Active Open-Minded Thinking And Academic Socialization

Abstract

Active Open Thinking (AOM) is a disposition that manifests itself as a tendency to consciously and actively seek, consider and evaluate various arguments based on available evidence when thinking and making decisions with the aim of reaching objective conclusions. According to the study socialization hypothesis, during academic studies, people harmonize their existing system of values, attitudes and beliefs with those that rule in the academic group they attend. In this paper, we try to examine whether the experience of studying in a certain study group has a statistically significant effect on AOM. The research was conducted on a convenient sample of students of the study program of theology (n=82) and psychology (n=205). From each group, students who are at the beginning (first and second year) and at the end (fourth and fifth year) of their studies were tested. Disposition towards AOM was assessed with a Likert-type scale consisting of 20 statements. The hypothesis of the research is that during their studies, psychology students show a significant increase in the tendency towards AOM compared to theology students. The analysis of the results found that, when it comes to the development of AOM, there is no statistically significant interaction between the study group and the length of study. Therefore, it can be concluded that the hypothesis about the effects of study socialization on active open-mindedness was not confirmed, because psychology students already at the beginning of their studies achieve statistically significantly higher average AOM results compared to theology students, and during the course of the studies there is no significant change in the level of AOM in any group.