Creation and validation of the belief in the supernatural scale

This study aimed to create and validate a new scale, the “Belief in the Supernatural Scale.” Study one used an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) to reduce an initial item pool of 71 items to 44 and to identify a factor structure with 382 participants. A five factor structure was proposed: “mental and psychic phenomena,” “religious belief,” “psychokinesis,” “supernatural entities,” and “common paranormal perceptions.” We then analyzed the proposed scale in study two using a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) with 318 new participants. The new scale provides a wide range of items and indicates that while religious and paranormal beliefs show a clear division, spiritual belief is spread among those factors, indicating that spirituality might be the concept that links religiosity and paranormality. The Belief in the Supernatural Scale (BitSS) provides a valuable tool that can be used alone, or alongside previous measures, for research into supernatural belief.