{"id":9995,"date":"2017-10-11T00:01:02","date_gmt":"2017-10-11T07:01:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogschapman.wpenginepowered.com\/wilkinson\/2017\/10\/11\/paranormal-america-2017\/"},"modified":"2017-10-11T00:01:02","modified_gmt":"2017-10-11T07:01:02","slug":"paranormal-america-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/wilkinson\/2017\/10\/11\/paranormal-america-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"Paranormal America 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Chapman University Survey of American Fears Wave 4 (2017) includes a battery of items on paranormal beliefs ranging from belief in Bigfoot and psychic powers to visits by aliens and haunted houses.<\/p>\n

\"Chapman<\/p>\n

Paranormal Beliefs<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Currently the most common paranormal belief in the United States is the belief that ancient, advanced civilizations, such as Atlantis once exited with more than half of respondents (55%) agreeing or strongly agreeing with this statement. Slightly more than half (52%) believe that places can be haunted by spirits. More than a third (35%) believe that that aliens visited Earth in our ancient past and more than a fourth believe aliens have come to Earth in modern times (26%). Of the items we asked about, Americans are the most skeptical about Bigfoot, with only approximately 16% of Americans expressing belief in its existence.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Paranormal Belief<\/strong><\/td>\nPercent Agree or Strongly Agree<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ancient, advanced civilizations, such as Atlantis, once existed<\/td>\n55.0%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Places can be haunted by spirits<\/td>\n52.3%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Aliens have visited Earth in our ancient past<\/td>\n35.0%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Aliens have come to Earth in modern times<\/td>\n26.2%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Some people can move objects with their minds<\/td>\n25.0%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Fortune tellers and psychics can foresee the future<\/td>\n19.4%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bigfoot is a real creature<\/td>\n16.2%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<\/table>\n

The Prevalence of Paranormal Beliefs<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Paranormal beliefs are quite common in the United States, if we examine how many<\/em> such beliefs a person holds. Using the seven paranormal items included on the Chapman University Survey of American Fears Wave 4 (2017), we find that only a fourth of Americans (25.3%) do not hold any<\/em> of these seven beliefs. However, this means that nearly three-fourths <\/em>of Americans do believe in something paranormal.<\/p>\n

Indeed, some Americans believe in many paranormal phenomena, as listed below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
# of Beliefs<\/strong><\/td>\nPercent<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
No paranormal beliefs<\/td>\n25.3%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1 paranormal belief<\/td>\n20.8%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2 paranormal beliefs<\/td>\n13.8%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3 paranormal beliefs<\/td>\n12.3%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4 paranormal beliefs<\/td>\n9.6%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5 paranormal beliefs<\/td>\n8.4%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6 paranormal beliefs<\/td>\n4.7%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
All 7 paranormal beliefs<\/td>\n5.0%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Paranormal People<\/strong><\/h3>\n

We examined the extent to which the following characteristics were related to holding paranormal beliefs:<\/p>\n