criptive paranormal dimensions, and it might very well be
related to personality. In regard to Conscientiousness, we have
confirmed our hypothesis of positive relation to Traditional
religious belief (0.17, p≤0.001). This presumably stems from
the characteristics of conscientious people; mainly orderliness,
self-discipline, self-control, impulse control, desirability, con-
formity, restraint (Costa & McCrae, 1992) and even orthodoxy
(Saroglou, 2002). Also, since the church explicitly judges all other
forms of spiritualism and alternate religiousness, negative re-
lationships of Conscientiousness with General paranormal
belief (-0.13, p≤0.005) were rightfully expected. Here again
we might see how, by using the three factors, no valuable in-
formation in regard to personality was lost as Tobacyk's (1988)
original subscale related with Conscientiousness remained in-
tact. Finally, in accordance with our hypothesis, Openness was
related to Psi (0.16, p≤0.001) and Spiritualism (0.35, p≤0.001),
while being negatively related to Traditional religious beliefs
(-0.26, p≤0.001), presumably through receptiveness to new
ideas, preference for novelty, intellectual curiosity and liberal
values (Costa & McCrae, 1992). This relation was further re-
plicated in the three-factor paranormal structure without loss
of meaningful information, as both Psi and Spiritualism formed
a unitary factor of General paranormal belief and the Tradi-
tional religious beliefs factor remained the same as in the se-
ven factor solution. Although we presumed that Openness
would to some extent be related to all paranormal beliefs, it
was related only to the subscales later included in the General
paranormal belief factor, implying a meaningful, possibly per-
sonality driven latent structure that goes beyond simple de-
scriptive categories.
Finally, we propose how an evolutionary viewpoint might
prove useful in enlightening this division and its reflection u-
pon personality dimensions. More specifically, we will attempt
to view the three factors of paranormal belief and their rela-
tion to personality through three currently proposed interpre-
tations of the evolution of paranormal ideation that can rough-
ly be labeled as – byproduct, exaptation and adaptation. It is
our belief that only with adopting findings from evolutionary
religious studies can we hope to offer a meaningful hierar-
chical and integrative model of paranormal beliefs, and its re-
lation to personality dimensions. First, we will view it through
the research implying the innateness of paranormal beliefs
(e.g. Boyer, 1994, 2003; Barrett, 2000). Founded on well de-
fined, cognitive determinants instead of hypothetical ontolo-
gical domains, this approach utilizes knowledge from deve-
lopmental, evolutionary and cognitive psychology. Within it,
all paranormal, superstitious and magical beliefs are inter-
preted as a by-product of cognitive processes and as ontolo-
194
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MIKLOUŠIĆ, I., MLAČIĆ,
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PARANORMAL BELIEFS...
gical confusions of our core knowledge about the world; main-
ly, our intuitive physics, intuitive biology and intuitive psy-
chology (Lindeman & Aarnio, 2007), implying how they will
in some form be present without any social influence or inter-
personal need. This concept of ontological confusions, how-
ever, precisely sums up the wide variety of paranormal beliefs
that are represented in the newly formed General paranor-
mal beliefs dimension. It is interesting to note how certain
personality dimensions, mainly Openness, are attracted to
this sort of imagination, and still very little is known on the
interaction between the personality and our supernaturaliz-
ing propensity. On the second level of this evolutionary
analysis, we focus on the active role paranormal ideas and
beliefs have taken in order to secure meaning to individuals
able to perceive them. Norenzayan and Hansen (2006) offer a
good example with an evolutionary adoption of the terror ma-
nagement theory (Greenberg et al., 1997), implying how, after
evolving to self-consciousness, humans faced paralyzing con-
sequences of fear of death. It is proposed that the most "fit"
individuals adapted by using our pre-existing propensity to-
ward supernatural and creating non-realistic but comforting
beliefs that allow them to survive or find comfort. Again, a
parallel could be drawn to our third factor, Rituals and prac-
tices, which seemingly describes precisely that aspect of para-
normal beliefs. Its relevance to anxiety control is shown by
significant correlation with Neuroticism. Finally, the third le-
vel is our capacity for supernatural ideation and its relation to
organized religion. This evolutionary view promotes the idea
how our ability to perceive a divine force, which prescribed
and controlled a set of strict rules, could have been a neces-
sary prerequisite for cooperation and prevention of cheating
behavior in large social groups. Thus, our supernaturalizing
propensity is viewed as a possible source of fitness in a com-
petitive social and cultural scene (e.g. Alcorta & Sosis, 2005;
Bering et al., 2005; Norenzayan & Shariff, 2008; Wilson, 2002).
We can see how this aspect of paranormal ideation has also
emerged as a distinct factor in our structure (Traditional reli-
gious belief), again relating to one specific personality trait;
i.e. Conscientiousness. Since the role of, not only paranormal
beliefs, but also personality dimensions is already recognized
through an evolutionary perspective (Buss, 1991, 2009), this
relation might prove relevant and it is our suggestion for it to
be further explored in the future. If a division of paranormal
beliefs, according to the above stated evolutionary perspec-
tives, is to be confirmed, we might finally approach a broad
and meaningful theory of paranormal beliefs, as well as shed
more light on evolutionary origins of personality structure.
This integration could also once more enable us to conclude
195
DRU[. ISTRA@. ZAGREB
GOD. 21 (2012),
BR. 1 (115),
STR. 181-201
MIKLOUŠIĆ, I., MLAČIĆ,
B., MILAS, G.:
PARANORMAL BELIEFS...