survey was weighted more toward reality programs, this difference could play some
role in the different pattern of findings uncovered in the two surveys. For example, it
could be that the results reported in this study supporting the resonance hypothesis
are more likely to hold when a measure of fictional programming is used. For
respondents who reported a prior experience with the paranormal, fictional pro-
grams may constitute the “double-dose” of the paranormal message referred to in
the resonance hypothesis. For those with no prior paranormal experience, viewing
fictional paranormal programming does not constitute a double-dose, thus reducing
the likelihood of a relationship between viewing these programs and belief in the
paranormal. In the study by Sparks et al. (1997) that relied upon a measure of
paranormal programs that was weighted toward reality programs, viewing of
these programs was significantly related to paranormal beliefs for viewers with
no prior experience with the paranormal. It could be that for these viewers, the
reality of the depictions tends to be persuasive because the viewers have no
personal experience to counter the “reality” depicted. The fact that Sparks et al.
(1997) failed to confirm the resonance hypothesis for those with prior experience
with the paranormal may suggest that when reality programs are involved, a
different process takes place that overrides the cultivation process of resonance.
Perhaps for these viewers, the apparent reality of the depictions triggers a
cognitive process that involves contrast and comparison between the “real”
experiences depicted in the media and the viewers’ own private experiences.
Perhaps these processes lead viewers to note the dissimilarities between the
“real” experiences depicted in the media and personal experiences. In such
cases, instead of a “double-dose” of the same message, viewers may process the
media message as running counter to their own experiences.
If the above analysis has any merit, it suggests that future attention should be
directed toward studying the role of fiction and reality programs in the cultiva-
tion of paranormal beliefs. It is interesting to note that Sparks et al. (1997)
underscored the need to examine perceived realism of paranormal depictions as
an important variable in understanding the impact of paranormal TV on
paranormal beliefs. We believe it is important to re-emphasize this point.
Following Potter’s work on perceived reality (Potter, 1986, 1988), we expect that
media impact in this domain might be dependent on such reality judgments. It is
also the case that paranormal programming probably produces a much wider
range of reality judgments than other types of programming (e.g., news program-
ming). Therefore, it appears critical to examine this variable in future studies. Of
course, this analysis is only one possible explanation for the conflicting results
between the two studies, but it would appear to be a plausible explanation that is
worth exploring in future investigations.
RQ2, which asked about the impact of demographic variables on paranormal
beliefs, was evaluated in the regression equations. The findings that emerged in the
regression equations were informative with respect to these variables. There was no
evidence that age, income, weekly attendance at a religious service, or general
intensity of religious belief were related to paranormal beliefs. This might not be
surprising with respect to age or income, but the skeptical community has often
associated religious belief with belief in the paranormal. However, our finding that
neither of the measures pertaining to religion were predictors of paranormal belief is
consistent with the findings of several other studies (Duncan, Donnelly, & Nichol-
110
COMMUNICATION MONOGRAPHS
son, 1992; Grimmer & White, 1990; Williams, Taylor, & Hintze, 1989). Data seems
to be accumulating to suggest that the relationship between religious belief and
paranormal belief may not be very strong. Undoubtedly, there are conceptual
grounds for distinguishing between these two domains.
There was some evidence for a weak relationship between biological sex and
belief in the paranormal; females showed a slight tendency to endorse paranor-
mal beliefs more than males. There is some precedent in the literature for this
finding (Wolfradt, 1997), but in general, the differences between males and
females in this realm appear to be small. The largest relationship between
paranormal beliefs and a demographic variable was found for level of education.
As one might expect, individuals with higher levels of education were less likely
to endorse paranormal beliefs. This finding appears to be consistent with the
notion that education encourages the development of critical thinking skills that
result in closer scrutiny and ultimate rejection of many paranormal claims.
Consistent with this idea, Gray and Mill (1990) found a significant relationship
between the application of critical thinking skills and rejection of paranormal
beliefs.
The data accumulating on the relationship between media exposure and beliefs in
the paranormal suggest that there may be an important media effect in this realm
that has received relatively little attention from scholars of mass communication. It is
important for future studies to replicate the findings that have been reported thus far
and, in the case of the resonance hypothesis, seek to untangle the inconsistent results
that have emerged to date. Like the survey reported by Sparks et al. (1997), this study
has the strength of using a random sampling procedure of an entire city. This
method is considerably stronger than one that appears frequently in the literature—
convenience samples of college students. The use of random samples of larger
populations enables some meaningful generalization of research findings. Labora-
tory experiments and surveys of this type should continue to be useful tools for
advancing our knowledge about the media’s role in beliefs about paranormal
phenomena.
Conclusion
Research on the influence of the media on beliefs in the paranormal is still in
its infancy. The studies to date, including this one, demonstrate that this area of
inquiry may hold considerable promise in advancing our understanding about
media effects. One glaring hole in the current literature is the lack of any
systematic content analysis of media content that focuses on paranormal themes.
