Psychopathological symptoms and their relation to paranormal belief and illusory judgment

<p>The relationship between psychopathological symptoms and paranormal belief and abilities was explored in four studies. Study 1 investigated the relationship between depressive symptoms and paranormal belief. Study 2 shifted the investigation into the laboratory by testing participants' illusory judgments on a paranormal task and assessing the relationship between their judgments and depressive symptoms. Study 3 combined scale and lab tasks testing for additional psychopathological symptoms and illusory judgment on four paranormal tasks. Study 4 incorporated techniques to increase illusion of control induction and minimize context effects and fatigue. Psychosis proneness and mood symptoms were positively related to general paranormal belief consistently across three paranormal belief scales and illusory judgment on three paranormal tasks. The results are consistent with a body of literature that suggests atypical thinking as a commonality among people reporting psychopathology symptoms and paranormal and other types of magical thinking.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Year

2006

Author dc:creator

• Cofrin, Michael P

Contributors dc:contributor

• Victor A Benassi

• Psychology
• Social
• Clinical
• Health Sciences
• Mental Health

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation/334

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholars.unh.edu:dissertation-1333