Personality factors Anomalistic psychology

Neuroticism Tendency to experience negative emotional states e.g. anger, anxiety, depression, guilt, rather than positive states. Positive correlation between neuroticism and paranormal beliefs

Research and findings Williams et al (2007) tested 300 Welsh school children and found a significant correlation between neuroticism and paranormal beliefs. Wiseman & Watt (2004) questionnaires on neuroticism and paranormal belief. Strong correlation. (but cause and effect). Paranormal beliefs may create a distance from reality as a defence mechanism against negative emotional stress Paranormal is thought to allow neurotics to interpret and predict events and so helps them to not get worked up and overemotional

Evaluation Some have criticised the methods used to measure belief. – Many studies use the Paranormal Belief Scale (PBS) which includes attitudes to traditional religious belief, psi, witchcraft, superstition, spiritualism, extraordinary life forms and precognition. If we used one of these individual sub-scales, we would get different results. This would affect the validity of past research, as often correlations are with a subscale rather than the whole range of beliefs. Wiseman and Watt 2004, used just the subscale of superstition and found that neuroticism was only related to paranormal beliefs relating to bad luck – neuroticism doesn’t explain all paranormal beliefs.

Wider evaluation Complex relationship between personality and anomalous experience Different personality factors associated with different areas e.g. Neuroticism with belief in the paranormal, extroversion with ability (ESP)

Creativity Creativity is the “sequences of thoughts and actions that lead to a novel, adaptive production.” How inventive or original your thinking is.

In the Gianotti et al (2001) study the links were rated for creativity. This score was then correlated with the individual’s belief in the paranormal. There was a positive link between belief in the paranormal and originality of the links. Findings

Creativity has been consistently related to belief in the paranormal. Artistic creativity has been associated with mystical experiences, lucid dreams and paranormal experiences. (Ayers, 1999) Research suggests a relationship between creative personality, artistic involvement and paranormal belief. (Thalbourne, 2005) Thalbourne (1998), conducted a meta-analysis of studies and found a correlation between creative personality and paranormal belief. Creative people were more likely to be able to make links between unrelated items, a characteristic that may underlie paranormal experiences. (Remember the face in the moon?) QHow could we evaluate these studies?

Additional personality factors – Extraversion – Fantasy proneness – Sensation seeking – Locus of control

Fantasy Proneness This is the tendency to be so deeply involved in a fantasy that it feels as if it is actually happening. Paranormal believers are more fantasy prone. Wiseman et al 2003 found that deep absorption (being very involved in a task) may enable people to overlook the facts and believe in events they know are not true. They set up a mock séance, where everyone knew it wasn’t real and they were simply acting as if it were a séance. During the séance, one actor suggested the table was levitating when it wasn’t. After the séance, more believers than non-believers reported that the table had moved. Believers were more deeply absorbed than non-believers and this led them to believe, despite knowing it to be fake. This also explains why believers may be more easily fooled in general.

Fantasy Proneness Gow et al 2004 compared a group claiming alien abduction/UFO sighting vs. a control group. found those who reported seeing flying saucers, had higher levels of fantasy proneness and were likely to be believers. Roberts 1 in 3 studies into UFO’s & FP found a link. Why not more? Cause & effect? Fantasy-proneness individuals have a more vivid imagination, including vivid daydreams, which could sometimes seem real, and be confused to think that imagined events really happened. (Wilson and Barber, 1983)

Extraversion and Sensation Seeking Extraversion is a complex variable relating to one’s sociability excitement and sensation seeking, impulsivity and level of outgoingness. personality characterised by positive emotions and tendency to seek extra stimulation to increase brain arousal levels. Outgoing and seek new experiences Extraverts have low levels of cortical arousal (electrical activity in the cerebral cortex of the brain) and thus are driven to maintain an optimal level of arousal by seeking sensory (information) stimulation. Low levels of cortical arousal might allow weak stimuli, such as ESP or an abstract idea to enter awareness, causing moments of inspiration. (Eysenck, 1976)

Findings Peltzer 2002 found extraversion was associated with paranormal beliefs. Honorton et al 1992 conducted a meta-analysis of 60 studies relating extraversion to ESP performance and found a positive correlation. Extraverts respond better to new stimuli than introverts and are more open to paranormal experiences, which increases their beliefs.

Locus of Control Locus of control refers to the extent to which individuals believe they can control events affecting them. People with external locus of control are more likely to believe in the paranormal than those with internal locus of control. Relationships between belief and locus of control depend on the type of belief. (Tobacyk)

Locus of control There is a positive correlation between internal locus of control and belief. (Davies) – However, results may be unreliable due to the way belief is measured. Wolfradt 1997 criticised LoC stating that only some forms of psi e.g. superstition, correlate positively with an external loc, whereas others like PK, correlate negatively. The variation in results of studies of loc and anomalous experience can be due to the type of anomalous experience being measured. Groth-Marnat and Pegden 1998, found that greater external loc is associated with spirituality and precognition, whereas internal loc was associated with superstition.