Clearly, this sort of study is overdue and stands to inform us about the prevalence
of these themes in a systematic way. Ultimately, we believe that research on the
media and paranormal beliefs stands to offer new insights about media effects as
well as the way individuals form their basic belief systems. There may also be
implications for the design of educational curricula on critical thinking and the
media. In the final analysis, we believe that paranormal beliefs and the media’s
role in cultivating or discouraging them is a critical topic for mass communica-
tion scholars to understand well. Society is shaped by what people believe. If the
media play a central role in encouraging people to adopt beliefs about reality that
are unsubstantiated, there may well be widespread implications for future society
that are incalculable at the present time.
111
TELEVISION AND PARANORMAL BELIEFS
Notes
1
Robert Kiviat is a Hollywood producer who has worked on a number of programs that deal with the
paranormal. His most famous work is probably the “Alien Autopsy” series produced for the FOX network. In a
series of programs, Kiviat shows footage of an alien autopsy that supposedly originated from the now infamous
Roswell incident in the late 1940s. Over the series of programs, it becomes clear that there is good reason to
conclude that the film is a hoax. Kiviat takes primary responsibility for investigating the film’s origins and for
tracking down the evidence that led to the verdict that the film was a hoax.
2
The sample was random with respect to the numbers dialed, but not with respect to the people living in the
household contacted. Unless the person answering the phone was under 18-years of age, the interview was
presented to the person who answered the phone. Persons under 18-years old were not used due to the
additional contingencies of parental permission that would have been involved in order to satisfy guidelines for
ethical treatment of human subjects. In the case of 5 respondents, data on sex was not collected. The city used
for the sample was the same one used in the study by Sparks et al. (1997). It has a population of about 50,000
with a very small minority population (i.e., less than 2% of any particular minority group).
3
Although “uncertainty,” “belief,” and “disbelief” appear to be categories on a nominal scale, they clearly
represent levels of certainty in the belief system such that the scales are at least ordinal. In this respect, the scale
is no different than any 5-point scale that calls for an indication of agreement with an attitude statement.
Although strictly qualifying as only ordinal measures, such scales are commonly treated as if they are interval.
A long history of statistical testing reveals that in most cases, treating ordinal level data as if it were interval level
causes few differences of consequence in the data analysis.
References
Alcock, J.E. (1981). Parapsychology: Science or magic? Oxford, England: Pergamon Press.
Arkes, H.R., Hackett, C., & Boehm, L. (1989). The generality of the relation between familiarity and judged
validity. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 2, 81–94.
Bacon, F.T. (1979). Credibility of repeated statements: Memory for trivia. Journal of Experimental Psychology:
Human Learning and Memory, 5, 241–252.
Begg, I., & Armour, V. (1991). Repetition and the ring of truth: Biasing comments. Canadian Journal of
Behavioral Science, 23, 195–213.
Begg, I.M., Anas, A., & Farinacci, S. (1992). Dissociation of processes in belief: Source recollection, statement
familiarity, and the illusion of truth. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 121, 446 – 458.
Doob, A.N., & Macdonald, G.E. (1979). Television viewing and fear of victimization: Is the relationship causal?
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37, 170 –179.
Duncan, D.F., Donnelly, J.W., & Nicholson, T. (1992). Belief in the paranormal and religious belief among
American college students. Psychological Reports, 70, 15–18.
Evans, C. (1973). Parapsychology—what the questionnaire revealed. New Scientist, 25, 209.
Feder, K.L. (1984). Irrationality and popular archaeology. American Antiquity, 49, 525–541.
Gallup, G.H., & Newport, F. (1991). Belief in paranormal phenomena among adult Americans. Skeptical
Inquirer, 15, 137–146.
Gerbner, G., Gross, L., Morgan, M., & Signorielli, N. (1986). Living with television: The dynamics of the
cultivation process. In J. Bryant & D. Zillmann (Eds.), Perspectives on media effects (pp. 17– 40). Hillsdale, New
Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Gerbner, G., Gross, L., Morgan, M., & Signorielli, N. (1994). Growing up with television: The cultivation
perspective. In J. Bryant and D. Zillmann (Eds.), Media effects: Advances in theory and research (pp. 17– 41). New
Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Gersh, D. (March 18, 1987). Disclaiming horoscopes. Editor an Publisher, 22–23.
Gray, T., & Mill, D. (1990). Critical abilities, graduate education (Biology vs. English), and belief in
unsubstantiated phenomena. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 22, 162–172.
Gray, K., & Sparks, G.G. (1996). [A Content Analysis of Paranormal Events on Prime-Time Television.]
Unpublished raw data.
Grimmer, M.R., & White, K.D. (1990). The structure of paranormal beliefs among Australian psychology
students. Journal of Psychology, 124, 357–370.
Groth-Marnat, G., & Pegden, J.A. (1998). Personality correlates of paranormal belief: Locus of control and
sensation seeking. Social Behavior & Personality, 26, 291–296.
Hasher, L., Goldstein, D., & Toppino, T. (1977). Frequency and the conference of referential validity. Journal of
Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 16, 107–112.
