The Influence of Voluntarily Induced Tension on Rational Problem Solving

Subjects (N = 152) were administered the Conceptual Systems Test (CST) and the Ross Educational Philosophical Inventory (REPI). The subjects were then classified into one of four conceptual systems, or considered to be an admixture. An analysis of variance was then performed on each of the REPI scales: Idealism, Realism, Pragmatism, and Existentialism. Significance was found among the conceptual systems on each philosophical subtest. System 1 subjects (who are most concrete on a concrete-abstract continuum) had the highest mean on the Idealism subtest; System 2 subjects (who are only slightly more abstract than System 1 subjects) were higher on the remaining three philosophical subtests. Also, the highest correlation occurring among the CST and the REPI occurred between Divine Fate Control and Idealism (r = .53).