TY - JOUR
T1 - Beliefs are multidimensional and vary in stability over time - psychometric properties of the Beliefs and Values Inventory (BVI)
AU - Barnby, Joseph M
AU - Bell, Vaughan
AU - Sheridan Rains, Luke
AU - Mehta, Mitul A
AU - Deeley, Quinton
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - The cognitive processes underlying belief are still obscure. Understanding these processes may lead to more targeted treatment to better address functional impairment, such as occurs with delusions. One way in which this might be accomplished is to understand healthy, everyday beliefs, and how these may relate to characteristics observed in delusions. As yet, no such measure exists to accurately measure belief across a range of themes and dimensions. This paper outlines two studies documenting the creation and psychometric properties of a novel measure assessing three different dimensions of belief across themes of politics, science, the paranormal, religion, and morality in UK samples (n = 1, 673 total). Reliability estimates suggested good to excellent consistency (alpha > 0.8 per theme) with moderate to excellent reliability at 48 h (ICC = 0.61 -0.96) and 3.5 months (ICC = 0.61 -0.89). Factor analyses suggested good support for our five chosen themes of belief, suggesting they are distinct topic areas. Correlations across theme and dimension suggested dissociable characteristics within themes. These results have implications for 1. understanding the stability and relationship between themes of belief in a population and, 2. exploring how beliefs may change over time or as a result of an intervention. Full analysis code and data are available from the Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/hzvwr/).
AB - The cognitive processes underlying belief are still obscure. Understanding these processes may lead to more targeted treatment to better address functional impairment, such as occurs with delusions. One way in which this might be accomplished is to understand healthy, everyday beliefs, and how these may relate to characteristics observed in delusions. As yet, no such measure exists to accurately measure belief across a range of themes and dimensions. This paper outlines two studies documenting the creation and psychometric properties of a novel measure assessing three different dimensions of belief across themes of politics, science, the paranormal, religion, and morality in UK samples (n = 1, 673 total). Reliability estimates suggested good to excellent consistency (alpha > 0.8 per theme) with moderate to excellent reliability at 48 h (ICC = 0.61 -0.96) and 3.5 months (ICC = 0.61 -0.89). Factor analyses suggested good support for our five chosen themes of belief, suggesting they are distinct topic areas. Correlations across theme and dimension suggested dissociable characteristics within themes. These results have implications for 1. understanding the stability and relationship between themes of belief in a population and, 2. exploring how beliefs may change over time or as a result of an intervention. Full analysis code and data are available from the Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/hzvwr/).
KW - Belief
KW - Cognitive neuroscience
KW - Delusion
KW - Dimensions of belief
KW - Psychometrics
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85074481915&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.7717/peerj.6819
DO - 10.7717/peerj.6819
M3 - Article
C2 - 31086742
SN - 2167-8359
VL - 2019
SP - e6819
JO - PeerJ
JF - PeerJ
IS - 4
M1 - 6819
ER -