Preliminary study of death anxiety of believers versus percipients of the paranormal

Sex Differences in Paranormal Beliefs among Undergraduate College Students

Beliefs in and experience of the paranormal were assessed in 125 college-aged undergraduate students. Crawford and Christensen's 1995 12-item Extrasensory Perception Survey was administered before and after taking a course in general psychology. Men scored significantly higher than women on scale values (1–5) for beliefs regarding life after death, the existence of extrasensory perception, having at least one extrasensory experience, and UFOs with people from other places visiting our planet. There were no significant differences (within subjects) between beliefs before versus after the course, yet mean scores from pre- and posttests showed that belief in life after death, belief in precognitive experience in dreams, and belief in the existence of extrasensory perception ranked highest over-all in endorsement while beliefs in physical contacts with ghosts, auras, and psychokinesis ranked lowest. Sex differences were discussed in the context of the hypothesis of social marginality.

Beliefs in the paranormal: age and sex differences among elderly persons and undergraduate students

Beliefs in the paranormal were rated stronger in younger as compared to elderly adults by Emmons and Sobal in 1981, and sex correlates of paranormal beliefs appeared to be stronger in women than in men by Irwin in 1994. This research studied possible linkages between age and sex with a comparative analysis between results of Vitulli and Luper's 1998 survey among undergraduate students and data from elderly men (M = 72 yr., SD = 9.2, n = 21) and women (M = 69.3 yr., SD = 7.7, n = 55). Crawford and Christensen's 1995 12-item Extrasensory Perception Survey was administered to elderly persons living in apartment complexes and private homes, participating in activities in a recreation center, or attending a continuing-education seminar. A 2 x 2 multivariate analysis of variance from responses on the 12-item survey showed that undergraduate men and elderly women had the highest ratings on paranormal beliefs. The self-selecting characteristics of a segment of the elderly sample led to a post hoc univariate analysis of variance by partitioning that sample into those who were attending a continuing-education seminar versus all other elderly persons. Summated ratings (total scores) for this survey showed main effects for these subsamples and for sex. Sex and age differences were discussed in the context of the hypothesis of social marginality.

Relation of tolerance of ambiguity to global and specific paranormal experience

We examined the relationship of tolerance of ambiguity to severe global factors and specific types of anomalous or paranormal experience. 107 undergraduate students completed MacDonald's 1970 AT-20 and the Anomalous Experiences Inventory of Kumar, Pekala, and Gallagher. Scores on the five subscales of the Anomalous Experiences Inventory correlated differently with tolerance of ambiguity. Global paranormal beliefs, abilities, experiences, and drug use were positively associated with tolerance of ambiguity, whereas a fear of paranormal experience showed a negative relation. The specific types of anomalous experiences that correlated with tolerance of ambiguity often involved internal or physiological experience, e.g., precognitive dreams, memories of reincarnation, visual apparitions, and vestibular alterations. We generally found no effects of age of sex. These results are consistent with the idea that some paranormal experiences are misattributions of internal experience to external ('paranormal') sources, a process analogous to mechanisms underpinning delusions and hallucinations.