Personality Contributions to Belief in Paranormal Phenomena
Author(s): Cara L. Smith, Judith L. Johnson, William Hathaway
Abstract: Openness to Experience (OE) and Sensation Seeking (SS) combine significantly in prediction of paranormal beliefs. Beliefs were regressed on the six facets of OE with Fantasy as the best predictor, then Feelings, Values, Actions, Aesthetics, and Ideas. Beliefs were regressed on the four subscales of the SS measure with Boredom Susceptibility as the best predictor, then Experience Seeking, Disinhibition Seeking, and Thrill and Adventure Seeking. These findings support the hypotheses that the personality constructs of OE and SS both partially predict belief in the paranormal. OE accounts for a greater portion of the unique variance in predicting such beliefs. These personality constructs are important to the understanding and explanation of divergent belief systems such as beliefs in the supernatural.
Pages: 85-96
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