M. & Lipsanen, J. (2017). Mentalizing: Seeking the underlying dimensions. International Journal of Psychological Studies, 9, 10-23.

Svedholm-Häkkinen, A. M., Ojala, S. J., & Lindeman, M. (2018). Male brain type women and female brain type men: Gender atypical cognitive profiles and their correlates. Personality and Individual Differences, 122, 7-12.

Svedholm-Häkkinen, A. M., Halme, S., & Lindeman, M. (2018). Empathizing and systemizing are differentially related to dimensions of autistic traits in the general population. International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology, 18, 35-42.

Svedholm-Häkkinen, A. M. & Lindeman, M. (2017): Intuitive and Deliberative Empathizers and Systemizers. Journal of Personality, 85, 593-602.

Lindeman, M., Koirikivi, I. & Lipsanen, J. (2016). Pictorial Empathy Test (PET). An easy-to-use method for assessing affective empathic reactions. European Journal of Psychological Assessment. https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759/a000353

Svedholm-Häkkinen, A. M. & Lindeman, M. (2016). Testing the Empathizing-Systemizing theory in the general population: Occupations, vocational interests, grades, hobbies, friendship quality, social intelligence, and sex role identity. Personality and Individual Differences, 90, 365-370.

Lindeman, M. & Lipsanen, J. (2016). Diverse cognitive profiles of religious believers and nonbelievers. International Journal for The Psychology of Religion, 26, 185-192.

Lindeman, M., Svedholm-Häkkinen, A. M., Lipsanen, J. (2015). Ontological confusions but not mentalizing abilities predict religious belief, paranormal belief, and belief in supernatural purpose. Cognition, 134, 63-76.

Koirikivi, Iiro (2014). Measurement of affective empathy with Pictorial Empathy Test (PET). University of Helsinki. Psychology Master's Thesis.

Halme, Saara (2015). Empatisoinnin ja systemoinnin yhteys autistisiin piirteisiin normaaliväestössä. Helsinki: Helsingin yliopisto. Psykologian pro gradu -tutkielma. URN:NBN:fi:hulib-201505191254

Tanskanen, Katri (2015). Ajattelutyylin yhteys yliluonnollisiin uskomuksiin, sekä sukupuolen ja iän moderoiva vaikutus tuohon yhteyteen. Helsinki: Helsingin yliopisto. Psykologian pro gradu -tutkielma. URN:NBN:fi:hulib-201510153732

Napola, Jukka (2015). Cognitive biases, cognitive miserliness, and belief inflexibility. Comparing paranormal and religious believers and sceptics in terms of analytical and intuitive thinking. Helsinki: University of Helsinki. Psykologian pro gradu -tutkielma. URN:NBN:fi:hulib-201601281102

Lindeman, M., Koirikivi, I., & Lipsanen, J. (2018). Pictorial Empathy Test. An easy-to use method of affective empathic abilities. European Journal of Psychological Assessment., 34, 421-431. doi:10.1027/1015-5759/a000353

Lindeman, M. & Svedholm-Häkkinen, A. M. (2016). Does poor understanding of physical world predict religious and paranormal beliefs? Applied Cognitive Psychology, 30, 736-742.

Ojala, Sini (2016). Male brain type women and female brain type men: Atypical cognitive styles and their correlates. Helsinki: University of Helsinki. Psychology Master's thesis.URN:NBN:fi:hulib-201701231111

Study description in machine readable DDI-C 2.5 format

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