Home> Archive> 2014> Volume 4 Number 6 (Nov. 2014)
IJSSH 2014 Vol.4(6): 474-477 ISSN: 2010-3646
DOI: 10.7763/IJSSH.2014.V4.401

The Belief Stroop: Information Processing and the Relationship between Religious and Paranormal Belief

Krissy Wilson, John S. Finn, and Heike Wilson

Abstract—Belief in the paranormal is a worldwide trend and appears to be on the increase yet researchers consistently fail to find concrete evidence to support the claims. Attempts have been made in recent years to understand the psychological mechanisms that create and maintain such beliefs. The current research continues that field of enquiry with a three-pronged strand that considers 1) a possible biological component to belief 2) the relationship between religious and paranormal belief and 3) the role of individual differences and belief. The following describes two experiments that employ a unique adaptation of the emotional stroop test to investigate the emotional impact of belief, the link between religion and the paranormal and personality measures of fantasy proneness. Results reveal no link between the two belief constructs, mixed evidence for biological bases but clear evidence of a relationship between fantasy proneness and belief.

Index Terms—Belief, emotion, paranormal, stroop.

Krissy Wilson is with the Macquarie University Australia (e-mail: drkrissywilson@yahoo.com).

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Cite: Krissy Wilson, John S. Finn, and Heike Wilson, " The Belief Stroop: Information Processing and the Relationship between Religious and Paranormal Belief," International Journal of Social Science and Humanity vol. 4, no. 6, pp. 474-477, 2014.

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