Belief in the paranormal: does identity development during the college years make a difference? An initial investigation

Oney D. Fitzpatrick, Jr.

Research suggests that the development of an individual's identity achievement is important in determining feelings about the self, personal beliefs, and levels of achievement (e.g., Killen, Wildman, & Wildman, 1974; Schneider & Green, 1977; Tobacyk & Milford, 1983). The exact contribution of identity achievement to belief in the paranormal, however, remains unclear. The purpose of the present line of research was to further evaluate identity development as a factor in paranormal belief.

The idea of identity development as a key to personal beliefs was proposed by Erik Erikson in his crisis stage of "identity versus role confusion" that occurs during adolescence. Erikson defined this stage as a time when:

the ego values accrued in childhood culminate in what I have called a sense of ego identity. [This] is the accrued confidence that one's ability to maintain inner sameness and continuity is matched by the sameness and continuity of one's meaning for others. Thus, self-esteem, confirmed at the end of each major crisis, grows to be the conviction that one is . . . developing a defined personality within a social reality that one understands. (Erikson, 1980, pp. 94-95)

For Erikson, the individual who settles this crisis will develop a sense of commitment and identity, particularly in personal life areas such as occupation, relationships, and ideology. Erikson further defines this commitment as the degree of personal belief an individual expresses in a course of action or belief (Erikson, 1950). Individuals who have well-developed identities and are motivated toward achievement could be expected to have more positive self-esteem and a feeling of complete control of both their lives and their present situations. It could be predicted that those high in need for achievement (nAch) would be further along in their identity development.

Schneider and Green (1977) have suggested that high-school students high in nAch and low in need for affiliation (nAff) tend to earn higher grades, spend more time studying, and spend less time socializing than those high on both measures. The same individuals also tend to have higher IQs and higher self-esteem, which is related to success in school. It has further been determined that higher IQs are related to lower paranormal beliefs (e.g., Killen, Wildman, & Wildman, 1974).

Paranormal beliefs have been primarily defined in three ways:

1. Cannot be explained in terms of current science

2. Explained only if major revisions are made in basic limiting principles of science

3. Incompatible with normative perceptions, beliefs, and expectations about reality (Alcock, 1981; Braude, 1978; Tobacyk & Milford, 1983)

Belief in the paranormal appears to have a measure of social influence when an individual internalizes from those in the environment. The exact relationship between paranormal beliefs and social-group influences remains unclear, however. Social-group influences might suggest that belief in the paranormal is a two-tiered concept: one consisting of "higher level" cognitive aspects (i.e., those associated with high identity development and more independent thinking) and one consisting of "lower level" aspects (associated with less identity development and more social-group influences). Individuals high in identity achievement may not need to believe as much in the paranormal because doing so essentially relinquishes self-control and creates a sense of cognitive dependence on others.

It can be argued that level of development may be a determinant of cognitive abilities and may be conducive to the achievement of identity. This could impact belief in the paranormal. For example, Tobacyk, Miller, and Jones (1984) studied the paranormal beliefs of 193 eleventh-grade high-school students and compared them with the paranormal beliefs of 391 introductory college students. They discovered that the high school students in their study tended to believe significantly less in the paranormal than college students from the same area. They speculated that this difference may have resulted from a significant difference in the basic teaching styles used in high schools compared with those used by most colleges. They concluded, "It may be that the college experience is more a 'cognitively liberal' period of exposure to controversial ideas than a period of developing/employing objective cognitive evaluative skills" (p. 258). It would appear that high-school students are being taught to evaluate evidence for the paranormal more subjectively and critically. This could have caused them to reject the ideas of the paranormal, which often cannot endure such stringent evaluation. Conversely, as suggested by Alcock (1981), the college experience seems to promote an open forum for students to express a wide variety of ideas. Perhaps this allows them to more readily accept limited evidence for the paranormal than their high school counterparts. This certainly would account for the differences found between high-school and college students.

Tobacyk et al. (1984) further proposed that the idea of identity achievement proposed by Erikson (e.g., Erikson, 1950, 1968) may have continuing effects on the paranormal beliefs of college students. It was proposed that as students achieve identity, they develop a stable set of values against which to critically evaluate, and ultimately reject, evidence for the paranormal. Likewise, individuals who have not achieved identity would be less likely to have developed a stable set of values against which to critically evaluate evidence for the paranormal.

