Paranormal beliefs, religious beliefs and personality correlates

PARANORMAL BELIEFS, RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND PERSONALITY CORRELATES
By

Chris Huntley, Bsc (Hons),

and

Tim Peeters, Lic Psyc, MSc Psych

Presented in April 2005 at Manchester Metropolitan University, U.K.

This study showed that religious beliefs and paranormal beliefs are indeed associated, confirming initial exploratory studies that suggested some kind of relationship between the two (Goode, 2000; Haraldsson, 1981). The other mixed results reflect the need for further research in both religiosity and in particular paranormal beliefs to see if a consistent pattern of results may emerge.


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Dedicated to Paul Ricoeur, 1913-2005, who past away during the last weeks of finishing this article.

© BELGA/AFP 2005

and to all the volunteers who took part in this study.

ABSTRACT

Previous studies have investigated the personality correlates of both paranormal beliefs and religious beliefs finding Neuroticism (Thalbourne, Dunbar and Delin, 1995) and Extraversion associated with the former (Thalbourne, 1981; Eysenck, 1967; Thalbourne and Haraldsson, 1980) and low Psychoticism (Agreeableness and Conscientiousness in the Five Factor Model) associated with the latter (see the meta-analysis by Saroglou, 2002). The present study sought to replicate and extend previous research by examining not just the personality correlates of the two but the relationship between paranormal beliefs and religiosity also. This was performed using the NEO-PI-R (Costa and McCrae, 1978, 1992, 1995), the Revised Paranormal Belief Scale (RPBS; Tobayck, 1988) and using for the first time with a UK sample, the Post-Critical Belief Scale (PCBS) developed by Hutsebaut and his colleagues to measure religiosity (1996, 1997, 2000). The internal consistency of the PCBS was found to be more than adequate (Cronbach’s Alpha of 0.77) for this sample (N = 65). A significant relationship between paranormal beliefs and religiosity was found with the belief in a transcendent reality forwarded as a possible underlying explanation for this result. With regard to personality factors, only Conscientiousness was significantly (negatively) correlated with paranormal beliefs – a contrast to the previous studies mentioned, while Agreeableness was positively correlated with religiosity providing partial support for previous studies that have found Psychoticism associated with it, as highlighted in the meta-analysis by Saroglou (2002). Previous studies had also indicated gender differences with respect to paranormal beliefs with females showing greater endorsement (Clarke, 1991; Rice, 2003; Tobayck and Milford, 1983). However, no significant differences were found in this study.

Keywords: Religiosity, Personality, Five factor model, Post critical Belief-scale, paranormal beliefs.
CONTENTS

SECTION
1.0	INTRODUCTION
1.1	Paranormal Beliefs and Personality
1.2	Religious Beliefs and Personality
1.3	Paranormal and Religious Beliefs
2.0	METHOD
2.1	Design
2.2	Participants
2.3	Materials
2.3.1	Paranormal Belief Scale
2.3.2	Religious Belief Scale
2.3.3	Personality Scale
2.4	Procedure
2.5	Ethics
3.0	RESULTS
3.1	Internal Consistencies
3.2	Religiosity and Paranormal Beliefs
3.3	Paranormal Beliefs and Personality Factors
3.4	Paranormal Beliefs and Gender
3.5	Religiosity and Personality Factors
3.6	Openness to Experience and the Religiosity subscales
3.7	Summary
4.0	DISCUSSION
4.1	Paranormal Beliefs and Religiosity
4.2	Paranormal Beliefs and Personality
4.3	Paranormal Beliefs and Gender
4.4	Religiosity and Personality Factors
4.5	Post-Critical Belief Scale (PCBS) and the Revised Paranormal Belief Scale (RPBS)
4.6	Problems with the Study
4.7	Suggestions for Future Research
4.8	Summary

APPENDICES
APPPENDIX 1	Paranormal Belief Scale: Revised Paranormal Belief Scale (RPBS), Tobayck (1988)
APPENDIX 2	Religious Belief Scale: Post-Critical Belief Scale (PCBS), Hutsebaut et al. (1996, 1997, 2000)
APPENDIX 3	Personality Scale: NEO-PI-R, Costa and McCrae (1978, 1992, 1995)
APPENDIX 4	Questionnaire Introduction
APPENDIX 5	Raw Data
REFERENCES