Religion and Paranormal Belief

Abstract

This article uses a Canadian national sample to examine the relationship between conventional religious belief, church attendance, and belief in paranormal phenomena. Greater religious belief is strongly associated with greater paranormal belief. Church attendance (and other measures of religious participation) are only weakly associated with paranormal belief until conventional religious belief is statistically controlled; once this is done, greater church attendance is strongly associated with lowered paranormal belief. Together, these two religious variables explain about one-quarter of the variance in paranormal belief, making them the strongest predictors that have yet to be identified.

Reducing Pseudoscientific and Paranormal Beliefs in University Students Through a Course in Science and Critical Thinking

“…Eder et al (2011) found a significant correlation between traditional religious beliefs and belief in paranormal subjects, suggesting that, once a person believes in one supernatural subject (religion), it can be open to beliefs in other paranormal subjects (Tobacyk and Milford 1983). For example, Catholics, whose religion includes more supernatural beliefs than Protestants, exhibit higher belief in paranormal subjects (Duncan et al 1992;Orenstein 2002) and report 30% more paranormal experiences than Protestants (Mencken et al 2008). Religious Bnones,^in contrast, reported 22% fewer paranormal experiences in their life (Mencken et al 2008).…”

“…Similarly, Christians whose beliefs are considered moderate or liberal show higher beliefs in paranormal subjects compared to evangelical or fundamentalist Christians (Baker and Draper 2010). For highly religious people, the reduction in non-religious paranormal subjects is a result of those subjects being frowned upon by the church establishment (Mencken et al 2008;Orenstein 2002;McKinnon 2003). This is thought to be an expression of social control and has been termed the Deviance/Marginalization Hypothesis, where individuals belonging to the group in power are less likely to accept non-traditional paranormal beliefs because those beliefs may ostracize them from the conventional group (Mencken et al 2009).…”

Discussing the Supernatural in Contemporary Finland: Discourses, Genres, and Forums

“…Those who attend church at least once a week and associate with similar believers are likely to reject non-Christian paranormal beliefs and activities. These people are more committed to the dogma and are also controlled by their religious collective (Mencken & Bader & Stark 2008: 201-203;Orenstein 2002). These surveys have been conducted in the United States but the same pattern seems to prevail in our Finnish materials.…”

The interrelationships of parent rural values, parent religiosity, parent involvement, and student outcomes in a small, southern, rural middle school.

“…Because the Ritual activity recognized by most scholars as an indicator of religiosity is attendance (Djupe & Grant, 2001;Dobratz, 2001 (Orenstein, 2002;Schwadel, 2002) are also considered to be PR-RIT indicative so they are included in Section III B as well. Finally, praying aloud, praying silently, and saying grace before meals (Lam, 2002;Orenstein, 2002;Rowatt et aI., 2002;Sherkat, 2002) are thought to be strong indicators of religiosity and are included in the survey.…”

“…Finally, praying aloud, praying silently, and saying grace before meals (Lam, 2002;Orenstein, 2002;Rowatt et aI., 2002;Sherkat, 2002) are thought to be strong indicators of religiosity and are included in the survey.…”