Tobacyk (1985) attempted to study this hypothesis by evaluating the paranormal beliefs of 98 introductory college students from the "Bible Belt" region. It was believed that these students had developed a normative set of values and solid identity. However, Tobacyk failed to support the contention that achievement of identity is related to paranormal beliefs. It should be noted, however, that the study had several limitations that may have influenced the research findings. First, Tobacyk studied only students from the Bible Belt region. The beliefs of such a group may not be representative of college students in general because their noted religious devotion may have biased their paranormal belief scores. Second, the study sample was limited to introductory college students with no real comparison group. These students may not have achieved a stable set of values to evaluate paranormal events critically as Tobacyk assumed. In fact, Tobacyk et al. (1984) previously speculated that upper-division college students may possess a more stable set of values against which to evaluate paranormal claims more critically. In his study of students from the Bible Belt region, Tobacyk did not evaluate the paranormal beliefs of upper-division college students who may have had a more developed ego identity than the introductory subjects. It is possible that the study did not accurately demonstrate a relationship between paranormal beliefs and identity achievement owing to subject sample limitations.

The purpose of the present line of research was to further clarify the roles of identity achievement and development in the acceptance of paranormal beliefs. Several a priori hypotheses were evaluated in this study. First, senior college students were predicted to have higher levels of identity achievement and reported self-esteem in comparison to first-year, introductory college students because of further development and more experience. Second, it was predicted that seniors would report overall lower belief in paranormal ideas in comparison to introductory, first-year college students. More specifically, senior students were predicted to report less belief in the specific aspects and composition of the paranormal (i.e., extraordinary life forms, traditional religious beliefs, precognition, witchcraft, superstitious beliefs, spiritualism, and psi beliefs) in comparison to first-year introductory students. Finally, it was predicted that identity achievement, class standing, and other personal variables (e.g., self-esteem, need for achievement, need for affiliation) would be predictive of belief in the paranormal.

METHOD

Subjects

Students at a mid-sized university in Arizona (105 females, 97 males - 202 total) were recruited from introductory and upper-level psychology courses. Of this sample, 141 were first-year students, and 61 were graduating seniors. First-year students were those in their first semester of college who had recently graduated from high school. This first-year sample was selected to be comparable to those in the Tobacyk (1985) study of introductory college students. The seniors were fourth-year students who were expecting to graduate at the end of the next semester.

Materials

There were a number of areas of interest in the present line of research. Subjects completed several questionnaires that were used to gather information in the following areas: belief in the paranormal, identity achievement, self-esteem, and need for achievement/need for affiliation.

Belief in the paranormal. The Paranormal Belief Scale (PBS) (Tobacyk & Milford, 1983) was used to measure the degree of belief in paranormal phenomena. The 26-item scale contains seven subscales that reflect major dimensions of paranormal beliefs. These subscales are: Traditional Religious Beliefs, Psi Belief, Witchcraft, Superstitions, Spiritualism, Extraordinary Life Forms, and Precognition. Subjects simply read each statement and indicated their degree of disbelief or belief for each of the items by using a five-point rating scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree).

Identity achievement. Identity achievement was measured by the Identity Achievement Scale (IAS) (Simmons, 1970, 1973). The test consists of 24 incomplete statements followed by two alternatives that could complete the sentence. Subjects were to select the statement that best fit their usual feelings. The scores could range from 0 to 24, with higher scores indicative of more identity development.

Self-esteem. The Index of Self-Esteem (ISE) developed by Hudson (1982) was implemented to measure subjects' level of self-esteem along with their personal intrinsic confidence level. The ISE is a 25-item questionnaire with a total score range of zero to 100, where a higher score indicates lower self-esteem. Responses could range from 1 ("rarely or none of the time") to 5 ("most or all of the time").

Need for achievement/need for affiliation. The Need for Achievement/Need for Affiliation Scale (nAch/nAff) developed by Lindgren (1976) was used to measure subjects' motivation for achievement and need for social affiliation. The scale is a 30-item measure in which subjects are required to choose between pairs of self-descriptive adjectives. Some of the descriptives are characteristics of achievement (e.g., "efficient" and "resourceful"); and some, of affiliation (e.g., "sympathetic" and "trusting"). The implication of the scale is that an individual who is high in need for achievement is, concurrently, low in need for affiliation and, conversely, one that is low in need for achievement is high in need for affiliation.

