Paranormal beliefs, religious beliefs and personality correlates

1.3. PARANORMAL AND RELIGIOUS BELIEFS

With respect to contemporary personality and development research, it is assumed that personality traits are not merely descriptions of static and enduring inter-individual differences. Rather, they should be considered dynamic, organisational constructs, influencing how people organize their behaviour, process information and adapt to the social environment (Buss, 1989; Caspi, 1998; McCrae & Costa, 1997; Roberts, Caspi and Moffitt, 2001). With this mind it seems reasonable to presume that there may be some underlying connection between religious beliefs and belief in paranormal phenomena – cf. the terms sheep and goat, used to denominate paranormal believers and non-believers, respectively, as introduced by Schmeidler (1945), who took them from a religious connotation in the Bible (Matthew, 25: 31-33). The potential relationship between paranormal and religious beliefs has yet to be explored in any great detail and this lack of research has provided the impetus for this study. The aim of this study is to investigate a potential correlation between paranormal beliefs (measured by the RPBS) and religious beliefs (measured by the PCBS) or vice versa, and also -if any- the personality factors that will predict or correlate with these beliefs. This study will also represent the first use of the PCBS for measuring religiosity in the UK.

Past research has shown the following correlations between paranormal and religious beliefs: firstly, Tobayck and Milford (1983) found traditional religious belief to correlate positively with belief in witchcraft and precognition, but negatively with belief in spiritualism and non-significantly with belief in psi, superstition, and extraordinary life forms. Clarke (1991) found slightly different results with religiosity correlating positively with belief in psychic healing and negatively with UFO belief. Finally, Hillstrom and Strachan (2000) reported negative correlations between religiosity and beliefs in telepathy, precognition, PK, psychic healing, UFOs, reincarnation, and communication with the spirits. As indicated earlier, the mixed results are largely due to the different measurements of paranormal belief used. Moreover, the measurement of religiosity was performed either by a simple measure of attendance or via the Traditional Religious Beliefs subscale on the RPBS.
With respect to religious beliefs and personality factors, past research indicates that religiosity is associated with low Psychoticism (Agreeableness and Conscientiousness in the FFM), as shown in the meta-analysis by Saroglou (2002), who also reported that extraversion was weakly correlated. Using the PCBS as the instrument of measurement, significant correlations between Openness to Experience and religiosity (as measured by the literal vs. symbolic dimension) have been found (Duriez, Soenens and Beyers, 2003) in accordance with previous theories stating that the factor ought to be crucial in understanding the relation between personality and religiosity (McCrae, 1996, 1999; McCrae, Zimmerman, Costa and Bond, 1996; Saroglou, 2002; Duriez, Luyten, Snauwaert and Hutsebaut, 2002, Peeters, 2003a).
The personality correlates most associated with paranormal beliefs have been Extraversion, which was associated with higher belief scores (Thalbourne, 1981; Thalbourne, 1980; Eysenck, 1967) and Neuroticism (Thalbourne, Dunbar and Delin, 1995). The specifically linked subscales were: psi belief, witchcraft, spiritualism, precognition and traditional religious beliefs. Gender differences have also been reported with women tending to score higher than men on global paranormal belief (Clarke, 1991; Rice, 2003; Tobayck and Milford, 1983) but men having stronger beliefs in the existence of UFO’s and extraterrestrials (Clarke, 1991; Rice, 2003).
Thus, this study seeks to confirm literature findings and to extend the boundaries of previous work by investigating any relationship between paranormal beliefs and religious beliefs. In light of the aims of the study and the previous research that has been detailed, the following hypothesises will be tested:
Hypothesis 1

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  There will be some relationship between paranormal beliefs and religious beliefs.
  

Hypothesis 2

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  Women will show greater global paranormal belief than men.
  

Hypothesis 3

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  The personality factors expected to correlate with paranormal belief are Neuroticism and Extraversion.
  

Hypothesis 4

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  The personality factors expected to correlate with religiosity are Agreeableness and Conscientiousness (Psychoticism in the three factor model).
  

2. METHOD

2.1. DESIGN

The study was a repeated measurements design, which used the questionnaire survey method. The independent variable was the participant’s beliefs (paranormal or religious) while the dependent variable was the participant’s scores on the scales of paranormal beliefs, religious beliefs and personality factors.

2.2. PARTICIPANTS

An opportunity sample of 69 participants was selected and completed the questionnaire, the majority of which were undergraduate psychology students from Manchester Metropolitan University. Participants ranged in age from 18 to 56 years (M = 27.83, S. D. = 10.88). The ratio of males to females was 31:69 (or 20 males to 45 females). Participants who had three or more missing values on either the paranormal belief scale (RPBS), the religiosity beliefs scale (PCBS) or the personality scales were excluded from further analyses. In total, four of the participants questionnaire results had to be removed leaving N = 65.

2.3 MATERIALS

The constructs of paranormal belief, religious belief and personality were assessed by the following procedures:

2.3.1 PARANORMAL BELIEF SCALE

The revised Paranormal Belief Scale (RPBS) by Tobayck (1988, 1991) is a 26 item self-report scale, which measures the following seven forms of paranormal beliefs: traditional religious belief, psi belief, witchcraft, superstition, spiritualism, extraordinary life forms and precognition. Responses to each item are scored on a seven-point Likert scale with a higher rating indicating stronger endorsement. Tobayck and Milford (1983) reported satisfactory reliability and validity using the original form of the PBS. The test-retest-reliability for the subscales was improved in the revision, but the internal consistency of the revised PBS was not reported (Tobayck, 1991). See Appendix 1 for the complete set of questions

2.3.2 RELIGIOUS BELIEF SCALE

The Post-Critical Belief scale⁴ (PCBS) was used to measure the religiosity of participants (Duriez et al., 2000). The scale consists of 33 items, providing measurements of Orthodoxy (e.g. ‘Only a priest can give an answer to important religious questions’), External Critique (e.g. ‘In the end, faith is nothing more than a safety net for human fears’), Relativism (e.g. ‘Secular and religious conceptions of the world give valuable answers to important questions about life’) and Second Naiveté (e.g. ‘The Bible holds a deeper truth which can only be revealed by personal reflection’). Fontaine et al. (2003) have found that this scale also provides measurements of the basic religiosity dimensions that Wulff (1991, 1997) identified. Hence, in this way the effects of being religious or not (Exclusion vs. Inclusion of Transcendence) can be separated from the way in which religious contents are processed (either in a literal or symbolic manner). The items were scored on a seven point Likert scale. Also, the validity of the PCBS construct has been tested. Duriez, Fontaine and Hutsebaut (2000) stated that it provides accurate measurements of Wulff’s four approaches to religion. Finally, a high score on Exclusion vs. Inclusion of Transcendence indicates a tendency to include transcendence. A high score on Literal vs. Symbolic indicates a tendency to deal with religion in a symbolic way.

2.3.3 PERSONALITY SCALE

A 50 question version of the NEO-PI-R, based upon the Five Factor Model (FFM), was used in this study and this instrument is backed by a considerable amount of literature (for a review see Costa and McRae, 1992) showing good evidence for validity and reliability. The questionnaire statements are marked on a seven point scale, again with higher scores indicating stronger endorsement. The five scales that are measured include Neuroticism, Extroversion, Openness to experience, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness with 10 questions used for each factor.