Investigating the Relationship Between Exposure to
Television Programs that Depict Paranormal
Phenomena and Beliefs in the Paranormal
Glenn G. Sparks and Will Miller
This paper seeks to continue a program of research that explores the possible relationship between
exposure to media messages and paranormal beliefs. Following the work of Sparks, Nelson and Campbell
(1997), who reported the results of a random sample survey taken in 1994, this study reports the findings
of a second random sample survey taken in the same geographic area several years later. The results of the
survey show that paranormal beliefs are prevalent in the population and that they are related to reports of
television exposure to programs that regularly depict paranormal phenomena. Like the findings reported
by Sparks, Nelson and Campbell (1997), this study found that the relationship between TV viewing and
paranormal beliefs was contingent upon prior personal experience with a paranormal event. However,
the form of this contingent relationship was directly opposite from that observed in the earlier survey. In
this study, the relationship between TV exposure and paranormal beliefs emerged only for respondents
who reported personal experience with the paranormal. Plausible reasons for the conflicting findings and
suggestions for future research are discussed.
S
cholars in a variety of disciplines have devoted increasing attention over the last
decade to the study of paranormal beliefs. Belief in the “paranormal” refers to
belief in one or more extraordinary phenomena that defy explanation according to
current scientific understanding of natural law. The range of these alleged phenom-
ena is quite broad and includes things such as ESP, (extrasensory perception),
haunted houses, ghosts, devils, angels, spirits, reincarnation, telekinesis (the ability of
the mind to move or bend objects just by thinking), flying saucers from outer space,
space alien abductions, astrology, astral-projection (one’s spirit leaving the body,
traveling some distance, and then returning), the abominable snowman, the Loch
Ness monster, communicating with the dead, etc. In one national survey of over
1,000 adults, Gallup and Newport (1991) reported that paranormal beliefs were
“widespread,” with nearly 50% of the respondents reporting belief in ESP and almost
30% reporting belief in haunted houses. Jaroff (1995) reported the results of a Roper
poll indicating that, “nearly a quarter of Americans believe in extraterrestrial UFOs
and astrology . . . ” (p. 75). Of some surprise to scholars, paranormal beliefs are not
significantly lower among college students, even at institutions noted for science and
engineering. For example, in one sample of students from Purdue University, a
variety of different paranormal beliefs were endorsed by many of the respondents:
the existence of ghosts (70%), accurate forecasting of the future by reading palms
(40%), accurate predictions of the future made by psychics (37%), personal ability to
Glenn G. Sparks (Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1983) is a Professor in the Department of
Communication at Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907. Will Miller (Ed.D., University of
Massachusetts, 1976) is an author and corporate speaker who resides in West Lafayette, IN 47907.
This paper won the “First Place” paper award in the open category of the research division of the Broadcast
Education Association 2000 paper competition. It was presented at the annual meeting of the Broadcast
Education Association in April, 2000 in Las Vegas.
Communication Monographs, Vol. 68, No. 1, March 2001, pp 98 –113
Copyright 2001, National Communication Association
use extra-sensory perception on occasion (44%), and astral-projection (30%) (Sparks,
Hansen, & Shah, 1994).
The willingness of so many college students and adults to express belief in the
paranormal has attracted attention from a number of different quarters (quarters that
are more or less scholarly) and is usually treated with great concern. In a guest essay
for Time (April 13, 1992), James Randi, a magician and skeptic who has a standing,
unclaimed, offer of one million dollars for anyone who can demonstrate the reality
of a paranormal event under test conditions, wrote:
Acceptance of nonsense as a harmless aberration can be dangerous to us. We live in a society that
is enlarging the boundaries of knowledge at an unprecedented rate, and we cannot keep up with
much more than a small portion of what is made available to us. To mix our data input with
childish notions of magic and fantasy is to cripple our perception of the world around us. We must
reach for the truth, not for the ghosts of dead absurdities. (p. 80)
Concerns like those articulated by Randi have led to the formation of groups
dedicated to skepticism and debunking unsupported claims of the paranormal. One
of the best known groups of this type is the Committee for the Scientific Investigation
of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP ). This organization publishes the journal, The
Skeptical Inquirer, which is devoted to updating readers on the latest paranormal
claims and why they should be discounted. According to Paul Kurtz (1985), a
member of the journal’s editorial board, the purpose of this journal is to reveal the
many “wishful” and “exaggerated” claims frequently made about paranormal events
and to provide the public with the opportunity, “to learn about dissenting scientific
studies . . . ” (p. 357).
In addition to the literature published by skeptics, the mainstream academic
community has devoted increasing attention to the study of paranormal beliefs as a
phenomenon in its own right. Recent studies have linked belief in the paranormal to
various personality types like authoritarianism (Heard & Vyse, 1999) and external
locus of control (Groth-Marnat & Pegden, 1998) as well as to psychological distur-
bances like schizophrenia (Thalbourne, 1994) and delusional fears (Lange, 1999).
Some scholars have also studied paranormal beliefs in the context of expressing
concern for the development of critical thinking skills among college students
(Morgan & Morgan, 1998).
Among scholars and skeptics, there is a common assumption that the mass media
should take a major responsibility for the fact that so many people seem to accept
paranormal claims uncritically. The rhetoric of Randi (1992) is quite typical when he
wrote that the reason for the prevalence of “absurd beliefs” among the populaces of
every culture “ . . . is to be found in the uncritical acceptance and promotion of these
notions by the media . . . ” (p. 80). Other scholars echo Randi’s proclamation (Feder,
1984; Kurtz, 1985). Kurtz (1985) called attention to the, “dominant influence of the
media in forming [paranormal] attitudes and beliefs,” and charged that the media
often “behave totally irresponsibly in treating ‘paranormal’ occurrences” (pp. 359 –
360). Feder (1984) blamed the media for the problems faced by archaeologists in
their attempts to overcome the many reports of “unverified claims.” In a recent
analysis of a program in the “Science Frontiers” series that appeared on The Learning
Channel, Maione (1998) wrote that:
Programs on major TV networks often present a misleading account of the scientific status of
paranormal claims by failing to fairly present the skeptical side of the story . . . A program that
misrepresents the evidence for a particular claim is bad, but one that misrepresents the scientific
method in doing so is many times worse. (p. 21)
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TELEVISION AND PARANORMAL BELIEFS