PROCEDURE

Subjects were recruited from an introductory psychology pool and upper-level psychology courses. Only first-year students and graduating seniors were used in the study in order to maximize between-group differences. Each subject was given course credit for his or her participation. Participants were told that they would take part in a study designed to evaluate their ideas, feelings, and attitudes about themselves and their personal beliefs. Confidentiality was assured, and informed consent was obtained. The self-report measures previously described were administered and supervised by research personnel. The order of presentation of the questionnaires was as follows:

1. Paranormal Belief Scale

2. Identity Achievement Scale

3. Index of Self-Esteem

4. Need for Achievement/Need for Affiliation Scale

It took approximately 15 minutes to complete the questionnaires, whereupon the subjects were debriefed and thanked for their participation.

RESULTS

The a priori hypotheses were evaluated using a Student's two-tailed t test. Initial analysis indicated no gender differences on any of the measures. Therefore, the data were collapsed across this variable.

It was predicted that seniors would display a higher degree of identity achievement in comparison to first-year college students. Surprisingly, no differences were found. Both groups reported similar levels of identity achievement as measured by the Identity Achievement Scale (M first-year = 14.58, M seniors = 14.92, t [less than] 1, n.s.). Analysis of reported levels of serf-esteem also revealed no differences based on class, although seniors did report slightly higher self-esteem scores in comparison to their first-year counterparts (Ms = 26.39 and 30.44, respectively). This difference approached significance; t(202) = 1.86.

Because first-year and senior students showed no significant differences in identity achievement, a post hoc median split of the Identity Achievement Scale scores was performed, dividing subjects into "low" and "high" identity. Low identity achievement was defined as scores 1 to 14; high identity achievement scores ranged from 15 to 24 (maximum score = 24). Post hoc t tests using high and low identity achievement as the independent variable revealed a significant difference between those high and low in identity achievement on reported self-esteem scores; Ms = 25.92 and 33.18, respectively; t(202) = 3.73, p [less than! .001, where lower scores indicate higher self-esteem. Those with more developed identities did report higher levels of self-esteem and were more confident in themselves, but apparently years in college was not a factor.

It was further predicted that seniors would report less belief in the paranormal than their first-year counterparts. The first-year students did report a higher paranormal belief total score (M = 90.38) than the senior students (M = 83.43). This difference was significant; t(202) = 2.07, p [less than] .05. Analysis of the paranormal belief subscales indicated that first-year students had more traditional religious beliefs in comparison to the senior students; Ms = 23.84 and 20.23, respectively; t(202) = 4.17, p [less than] .001. In addition, differences in beliefs in superstition approached significance with the first-year students reporting more superstitious beliefs (M = 5.68) than the seniors (M = 4.59); t(202) = 1.91, p = .057. No significant differences were found on any of the other subscales of the Paranormal Beliefs Scale.

Predicting paranormal beliefs. A Pearson r correlation was performed on the paranormal belief scores (total and subscales) as well as on the other assessed areas to determine the relationships between the measures. Table 1 presents the correlation matrix for the factors in the current study.

[TABULAR DATA FOR TABLE 1 OMITTED]

The data were then subjected to a multiple regression analysis to determine the order in which the paranormal belief subscales would enter into the prediction equation and the amount of variability that each subscale would account for. The paranormal belief subscales were entered into a regression equation using a stepwise procedure. The regression equation was highly significant, [R.sup.2] = .975, p [less than] .0001, accounting for 97.5% of the total paranormal belief variance. The remaining 2.5% of the variance can be attributed to measurement and calculation errors. See Table 2 for the stepwise multiple regression analysis of the subscale predictors of belief in the paranormal.

[TABULAR DATA FOR TABLE 2 OMITTED]

Factor analysis. The scores of the 11 measures were subjected to a principle-component factor analysis to determine how all of the components related to each other. The components were rotated to an orthogonal simple structure using the Varimax method.

The Varimax rotation yielded three factors accounting for a total of 57.4% of the variance. (The eigenvalues for these factors were 2.8, 2.1, and 1.4). Table 3 presents the loadings for each scale on the three factors. The minimum eigenvalue was set at 1.0.

The first factor (Factor I: nontraditional explanations) accounted for 25.5% of the total variance and was comprised of several paranormal belief subscales (psi belief, witchcraft, spiritualism, life forms, precognition). The second factor (Factor II: social influences) accounted for 19.1% of the variance. Factor II is comprised of items related to traditional religious beliefs, low need for achievement, and high need for affiliation. The third factor (Factor III: self-concept) accounted for 12.8% of the variance. It contained items pertaining to views related to the self. All of the 11 measures loaded on these three factors.

