Belief in paranormal phenomena: Assessment instrument development and implications for personality functioning.

Abstract

A 25-item self-report questionnaire designed to assess belief in the paranormal was constructed based on the results from factor analysis of a 61-item pool ad-ministered to 391 college students. Factor analysis revealed seven independent dimensions comprising belief in the paranormal. These factors were Traditional Religious Belief, Psi Belief, Witchcraft, Superstition, Spiritualism, Extraordinary Life Forms, and Precognition. The Paranormal Scale was constructed by selecting either three or four marker items to represent each of the seven dimensions as paranormal subscales. Descriptive statistics for this Paranormal Scale and the seven subscales are presented, as well as reliability statistics. Studies were pre-sented that support the validity of this Paranormal Scale and subscales with such personality/adjustment constructs as internal-external locus of control, sensation seeking, death threat, actual self-ideal self-concept, uncritical inferences, dog-matism, and irrational beliefs. It was concluded that this scale offers promise as an assessment instrument for paranormal belief. Recently, much concern has been ex-

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