ATTITUDES TOWARD ELECTIVE ABORTION - PRELIMINARY EVIDENCE OF VALIDITYFOR THE PERSONAL BELIEFS SCALE

On the Personal Beliefs Scale of Embree and Embree item ratings obtain ed from 100 Midwestern undergraduates were used to classify participan ts into neutral, other, or second-order psychosomaticism mind-body bel ief types. Responses ro a hypothetical abnormal pregnancy were used to measure attitude toward abortion (prochoice vs antichoice), meaning o f abortion (not murder vs murder), and empathy for the unborn (low, mo derate, or high). Values of chi(2) were statistically significant for students classified by mind-body belief type versus attitude reward ab ortion, and the meaning of abortion, but not for empathy for the unbor n.