by Igor Miklousic
Co-authored with dr.sc. Boris Mlacic & dr.sc. Goran Milas
Published in Social Research (Drustvena Istrazivanja)
Cite as
Mikloušić, I, Mlačić, B, Milas, G. (2012s). Paranormal beliefs and Personality Traits in Croatia. Drustvena Istrazivanja
Keywords; paranormal beliefs, personality traits, Tobacyk, Five Factor Model, evolution
The goal of this study was to assess the relationship between the Five Factor Model of personality and the belief in... more
The goal of this study was to assess the relationship between the Five Factor Model of personality and the belief in the paranormal. Participants (N=307) were students from the University of Zagreb, Croatia. The measures used were the IPIP version of the Five Factor Model questionnaire (Goldberg et al., 2006) along with the Revised Paranormal Belief Scale (Tobacyk, 1988). The factor analysis of the latter yielded three previously unreported paranormal belief dimensions named: General paranormal belief, Traditional religious belief and Rituals and Practices. Most significant personality correlations with all three factors were found for Openness, Conscientiousness and Neuroticism, respectively. Results to an extent confirmed previous findings, suggesting that open individuals accept more General paranormal beliefs, while rejecting Traditional religious belief. Conscientiousness displayed an opposite trend being positively related to Traditional religious beliefs and negatively to General paranormal beliefs. Finally, Neuroticism was related to Rituals and practices, i.e. superstitions, divinations and occult control of life outcomes. The relations are however modest ranging from .11 to .25. Both the novel paranormal belief structure and its significance to personality are discussed within an evolutionary perspective, with guidelines for further research highlighted in the end.
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