Paranormal beliefs refer to acceptance of phenomena that fall outside the scope of standard scientific explanation, including beliefs in ghosts, extrasensory perception (ESP), witchcraft, supernatural spirits, extraordinary life forms (e.g., the Loch Ness Monster), and other extraordinary claims. While paranormal beliefs are conceptually distinct from pseudoscience and conspiracy theories, they share common underlying mechanisms related to belief formation and resistance to scientific evidence.
Relationship to misinformation
Research on paranormal beliefs is relevant to the misinformation literature because:
- Common psychological mechanisms: Individuals who hold paranormal beliefs tend to also hold conspiratorial, anti-science, and religious beliefs, suggesting shared underlying factors in belief formation (e.g., low analytical thinking, identity-protective cognition, openness to uncertainty).
- Evidence resistance: Paranormal beliefs are often remarkably resistant to scientific debunking, similar to conspiracy theories and misinformation. This resistance appears driven by emotional investment and social identity rather than rational evaluation of evidence.
- Ideological patterns: Some paranormal beliefs show ideological asymmetries (e.g., conservatives higher on certain paranormal beliefs, such as beliefs in extraordinary life forms and the efficacy of alternative medicine), though the relationship is weaker than for conspiratorial or climate-science beliefs.
Measurement and prevalence
Paranormal beliefs have been systematically measured via scales such as the Paranormal Belief Scale (Tobacyk, 2004), which includes subscales for:
- Supernatural beings (ghosts, angels, demons)
- Psi (ESP, telepathy)
- Witchcraft and magical thinking
- Spiritualism
- Extraordinary life forms
- Precognition
- Luck and destiny
Cross-cultural surveys show paranormal beliefs are widespread, with 40–60% of the general population holding at least some paranormal beliefs.
Key papers
- Pennycook et al. (2020) — On the belief that beliefs should change according to evidence — Shows that the Actively Open-minded Thinking about Evidence (AOT-E) scale strongly negatively correlates with paranormal beliefs (r = –.40 to –.14), a relationship that holds across three large studies and is largely consistent across political ideology.
Related topics
- science-beliefs — acceptance or rejection of scientific consensus
- belief-formation — psychological processes underlying belief acquisition
- conspiracy-theories — similar mechanisms and often empirically correlated with paranormal beliefs