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But a new research article forthcoming in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, suggests that espousing a dualist philosophy can have important real-life consequences.
Across five related studies, researchers Matthias Forstmann, Pascal Burgmer, and Thomas Mussweiler of the University of Cologne, Germany, found that people primed with dualist beliefs had more reckless attitudes toward health and exercise, and also preferred (and ate) a less healthy diet than those who were primed with physicalist beliefs.
Furthermore, they found that the relationship also worked in the other direction. People who were primed with unhealthy behaviors - such as pictures of unhealthy food - reported a stronger dualistic belief than participants who were primed with healthy behaviors.
Overall, the findings from the five studies provide converging evidence demonstrating that mind-body dualism has a noticeable impact on people's health-related attitudes and behaviors. Specifically, these findings suggest that dualistic beliefs decrease the likelihood of engaging in healthy behavior.
These findings support the researchers' original hypothesis that the more people perceive their minds and bodies to be distinct entities, the less likely they will be to engage in behaviors that protect their bodies. Bodies are ultimately viewed as a disposable vessel that helps the mind interact with the physical world.
Evidence of a bidirectional relationship further suggests that metaphysical beliefs, such as beliefs in mind-body dualism, may serve as cognitive tools for coping with threatening or harmful situations.
The fact that the simple priming procedures used in the studies had an immediate impact on health-related attitudes and behavior suggests that these procedures may eventually have profound implications for real-life problems. Interventions that reduce dualistic beliefs through priming could be one way to help promote healthier - or less self-damaging - behaviors in at-risk populations.
It not only misdefines "dualism" but implies that a "reckless" attitude towards life is somehow inferior to a "careful" attitude towards life.
What this research does, to the extent that it is accurate, is define the personality types (or tone levels) that are attracted to these two different approaches to life.
If you are interested in living in careful, mousey compliance to the accepted social norms, then you will tend to reject the notion that mind includes much more than brain.
And if you are a bit brash in your approach to life, and like to get things done even if it pisses someone off, then you are more likely to embrace the notion that the mind includes much more than the brain.
Which personality type would YOU rather be in the company of, work with, be lead by, or trust your life to?