Abstract
The authors' past study developed a scale measuring the spiritual vulgarity of the masses, based upon Ortega's “The Revolt of the Masses” (1930). The study indicated that the vulgarity of the masses might have a negative impact on urban landscape and consensus building around public works. In the present report, given with the previous results, we aimed to explore an effective measure for reducing one's vulgar disposition. For this purpose, we focused on the classic book “Representative Men of Japan” by Kanzo Uchimura and hypothesized that reading this book might reduce the vulgarity of the masses. To test this hypothesis, we conducted an experiment in which we asked participants to read the book and examined the reading effects on the reduction of the spiritual vulgarity. The obtained data statically supported the hypothesis, thus indicating the potential of the book as a relevant measure for reducing the vulgarity.
