Differences in Paranormal Beliefs across Fields of Study from a Spanish Adaptation of Tobacyk's RPBS

Paranormal beliefs are held by many people nowadays. There are several definitions of paranormal beliefs (e.g., Alcock, 1981; Irwin, 1999; Tobacyk & Milford, 1983), but there is general agreement that they are beliefs which violate the basic principles of science (Tobacyk, 1988). Regardless of whether such beliefs are related to real phenomena, it is clear that they are widely held by many people, and that a current popular interest exists. Evidence for this interest includes the large number of newspaper articles, books, television programs, movies, and groups that focus on such topics (Scheidt, 1973; Tobacyk & Milford, 1983). For this reason, it is obvious that believing in the paranormal is a psychologically and behaviorally relevant field of research. The long-standing interest in this issue is shown by the large number of studies trying to find different correlates of paranormal beliefs with several psychologically relevant variables. For instance, paranormal experiences and beliefs appear to be associated with several psychopathologies such as manic-depression and schizophrenia (Thalbourne 1994; 1998; Thalbourne & French, 1995), complex partial epileptic-like symptoms (Persinger, 1993) and dissociative and schizotypal tendencies (Houran, Irwin, & Lange, 2001). In addition, it has been shown that there are some correlates with factors associated with individual differences or biographical variables like childhood trauma (Irwin, 1994), gender (Tobacyk & Milford, 1983; Vitulli, Tipton, & Rowe, 1999), age (Vitulli et al., 1999), as well as personality factors like neuroticism (Vyse, 1997), locus of control (Dag, 1999), sensation seeking (Groth-Marnat & Pegden 1998), extraversion, and intuition (Rattet & Bursik, 2001). Previous results of studies about relationships of paranormal beliefs with intelligence, cognitive processes, and educational factors are particularly interesting for the present research. For instance, Killeen, Wildman, and Wildman (1974) found that high school students with an above-average IQ endorsed fewer paranormal beliefs than did students with an average IQ. Musch and Ehrenberg (2002) found that low cognitive ability correlates with paranormal beliefs, suggesting that differences in general cognitive performance rather than specific probabilistic reasoning provide the basis for paranormal beliefs. Some studies have focused on the influence of the academic background of participants on their acceptance of belief in paranormal phenomena. Vitulli and Luper (1998) observed that some concrete paranormal beliefs decrease after a course in General Psychology. Morier and Keeports (1994), using a nonequivalent control group design, tested the effectiveness of an interdisciplinary course on the scientific method in increasing students' skepticism toward the paranormal. This study concluded that, while there were no initial differences between the control and treatment groups in their belief in the paranormal, students in the Science and Pseudoscience class demonstrated substantially reduced belief in the paranormal relative to the control class. Otis and Alcock (1982) showed that university professors believe less in the paranormal than do students, and that social and natural scientists also believe less than do their colleagues in the humanities, arts, and education (see also Pasachoff, Cohen, & Pasachoff, 1970). However, Sonntag (2000) recently found that a low performance in verbal and mathematical tasks, a low grade point ratio, and a low rank in high school academic performance were related to a high number of beliefs in paranormal phenomena. But more importantly, the kind of study chosen did not appear to be related to those beliefs. Sonntag concluded that increasing university education or studying specific areas is not related to a lower level of paranormal belief, and that most paranormal beliefs are relatively immune to the critical thinking skills taught in the academia. …