Hawkins, R.P., Pingree, S., & Adler, I. (1987). Searching for cognitive processes in the cultivation effect: Adult
and adolescent samples in the United States and Australia. Human Communication Research, 13, 553–577.
Heard, K.V., & Vyse, S.A. (1999). Authoritarianism and paranormal beliefs. Imagination, Cognition &
Personality, 18, 121–126.
112
COMMUNICATION MONOGRAPHS
Hirsch, P.M. (1980). The “scary world” of the nonviewer and other anomalies: A reanalysis of Gerbner et al.’s
findings on cultivation analysis, part I. Communication Research, 7, 403– 456.
Jaroff, L. (1995). Weird Science. Time, (May, 15), 75–76.
Jones, W.H., Russell, D.W., & Nickel, T.W. (1977). Belief in the paranormal scale: An objective instrument to
measure belief in magical phenomena and causes. JSAS Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology, 7, 100. (Ms.
No. 1577).
Korem, D. (1988). Powers: Testing the psychic & supernatural. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
Kurtz, P. (1985). The responsibilities of the media and paranormal claims. Skeptical Inquirer, 9, 357–362.
Lange, R. (1999). The role of fear in delusions of the paranormal. Journal of Nervous & Mental Disease, 187,
159 –166.
Maione, I. (1998). Testing Put to the Test. Skeptical Inquirer, 22(3), 21–22.
Maller, J.B., & Lundeen, G.E. (1932). Sources of superstitious beliefs. Journal of Education Research, 26, 321–343.
Morgan, R.K., & Morgan, D.L. (1998). Critical thinking and belief in the paranormal. College Student Journal, 32,
135–139.
National Television Violence Study, Volume 1. (1997). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Ogles, R.M. (1987). Cultivation analysis: Theory, methodology, and current research on television-influenced
constructions of social reality. Mass Comm Review, 14, 43–53.
Ogles, R.M., & Hoffner, C. (1987). Film violence and perceptions of crime: The cultivation effect. In M.L.
McLaughlin (Ed.), Communication yearbook 10 (pp. 384 –394). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Potter, W.J. (1986). Perceived reality and the cultivation hypothesis. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media,
30, 159 –174.
Potter, W.J. (1988). Perceived reality in television effects research. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 32,
23– 41.
Potter, W.J. (1994). Cultivation theory and research: A methodological critique. Journalism Monographs, 147,
1–34.
Randi, J. (April 13, 1992). Help stamp out absurd beliefs. Time, 80.
Regan, D. (1988). For the record. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Schwartz, M. (1982). Repetition and the rated truth value of statements. American Journal of Psychology, 95,
393– 407.
Shrum, L.J. (1996). Psychological processes underlying cultivation effects: Further tests of construct accessibil-
ity. Human Communication Research, 22, 482–509.
Sparks, G.G. (1998). Paranormal depictions in the media: How do they affect what people believe. Skeptical
Inquirer, 22, 35–39.
Sparks, G.G., Hansen, T., & Shah, R. (1994). Do televised depictions of paranormal events influence viewers’
paranormal beliefs? Skeptical Inquirer, 18, 386 –395.
Sparks, G.G., Nelson, C.L., & Campbell, R.G. (1997). The relationship between exposure to televised messages
about paranormal phenomena and paranormal beliefs. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 41,
345–359.
Sparks, G.G., & Ogles, R.M. (1990). The difference between fear of victimization and the probability of being
victimized: Implications for cultivation. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 34, 351–358.
Sparks, G.G., & Pellechia, M. (1997). The effect of news stories about UFOs on readers’ UFO beliefs: The role
of confirming or disconfirming testimony from a scientist. Communication Reports, 10, 165–172.
Sparks, G.G., Pellechia, M., & Irvine, C. (1998). Does television news about UFOs affect viewers’ UFO beliefs?:
An experimental investigation. Communication Quarterly, 46, 284 –294.
Sparks, G.G., Sparks, C.W., & Gray, K. (1995). Media impact on fright reactions and belief in UFOs: The
potential role of mental imagery. Communication Research, 22, 3–23.
Thalbourne, M.A. (1994). Belief in the paranormal and its relationship to schizophrenia-relevant measures: A
confirmatory study. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 33, 78 – 80.
Tobacyk, J., & Milford, G. (1983). Belief in paranormal phenomena: Assessment instrument development and
implications for personality functioning. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44, 1029 –1037.
Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1973). Availability: A heuristic for judging frequency and probability. Cognitive
Psychology, 5, 207–232.
Williams, R.N., Taylor, C.B., & Hintze, W.J. (1989). The influence of religious orientation on belief in science,
religion and the paranormal. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 17, 352–359.
Wolfradt, U. (1997). Dissociative experiences, trait anxiety and paranormal beliefs. Personality and Individual
Differences, 23, 15–19.
Zaragoza, M.S., & Mitchell, K.J. (1996). Repeated exposure to suggestion and the creation of false memories.
Psychological Science, 7, 294 –300.
Received: July 19, 2000
Accepted: December 20, 2000
113
TELEVISION AND PARANORMAL BELIEFS
Dostları ilə paylaş: |