Balanced Dogmatism scale
RAY‚ 1970
BD scale‚ Mark II
1. If we are going to have free speech we must defend the right to be heard of even those we disagree with.
2. Man is master of his own fate and captain of his destiny.
3. If people in one’s own group are always disagreeing among themselves that is probably a rather healthy sign.
4. There is no such thing as “the Truth”.
5. We must find happiness in the present because no one can predict what the future will be like.
6. No one has a “mission in life” that he must accomplish no matter what.
7. Eat‚ drink and be merry -- for tomorrow we may die.
8. The “one true faith” is a myth.
9. The way to happiness is to get involved in the things going on about you.
10.There is never one right answer for any question.
11.Man has within himself the power to control his destiny.
12.In general most people show consideration for others.
13.It is not worth sacrificing your life to became a hero.
14.It’s possible to really live without believing in any great cause.
15.Life can be meaningful without devotion to ideals or causes.
16.All of the philosophies which exist in this world have some truth in them and probably not one is totally correct.
17.In these present days everyone should look to their own happiness.
18.It is never necessary to be on guard against ideas no matter where they may originate.
19.Truth is so elusive that no one can say when he has it.
20.I think none the worse of a person for being concerned chiefly with pleasure.
21.Man on his own is a helpless and miserable creature.
22.Fundamentally‚ the world we live in is a pretty lonesome place.
23.Most people just don’t give a “damn” for others.
24.I’d like it if I could find someone who would tell me how to solve my personal problems.
25.It is only natural for a person to be rather fearful of the future.
26.A person who thinks primarily of his own happiness is beneath contempt.
27.Unfortunately‚ a good many people with whom I have discussed important social and moral problems don’t really understand what’s going on.
28.Most people just don’t know what’s good for them.
29.The main thing in life is for a person to want to do something important.
30.If given the chance I would do something of great benefit to the world.
31.A man who does not believe in some great cause has not really lived.
32.It is only when a person devotes himself to an ideal or cause that life becomes meaningful.
33.Of all the different philosophies which exist in this world there is probably only one which is correct.
34.A person who gets enthusiastic about too many causes is likely to be a pretty “wishy-washy” sort of person.
35.To compromise with our political opponents is dangerous because it usually leads to the betrayal of our own side.
36.When it comes to differences of opinion in religion we must be careful not to compromise with those who believe differently from the way we do.
37.In times like these‚ a person must be pretty selfish if he considers primarily his own happiness.
38.The worst crime a person could commit is to attack publicly the people who believe in the same thing he does.
39.It is annoying to listen to a speaker or teacher who seems unable to make up his mind about what he really believes.
40.For most questions there is only one right answer once a person is able to get all the facts.
The first 20 items are reverse scored.
The Items of the Balanced `D’ Scale
1. Man on his own is a helpless and miserable creature.
2. There is so much to be done and so little time to do it in.
3. It is better to be a dead hero than a live coward.
4. A man who does not believe in some great cause has not really lived.
5. It is only when a person devotes himself to an ideal or cause that life becomes meaningful.
6. A person who gets enthusiastic about too many causes is likely to be a pretty “wishy-washy” sort of person.
7. When it comes to differences of opinion in religion we must be careful not to compromise with those who believe differently from the way we do.
8. A group which tolerates too much difference of opinion among its own members cannot exist for long.
9. There are two kinds of people in this world: those who are for the truth and those who are against the truth.
10.A person who thinks primarily of his own happiness is beneath contempt.
11.Most of the ideas which get printed nowadays aren’t worth the paper they are printed on.
12.In this complicated world of ours the only way we can know what’s going on is to rely on leaders or experts who can be trusted.
13.Most people just don’t know what’s good for them.
14.Of all the different philosophies that exist in the world there is probably one which is more in accord with reality than any of the others.
15.The person who is extremely tolerant of widely different and even conflicting viewpoints probably has few opinions of his own.
16.It is annoying to listen to a speaker or teacher who seems unable to make up his mind about what he really believes.
17.For most questions there is only one right answer once a person is able to get all the facts.
18.Although many details still remain to be worked out‚ we now have definite answers to most practical problems in life.
19.It’s unfortunate that we have censorship in this country.
20.Live and let live is a good motto in life.
21.It doesn’t matter much what religion a person follows.
22.There is good in everyone.
23.There is something to be appreciated in all forms of art.
24.I usually try to keep a fairly open mind on most issues.
25.It is possible that there are many facets to the “truth”.
26.It is usually a help to get a new slant on an old problem.
27.There are few decisions which don’t bear some re-consideration.
28.Criticism can perhaps be useful if it results in a reconciliation of opposing views.
29.It is usually unwise to indulge in generalizations since individual circumstances often alter cases.
30.Many problems have more than one acceptable solution.
31.What may be all right for one person isn’t necessarily right for his neighbor.
32.The Churches don’t give enough weight to individual conscience.
33.It is impossible to generalize about members of other races and cultures.
34.People cannot be expected to stick to the same opinions month after month.
35.Even intelligent people often change their opinions after hearing others’ views.
36.People cannot be blamed for some inconsistencies in what they think.
The last 18 are negative items.
Strongly agree‚ Agree‚ Neither agree nor disagree‚ Disagree‚ Strongly disagree
This instrument can be found at: http://jonjayray.tripod.com/baldog1.html & http://jonjayray.tripod.com/baldog2.html
RAY‚ J.J. (1970). The development and validation of a balanced Dogmatism scale. Australian Journal of Psychology‚ 22‚ 253-260.
RAY‚ J.J. (1972). Are conservatism scales irreversible? British J. Social & Clinical Psychology 11‚ 346-352.
RAY‚ J.J. (1972). A new balanced F scale -- And its relation to social class. Australian Psychologist 7‚ 155-166.
Ray‚ J.J. (1974). Balanced Dogmatism scales. Australian Journal of Psychology 26‚ 9-14.
Ray‚ J.J. (1979) A short balanced F scale. Journal of Social Psychology‚ 109‚ 309-310.
Ray‚ J.J. (1980). Acquiescence and the Wilson Conservatism scale. Personality & Individual Differences‚ 1‚ 303-305.
Ray‚ J.J. & Pratt‚ G.J. (1979). Is the influence of acquiescence on “catchphrase” type attitude scale items not so mythical after all? Australian Journal of Psychology 31‚ 73-78.
Ray‚ J.J. (Unpublished). ACQUIESCENT RESPONSE TENDENCY: An update and some data on the invalidity of the Dogmatism scale