Human interaction with the divine, the sacred, and the deceased: topics that warrant increased attention by psychologists

Abstract

Humans have likely been attempting to communicate with entities believed to exist, such as the divine, sacred beings, and deceased people, since the dawn of time. Across cultures and countries, many believe that interaction with the immaterial world is not only possible but a frequent experience. Most religious traditions across the globe focus many rituals and activities around prayer to an entity deemed divine or sacred. Additionally, many people–religious, agnostic, and atheists alike–report communication with their departed loved ones. During highly stressful times associated with natural disasters, war, pandemics, and other threats to human life, the frequency and intensity of these activities and associated experiences substantially increase. Although this very human phenomenon seems to be universal, the empirical literature on the topic within psychology is thin. This paper discussed the topic and reviews what we know from the professional literature about how people perceive communication with these unseen entities. It highlights the perceptual and social cognition evidence and discussed the role of attribution theory, which might help us understand the beliefs, motivations, and practices of those engaged with communication with the unseen. Empirical laboratory research with mediums is discussed as well, examining the evidence for communication with the deceased. Final reflections and suggestions for future research are also offered.

Beliefs in Pain and Suffering:

“…• inductive capacity to abstract general rules from single observations, • necessity of finding cause-effect relations among observed phenomena, • inferring the presence of some living agents causing observed phenomena, • capacity to project one's own thoughts and emotions onto others, • accepting dominant and subordinate roles, including reward and punishment, in a hierarchical manner. In addition, conceptual beliefs about religion may include the notion of deities and the so-called transcendent unseen (Plante et al 2023). They have been found not to be specific but to show similarities to beliefs about meaning, hope and overarching values (Oviedo and Szocik 2020).…”

“…On this basis humans also tend to make attributions about fictional, e.g. supernatural or proposed agents and deities which can be observed in virtually all faith groups around the world (Griffiths 2014;Plante et al 2023).…”

Manifestations, social impact, and decay of conceptual beliefs: A cultural perspective

“…Beliefs within certain religions have been found to help decrease such uncertainty by providing concepts and teachings, and sometimes prophecies, about what will happen and how it can be expected to occur (Hogg et al., 2010 ; Teehan, 2006 ). Such concepts about supernatural agents, unseen gods, and other divinities may become highly believable and therefore influential for religious individuals (Plante et al., 2023 ; van Elk, 2022 ). Today, beliefs about religious issues are understood to be similar to other beliefs and rooted in the same neuropsychological capacities.…”

Anthropology of Religion: Sighting the dynamics of sacredness

“…La religión se percibe como creencias en lo sobrenatural, afirmaciones en deidades, fuerzas, espíritus o almas de los muertos (Hossain, 2021;Pérez y Rohde, 2022;Plante et al, 2023;Van Elk, 2022;Wilt et al, 2023). Ellis (2023) explica cómo la religión tradicionalmente ha cautivado a través del factor sobrenatural, al exhortar fe y confianza en favores y promesas provenientes de entidades o fuerzas metafísicas.…”