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Virtually all known human cultures possess beliefs in the paranormal. This may at first seem maladaptive—how could belief in the unreal be sufficiently advantageous that it would have survived the rigors of human evolution in the all-too-real world of past ages?
Such beliefs may have yielded evolutionary advantages. Although the interaction of culture and human evolution is complex, it is certainly possible that shared paranormal beliefs within any given culture, such as shared veneration of ancestral spirits or god-kings, might have yielded a coalescent group loyalty that would be useful, physically and politically, in dealings with other competing cultures. This might very well have resulted in a selective bias toward dissociative processes, leading to success in those cultures that indulge in such beliefs.
But even if this is the case, a significant psychological question arises—one especially true for the modern world, in which access to scientific information is effectively unparalleled historically—How are such beliefs maintained in the minds of individuals, within any given culture? Why do individual people harbor bizarre beliefs?
Unfortunately, the term dissociation has many uses and definitions. In our usage, we emphatically do not refer to psychiatric concepts of dissociative identity disorder, or to a psychotic level of dissociation. We refer to subclinical dissociative tendencies, of the sort probably experienced from time to time by most people. Those with subclinical dissociative tendencies see prosaic reality as potentially fraught with supernatural meaning. For the dissociated, the facades of buildings, seen in everyday context on the street, might hide vast conspiracies or alien autopsies or Bigfoot.
So, we know that dissociation contributes to paranormal beliefs and perceptions. But how pervasive is it? What types of paranormal thinking and perception are associated with dissociative tendencies?
This was the focus of our present study, which used standardized instruments to address the question.
Forty-one male respondents (mean age 19.37 years, SD = 1.73) and sixty-three female respondents (mean age 19.21 years, SD = 1.37) participated in this study. These respondents completed the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES; Carlson and Putnam 1986). This is a standard instrument for the assessment of dissociative tendencies, used previously in a number of our experiments, including those published in the Skeptical Inquirer (e.g., Sharps 2012; Sharps et al. 2013; 2014). The DES deals with empirically verified everyday experiences that relate strongly to dissociation, the focus of the current research.
The respondents also completed the Revised Paranormal Belief Scale (RPBS; Tobacyk 2004). This scale addresses paranormal beliefs of various types, addressing beliefs in such areas as the soul, magic, and cryptids. This standardized instrument addresses, on an empirical basis, many of the paranormal beliefs current in Western culture. Finally, respondents completed the standard Duke University Religion Index (e.g., Koenig and Bussing 2010), which deals with religious behaviors related to the supernatural (e.g., church attendance). The items of the RPBS were sorted according to their subject areas. The twenty-six items of this scale were sorted into the following indices: beliefs in Religiosity, Magic, Luck, Future Prediction, Cryptids (i.e., the Loch Ness monster), Fate of the Soul, and Supernatural Powers. The overall score on the RPBS, and the score of each respondent on each of these beliefs, was computed and compared with scores on the DES, and then on the Duke Index, by means of linear regression. The results were quite revealing.
The relationship of overall scores on the RPBS to dissociation in this non-diagnosed, normal population was significant (linear regression), R2 = .171, F(1,101) = 21.70, p < .001, β = .423. Especially interesting is the fact that all factors identified as paranormal were significantly (p < .05) related to dissociation as measured by the DES. In other words, tendencies toward subclinical dissociation, in this normal, non-diagnosed population, were strongly related to all forms of paranormal beliefs. In terms of relationship to subclinical dissociation, Religiosity was most strongly related by beliefs in heaven and hell (β = .281). Magic was most strongly endorsed by beliefs in witchcraft (β = .167), although beliefs in specific cases of witchcraft was another matter; see below. Luck was most strongly endorsed by a fear of black cats (β = .268). Future Prediction was most strongly endorsed by a belief in astrology (β = .270). (Belief in cryptids, for this scale, dealt only with the Abominable Snowman and the Loch Ness monster; Bigfoot and his allies were conspicuously absent from this instrument). Nessie was strongly endorsed, β = .420, while the Snowman was not. We address this important dichotomy below. Fate of the Soul was most strongly supported by belief in the possibility of communication with the dead (β = .185), with belief in reincarnation a close second (β = .164). Belief in astral projection fell a distant third, β = .064. Finally, psychic powers were endorsed most strongly in mental “object moving,” β = .224, although psychokinesis, effectively a synonym, was endorsed less strongly (β = .109). Two additional items of the RPBS tested DES scores against modern scientific perspectives. The first, a belief that “mind reading cannot occur,” was nonsignificant against dissociative tendencies. However, the second, that there may be life on other planets, was endorsed more strongly and significantly by the dissociated, β = .231.
Interestingly, no significant relationship was found between dissociation and the scales of the Duke University Religion Index, which at first appears to conflict with the significant relationship of the DES to the Religiosity scale of the RPBS.
These considerations are underscored by the exceptions to this pattern we noted earlier. More dissociated individuals believed in the Loch Ness monster than in the Abominable Snowman. Why?
The Snowman is little seen today in televised and Internet accounts, taking a decided backseat to Bigfoot and his cronies. The Abominable Snowman is historically an earlier concept, less “available” to modern thinking in Tversky and Kahneman’s terms. Thinking about this older concept would require more feature-intensive concepts to consider, more in-depth thinking about a relatively unfamiliar idea.
The Loch Ness monster, on the other hand, is seen in TV “documentaries” all the time. Even with its historical provenance, it is therefore a modern concept, relatively “available” in Tversky and Kahneman’s terms, more amenable to modern thinkers, and hence more readily processed in gestalt, feature-free terms. Therefore, the dissociated tend to endorse Nessie relatively freely. The Snowman takes more work, more feature-intensive analysis, and is therefore less readily endorsed.
We saw the same effect with astrology and astral projection. Astrology is a still-current, relatively available concept, requiring little feature-intensive analysis. Astral projection, a concept whose televised and Internet popularity has waned, would require more feature-intensive analysis, and would require less detail-free gestalt consideration for easy acceptance.
The same effect applies to “object moving” and “psychokinesis.” Mental object moving requires no analysis at a feature-intensive level; it is eponymous. “Psychokinesis,” although effectively a synonym for “mental object moving,” is an earlier, currently less available concept, which requires additional thought, activating feature-intensive processing. Thus, mental “object moving” was endorsed with its automatized, eponymously gestalt characteristics, whereas the more feature-intensive, but synonymous, concept of psychokinesis was not.
Finally, the same phenomenon was observed in the endorsement of “witchcraft” as a general, gestalt phenomenon, but in the absence of statistically significant endorsement of specific instances of witchcraft, which would require more feature-intensive thinking. The general phenomenon was endorsed; the specific instances were not.
From all of these instances, the pattern is clear: when broad, noncritical gestalt processes are involved, the dissociated tend more toward paranormal beliefs. When analytical, skeptical, feature-intensive processes are required, paranormal beliefs recede, at least to some degree.
Our latest research shows that those who exhibit subclinical tendencies toward paranormal beliefs also tend toward subclinical dissociation. These tendencies may best be countered by detail-specific, feature-intensive, scientific education. Hopefully, these considerations may inform education at the primary, secondary, and collegiate levels to reduce paranormal beliefs in favor of scientifically legitimate thinking needed to develop realistic science and technology.
Matthew J. Sharps, Megan R. Herrera, Schuyler W. Liao