Mental representations of the supernatural: A cluster analysis of religiosity, spirituality and paranormal belief
Journal article
Authors | Schofield, M., Baker, Ian S., Staples, Paul and Sheffield, David |
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Abstract | The aim of the study was to establish a new typology of belief in the supernatural; categorising people, based on their levels of religiosity, spirituality and paranormal belief. Examining how the various beliefs are defined was a further objective. The reasons for people having different levels of these beliefs were discussed, highlighting ‘Metaphysical Chauvinism’ as a possible explanation. Previous research that used variousmethods to measure religiosity, spirituality and paranormal belief were discussed. Participants (n = 307) completed an online survey consisting of the revised Religious Life Inventory (rRLI), the Intrinsic Spirituality Scale (ISS) and the revised Paranormal Belief Scale (rPBS). Two cluster analyses were performed: one on the three main scales and a secondary analysis on the ISS, the subscales of the rRLI and the rPBS. The results revealed a four cluster solution for each analysis. For the main analysis the clusters were ‘believers’, ‘paranormal believers’, ‘sceptics’ and ‘religious believers’. Metaphysical Chauvinism was supported; however, it was acknowledged that there still appears to be a lack of consensus when defining supernatural beliefs. It is proposed that the cluster analysis approach is more effective than a simple scale when trying establish how a person believes. |
Keywords | Supernatural; Religiosity; Spirituality; Paranormal belief; Cluster analysis; Metaphysical chauvinism |
Year | 2016 |
Journal | Personality and Individual Differences |
ISSN | 01918869 |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.06.020 |
Web address (URL) | http://hdl.handle.net/10545/621087 |
hdl:10545/621087 | |
Publication dates | 25 Jun 2016 |
Publication process dates | |
Deposited | 01 Dec 2016, 12:51 |
Accepted | 08 Jun 2016 |
Rights | Archived with thanks to Personality and Individual Differences |
Contributors | University of Derby |
File | File Access Level Open |
File |
https://repository.derby.ac.uk/item/943w0/mental-representations-of-the-supernatural-a-cluster-analysis-of-religiosity-spirituality-and-paranormal-belief
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