In the popular works of charismatic scientists you can find messages which present scientific code as the only appropriate way of speaking about reality. However, the history of science shows that strongly optimistic opinions about the role of the elements of the scientific system in the process of overcoming all the problems of humanity are not a new phenomenon. From the psychological point of view, it is interesting to identify the conditions of shaping of attitudes towards science among people who (...) meet popular scientific information every day. In the article some results of works on psychological tool designed to examine many aspects of strongly scientistic worldview described as “scientotheism” were presented. During researches on the sample of 508 adult Poles, from the primary set of questionnaire items we selected these which were characterized by the highest level of accordance of examined people’s attitudes. Because of the high level of agreement/disagreement, answers connected with these items can be perceived as a sample survey of common convictions about the role of the elements of scientific system in the contemporary world. Analysis of collected data shown that examined people perceived scientific research as rather useful activity which brought the real increase of knowledge about world, gave them tools to cope with common problems and had positive influence on everyday life. On the other hand, common convictions of the examined people were that there were phenomena which cannot be scientifically explained and that forecasts which said that we would achieve the full knowledge about the world could not be serious. Furthermore, respondents frequently thought that science could only partially reduce common fears. Commonly they contested also the statement that science could erase conflicts which occurred among people. (shrink)

The article presents an attempt to confirm the circumplex structure of goal contents, identified in 15 cultures around the world, in nine Polish samples. The procedure followed steps from the original study and included testing the assumed 11-factor goal structure and the two-dimensional circular organization of the goal contents. None of the analyses showed outcomes that would explicitly confirm the results attained in the original study. The CFA showed rather poor fits. Results of the MDS generally supported the assumption about (...) the two-dimensional goal contents structure, however ipsative distance analysis reproduced only one of the two assumed dimensions. Finally, although the CIRCUM analysis showed in principle that in the Polish sample the organization of goal contents on the circumference was quite similar to original, the RMSEA indicated poor fit. Methodological and conceptual reasons for the replication failure are analyzed and discussed. (shrink)