Women and Men: Comparing Paranormal Beliefs

Women and Men: Comparing Paranormal BeliefsPage 1

Women and Men: Comparing Paranormal Beliefs

Ed May

Indiana University Southeast

2013

Abstract

The beliefs men and women hold about paranormal phenomenon have long been documented by researchers. The hypothesis of this study was that women would have greater belief in the paranormal than men. The revised Paranormal Belief Scale (Tobacyk, 1988; Tobacyk & Milford, 1983) was given to 145 participants, 112 women and 33 men, to evaluate the pattern of paranormal beliefs for a population, and to study the differences in the strengths of men and women’s beliefs.The participants were surveyed using Qualtrics, where they gave responses to the Revised Paranormal Beliefs Scale, Transliminality Scale, and the Anomalous Experiences Inventory. The data was analyzed using SPSS, and an independent samples t test indicated no significant difference in paranormal belief between males and females. The participants consisted of college students and faculty from psychology classes at the University of Indiana Southeast. The results were contrary to prediction as there were no significant differences between male (M=82.90, SD=26.91), and female paranormal beliefs (M=91.63, SD 27.61),t(128) =-.155, p>.05.

Women and Men: Comparing Paranormal Beliefs.

Watching television, surfing the internet, checking movie schedules, and individual conversations will confirm that there is no shortage of interest in the paranormal (Kelly, 2011; Richman & Bell, 2010). Ridolfo, Baxter, and Lucas, (2010) found that between 73% and 76% of people had at least one paranormal belief that was not centered in customary religious beliefs (King, Burton, and Hicks, 2007). The explanation most people gave for their beliefs in the paranormal was that they had a personal paranormal experience (Bressan, 2002). One such experience, for example, a person may be thinking of someone they haven’t heard from for many years and that person calls them at that exact moment (Bressan). They may have had a dream that came true the next day, or a premonition that came true (Bressan; Tobacyk & Milford, 1983). The paranormal or religious beliefs that people hold are important because people want an explanation for the unexplainable (King, Burton, Hicks, & Drigotas, 2007), and the possibility of proof that paranormal phenomenon are authentic (Tobacyk, Nagot, & Mitchell, 1988).

Paranormal beliefs generally fall into seven categories (Kelly, 2011; Richman & Bell, 2012; Tobacyk & Milford; Tobacyk, 2004):traditional religious belief (Christion, Muslim, and others), psi beliefs (psychokineses or mental telepathy), witchcraft (spells, creature sacrifice, voodoo, and incantations), superstition (fear of black cats, going under a ladder, and bad luck for breaking a mirror, for example), spiritualism (speaking to the dead, astral projection, and reincarnation), extraordinary life forms (aliens, bigfoot, loch ness monster, and the abominable snowman), and precognition (the ability to give information about the future).

The hypothesis was that women had stronger beliefs in the paranormal than men (Aarnio & Lindeman, 2007; Braswell, Rosengrent, & Berenbaum, 2012; Danbrun, 2004; Grey & Mill, 1990; Grey, 1990; Kennedy, 2003; Tobacyk & Nagot, 1988; Torgler, 2007; Tobacyk & Nagot, 1988; Wierzbicki, 1984). The reasons that this hypothesis was chosen was that the first studies were conducted on paranormal beliefs before the explosion of the internet,access to the internet, and the vast store of information that was now available to everyone on the internet. The internet has allowed people to make their own decisions on paranormal beliefs with additional video and audio evidence. The researchers of this study also participated in a class that traveled parts of the south searching for hard evidence of the paranormal. Whether or not this evidence was credible was up to each person when deciding on their own beliefs in the paranormal. The majority of Americans have experienced at least one incidence they consider to be of a paranormal nature, and clearly they believe it is important for their security and the security of their children (Sharps, et al., 2010).

Method

Participants

The participants were selected using a convenience sampling of 145 students and faculty from Indiana University Southeast (IUS). The participants consisted of 33 males and 112 females with ages ranging from 18-59. Participants were recruited through IUS undergraduate psychology classes and most were given extra credit for their input.

Materials

Materials included a handout with instructions on how to access the primary survey and a short demographic survey compiled by the researchers that comprised questions about gender, age, and ethnicity. Paranormal beliefs were measured using the Revised Paranormal Beliefs Scale (PBS-R; Tobacyk, 2004), with a seven point Likert scale. The Likert scale consisted of the following values; strongly agree = 7, agree = 6, agree somewhat = 5, undecided = 4, disagree somewhat = 3, disagree = 2, and strongly disagree = 1. Questions asked on the PBS-R concerned beliefs such as Traditional Religious Belief, Psi Belief (extrasensory perception and telekinesis), Witchcraft, Superstition, Spiritualism, Extraordinary Life Forms, and Precognition. Additional beliefs and experiences were measured using both the Revised Transliminality Scale (Lange, 2000) and the Anomalous Experiences Inventory (Gallagher & Kumar, 1994), where participants were asked to either agree or disagree with items such as, Bigfoot exists, I have seen a ghost, and I have been abducted by aliens.

Procedure

Participants were given printouts by the researchers containing instructions on how to gain access to the survey on the Qualtrics website. Access to the survey itself was only granted after the participant agreed to the consent and information sheet. The survey began with the demographics section, followed by the PBS-R, RTS, and AEI. Data was compiled using SPSS. The scales were not labeled in such a way to influence the participants’ answers.

Results

An independent samples t test was used to compare the overall PBS-R scores of participants who labeled themselves male or female. Contrary to prediction there were no significant differences between male paranormal beliefs (M=82.90, SD=26.81) and female paranormal belief (M=91.63, SD 27.61) in this study, t(133) = -.155, p>.05.

Gender and paranormal belief

Discussion

The hypothesis that women would have a greater belief in the paranormal than men was not supported. The results demonstrated that there was no statistical differences in belief in the paranormal between men and women. The results replicated previous research (Braswell, Rosengren, & Berenbaum, 2011; Grey & Mill, 1990; Lindeman & Aarnio, 2006).The limitations of this study were that convenience sampling was used, this was a voluntary participation study, and thus one can suspect that most participants had an interest in this topic.

More research is warranted because the participants were only representative of the population of psychology students and staff of IUS. The research questions should be done differently by leaving out all religious questions to help internal validity of the scale and give focus on paranormal beliefs only. Since there have been so many studies on the differences between the beliefs of men and women, and most we found showed no statistical difference except for two studies we found in our research (Emmons, 1981; McGarry, 1981), further study should focus only on obtaining participants at large, regardless of their gender.

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