Comparison of Two Alternative Measures of the Boundary Construct

‘Mental boundaries’ is a traditional concept in psychology, although attempts to conceptualize and measure such boundaries empirically have only recently been pursued. Two major efforts in this respect are Hartmann's Boundary Questionnaire and the Revised Transliminality Scale of Lange, Thalbou...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Perceptual and motor skills 2003-02, Vol.96 (1), p.311-323
Main Authors: Houran, James, Thalbourne, Michael A., Hartmann, Ernest
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Awareness
Boundaries
Comparative studies
Emotions
Female
Functional Laterality
Humans
Individuality
Internal-External Control
Interpersonal Relations
Male
Middle Aged
Neuropsychological Tests - statistics & numerical data
Personal Space
Psychology
Psychometrics
Sensory Thresholds
Subliminal Stimulation
Unconscious (Psychology)
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Summary:‘Mental boundaries’ is a traditional concept in psychology, although attempts to conceptualize and measure such boundaries empirically have only recently been pursued. Two major efforts in this respect are Hartmann's Boundary Questionnaire and the Revised Transliminality Scale of Lange, Thalbourne, Houran, and Storm. We administered both along with the Briggs-Nebes Handedness Scale to a convenience sample of 268 participants to assess the convergent validity of the two boundary measures and to replicate previous evidence that the boundary construct involves body boundaries as well, such as a tendency toward mixed-handedness. As predicted, scores on the Revised Transliminality Scale correlated .66 positively with total scores on the Boundary Questionnaire, but neither measure was associated with the handedness scale. Each of the 12 domains of the Boundary Questionnaire correlated significantly with total scores on the Transliminality Scale, yet only five domains contributed significantly to the prediction of variance in transliminality scores in a standard multiple regression analysis. Analysis suggests that transliminality is related to specific domains of the Boundary Questionnaire, and we hypothesize that the other domains of the Boundary Questionnaire represent higher levels of the boundary construct than what is measured by the Revised Transliminality Scale. This idea is discussed within the context of Werner's 1948 theory of syncretic versus symbolic cognition.
ISSN:0031-5125
1558-688X
DOI:10.2466/pms.2003.96.1.311