It appears that this Varimax rotation approached the ideal simple structure, because there was almost no overlap of the scales on the factors. The only exception was the precognition measure which had equally high loadings on Factors I and III. Furthermore, 10 of the 11 measures loaded greater than [+ or -! .40 on one and only one factor. Seventy-three percent of the measures loaded greater than [+ or -] .60.

[TABULAR DATA FOR TABLE 3 OMITTED]

DISCUSSION

The current study was designed to further clarify the relationship between identity achievement, personal concept, and paranormal beliefs. On the basis of previous research (e.g., Erikson, 1950, 1968; Tobacyk et al., 1984), it was expected that seniors would have higher levels of identity achievement and, subsequently, lower paranormal beliefs than would introductory college students. These hypotheses were partially supported. This study did not demonstrate significant differences between the identity achievement levels of college seniors and introductory college students. Instead, the results were in agreement with those presented by Waterman, Geary, and Waterman (1974), who performed a longitudinal study on the ego identity development of first-year college students through their senior year. Waterman et al. concluded that many youths were still in identity crisis at the end of their senior years despite 4 years at a university. Furthermore, as suggested by Alcock (1981) and Munro and Adams (1977), today's college environment is often very unstructured and abstract. Students are exposed to a variety of ideological perspectives and occupational choices which they are required to consider as they plan their lives. Because of the abstractness of the college experience, it is possible that a longer period of time may be required to finalize life-long commitments (Munro & Adams, 1977). At least with the current study, this appears to be the case. The seniors demonstrated essentially the same level of identity development and commitment as that of the first-year students. The present research suggests that the current college environment may, in fact, be too unstructured and abstract to contribute significantly to the development of ego identity.

Furthermore, contrary to Tobacyk's hypothesis that belief in the paranormal would be negatively related to identity achievement (Tobacyk, 1985), the current study found that there was no relationship between identity achievement and belief in the paranormal. The college environment may actually explain the reported differences in paranormal beliefs. It was expected that seniors and first-year students would differ in overall beliefs in the paranormal. This prediction was supported, because seniors did report that overall they believed less in the paranormal in comparison to first-year students. The lower paranormal belief scores of the seniors suggest a developmental trend of less belief in the paranormal with increasing age and experience. This notion is supported by Emmons and Sobol (1981) who reported that age is the strongest demographic correlate of paranormal beliefs. It should be noted, however, that the differences between seniors and first-year students in the paranormal beliefs total score may be largely attributable to the traditional-religious-beliefs subscale. Of the seven subscales of the paranormal belief scale, only a difference in the traditional beliefs subscale between seniors and first-year students was apparent. Being more exposed to different ideological perspectives by the senior year in college certainly may account for this finding. Many, if not most, students will enter college with limited exposure to a variety of religious orientations; that is, many students may have no real notion of even the foundational ideas of other religious beliefs. The college experience may be the first opportunity to share and discuss different beliefs in a neutral, nonthreatening setting. These comparisons could introduce other nontraditional religious possibilities and result in less belief in more traditional religious ideologies.

The current findings are in disagreement with Tobacyk's research which found no significant age-related differences in religious beliefs (e.g., Tobacyk, Pritchett, & Mitchell, 1988). Other studies, however, have found an increase in religiosity among the elderly (Christopher, Fearon, McCoy, & Nobbe, 1971; McAllister, 1988). Future researchers may want to explore further the nature of attitude change in students regarding their religious orientation at the beginning and end of the college experience. It may be that more exposure to other beliefs (or to no beliefs) challenges and weakens previously held personal religious convictions. Early research by Feldman (1969) concluded that some students shifted religious beliefs across the college years, but the nature of the shift (i.e., becoming more or less religious) is difficult to predict. Clearly, changes in religious beliefs is a complex issue that depends on both the student and the school (Spilka, Hood, & Gorsuch, 1985).

It should be noted that changes in religious orientation do not necessarily characterize changes concerning paranormal beliefs in general. In the current study, the traditional religious beliefs subscale had the lowest correlation with the paranormal beliefs total score than any of the seven subscales. This suggests that perhaps traditional religious beliefs represent a separate and independent facet of paranormal beliefs. In addition, the factor analyses further indicate that traditional religious beliefs are distinct from other aspects of belief in the paranormal and coincide with a higher need for affiliation and lower need for achievement. Irwin (1993) has suggested that some researchers make the assumption that all questionnaires on paranormal beliefs are measuring the same thing. The implication of such a view is that what is known about one aspect of paranormal beliefs necessarily applies to them all. The present study does not support an all-or-none idea but agrees with Irwin's suggestion that paranormal belief is a multidimensional concept. Research efforts may benefit by further investigation of traditional religious beliefs that are separate from paranormal beliefs, which seems to be suggested by the design of Tobacyk's Paranormal Belief Scale.

Belief in the paranormal may intrinsically be more of an individual decision than a social phenomenon (as suggested earlier, one "tier" of paranormal beliefs). Early research by Davis, Peterson, and Farley (1974) stated that with the exception of traditional religious beliefs, paranormal believers generally have low social motivation, which may be related to a lack of fear of social ridicule (Davies, 1985). In addition, Tobacyk (1983) found a positive correlation between social interest and traditional religious belief. Thus, nonreligious paranormal believers may be more interested in their own subjective experiences of the world than they are in the needs of other people (Irwin, 1993). These independent thinkers may seek more nontraditional means to account for unexplainable phenomena, which may open them to more acceptance of paranormal ideas. Social group convictions, such as those aligned along more traditional lines, may simply not be enough.

In contrast, other researchers (e.g., Adams & Shea, 1979; Killen, Wildman, & Wildman, 1974; Schneider & Green, 1977; Tobacyk & Milford, 1983; Tobacyk, Miller, & Jones, 1984) have characterized people who believe in the paranormal as:

1. Demonstrating a high need for affiliation

2. Having a more external locus of control

3. Still in a state of identity crisis versus identity achievement

4. Reporting lower levels of self-esteem than those individuals who reject the paranormal

Additionally, other investigations have demonstrated that individuals who accept the paranormal tend to have lower IQs than those who reject the paranormal (e.g., Killen, Wildman, & Wildman, 1974). These findings suggest that people who tend to profess a belief in the paranormal may feel that their lives are out of control and may be searching for some external force to give their lives both meaning and focus. This feeling of not being in control could explain why these individuals tend to have lower self-esteem than their nonparanormal-believing counterparts. Irwin (1992) suggested that belief in the paranormal may serve a basic psychological need of understanding life events and a need for a sense of control over the world.

It should be noted, however, that a major supposition is implied: religious ideas comprise a part of belief in the paranormal. Many empirical studies have found a positive relationship between religious beliefs and health (e.g., Bergin, 1983; Ellison, 1991; Koenig, 1990; Levin & Schiller, 1987), but the findings pertaining to religious beliefs cannot necessarily be assumed to apply to other components of paranormal beliefs. Belief in the paranormal is more than a simple interest in the idea of unexplainable phenomena or the feeling that life is "out of control" and that believing in an all-powerful, unexplainable force will help give clarity and purpose to life. These findings do suggest, however, that (1) the assumption that belief in the paranormal is unhealthy is not valid, and (2) research on the other components of paranormal beliefs and health is warranted. It is possible that some components of paranormal beliefs will be positively related to health whereas some will be negatively related to health. In either case, it again appears that religious beliefs are separate and distinguishable from paranormal beliefs. Future research could clarify this idea.

Finally, it would be interesting to investigate whether belief in the paranormal is instrumental in students' selection of a major in college. Previous research findings have suggested that there is a greater belief in the paranormal among students in the humanities (e.g., Gray & Mill, 1990; Otis & Alcock, 1982) and lower paranormal beliefs among those enrolled in natural or biological sciences (e.g., Salter & Routledge, 1971). Tobacyk et al. (1984) reported that the number of science courses taken by high-school students was inversely related to their paranormal belief scores, with a significant drop in the paranormal belief scores of the students as they completed more science courses. This decline in the paranormal belief scores of Tobacyk's high-school sample is suggested to occur as a direct result of the emphasis science places on strictly empirical and rational evaluations of paranormal events. As students learn to evaluate paranormal events empirically and rationally, they discover that most evidence supporting paranormal events does not meet the standards set forth by contemporary science. For example, most paranormal events, such as out-of-body experiences, cannot be reproduced in a controlled setting for verification. This could result in a rejection of paranormal ideas and information. However, Williams, Taylor, and Hintze (1989) found that the seven components of Tobacyk's paranormal scale could not be grouped together at one end of a continuum with science and rationality at the other end. Some of Tobacyk's subscales were negatively associated with each other and positively associated with belief in science. Perhaps students who choose to major in traditionally scientific areas would demonstrate less belief in certain aspects of the paranormal owing to the continued emphasis on empirical and rational evaluation of information. Conversely, it is possible that students who enroll in nonscientific majors would be less likely to evaluate particular paranormal events as critically and stringently because of their being more acceptive of alternative ideas.

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