Top-down puri®cation of Tobacyk's Revised Paranormal Belief Scale

Personality and Individual Differences, 2000

Using mostly undergraduate student data (N=560), factor analysis confirmed the existence of seven factors in Tobacyk’s Revised Paranormal Belief Scale (RPBS). However, this replication proved to be of dubious value since (1) the factor structure was significantly affected by age and gender; (2) the items in Tobacyk’s original factors were significantly non-additive; (3) the items showed pervasive differential item functioning (DIF) related to respondents’ ages, gender, or both; and (4) simulations indicated that the factor structure are the result of DIF. The removal of DIF via “top-down purification” yielded two correlated clusters of items dubbed “New Age Philosophy” and “Traditional Paranormal Beliefs”. Both clusters obey an Andrich rating-scale model with person reliabilities of 0.90 and 0.74, respectively. Principal component analysis confirmed that these two clusters are unidimensional and without significant age or gender DIF (p>0.10). While the Traditional Paranormal Beliefs cluster continued to show a significant main effect of age, neither cluster showed a significant gender effect, thereby calling into question some traditional findings regarding paranormal beliefs. We strongly suspect that the dearth of DIF studies indicates that age and gender biases due to DIF have largely gone unnoticed in the extant personality and assessment literature.

Psychological Reports, 2000

Vitulli, Tipton, and Rowe (1999) report evidence of age and sex differences in the strength of paranormal beliefs. An alternative interpretation of their data is offered in terms of differential item functioning. It is suggested that respondents' interpretation of paranormal belief test items may vary with age and sex, and that such differences in the strength with which such beliefs are endorsed has not been conclusively established by Vitulli, et al.

Frontiers in Psychology

Since its introduction, the Revised Paranormal Belief Scale (RPBS) has developed into a principal measure of belief in the paranormal. Accordingly, the RPBS regularly appears within parapsychological research. Despite common usage, academic debates continue to focus on the factorial structure of the RPBS and its psychometric integrity. Using an aggregated heterogeneous sample (N = 3,764), the present study tested the fit of 10 factorial models encompassing variants of the most commonly proposed solutions (seven, five, two, and one-factor) plus new bifactor alternatives. A comparison of competing models revealed a seven-factor bifactor solution possessed superior data-model fit (CFI = 0.945, TLI = 0.933, IFI = 0.945, SRMR = 0.046, RMSEA = 0.058), containing strong factor loadings for a general factor and weaker, albeit acceptable, factor loadings for seven subfactors. This indicated that belief in the paranormal, as measured by the RPBS, is best characterized as a single overarching construct, comprising several related, but conceptually independent subfactors. Furthermore, women reported significantly higher paranormal belief scores than men, and tests of invariance indicated that mean differences in gender are unlikely to reflect measurement bias. Results indicate that despite concerns about the content and psychometric integrity of the RPBS the measure functions well at both a global and seven-factor level. Indeed, the original seven-factors contaminate alternative solutions.

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1983

A 25-item self-report questionnaire designed to assess belief in the paranormal was constructed based on the results from factor analysis of a 61-item pool administered to 391 college students. Factor analysis revealed seven independent dimensions comprising belief in the paranormal. These factors were Traditional Religious Belief, Psi Belief, Witchcraft, Superstition, Spiritualism, Extraordinary Life Forms, and Precognition. The Paranormal Scale was constructed by selecting either three or four marker items to represent each of the seven dimensions as paranormal subscales. Descriptive statistics for this Paranormal Scale and the seven subscales are presented, as well as reliability statistics. Studies were presented that support the validity of this Paranormal Scale and subscales with such personality/adjustment constructs as internal-external locus of control, sensation seeking, death threat, actual self-ideal self-concept, uncritical inferences, dogmatism, and irrational beliefs. It was concluded that this scale offers promise as an assessment instrument for paranormal belief.

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies , 2024

The Revised Paranormal Belief Scale (RPBS) is the most widely-used tool for measuring beliefs in paranormal phenomena, although it is not free from criticism. Lindeman and Aarnio (2006) proposed an extended version of the RPBS with some improvements and a second-order hierarchical model to explain the structure of the scale. Our objective was to analyze the goodness of fit of the model and measurement invariance by sex in a Spanish sample. A sample of 6,584 participants completed the extended RPBS. After reversed items were removed, the model demonstrated an adequate fit, significant factor loadings and invariance between sexes. The results suggest the possibility of generalizing the RPBS to other cultures. Nonetheless, further research is needed to agree a precise definition of the concept of paranormal beliefs.

Parapsychology, in a restricted sense, is defined as the scientific, statistical, the experimental approach to extrasensory phenomena. It is placed within the framework of science (Banks, H.N., 1989). Those who believe in paranormal or psychical phenomenon are said to be paranormal believers. Their beliefs in paranormal activities are associated with their personality, spiritual belief and religious belief but this association is not significant as is reflected in the results of this study. There was a negative non-significant correlation between conscientiousness and agreeableness and paranormal belief. There was a positive non-significant correlation between openness, neuroticism, extraversion and spirituality and paranormal belief. Religiosity was significantly positively correlated with paranormal belief. Males and females also showed difference in paranormal belief. Gender difference was observed where females were found to be more religious and spiritual than males. Religiosity was significantly positively correlated with spirituality.

Beliefs happen to be the most significant indicators of a person's overall personality and provide us a window on his mental constructs. The study of the paranormal activities and phenomena has been riddled with controversy since its conception and previous researches revealed mixed and contradictory findings. The present study focuses to study correlation between Religious beliefs, paranormal beliefs and the personality factors across different religious groups, among individuals of different age groups and socioeconomic status. Significant positive correlation was found between religiosity and paranormal beliefs as well as between religiosity and the traditional religious beliefs, psi and witchcraft subscales of the paranormal beliefs scale. Results also report a negative correlation between religious beliefs and the spiritualism, extraordinary-life-forms and precognition subscales of the paranormal beliefs scale. Neuroticism was found to be the only personality factor significantly predicting paranormal beliefs. Muslims scored higher on the traditional religious beliefs subscale in comparison with the Hindus. On the other hand, among the Hindus a higher degree of endorsement of witchcraft was observed. However, so far as the Christians are concerned no significant differences were observed either on global paranormal beliefs or any of the subscales of the paranormal beliefs. Socially marginal groups were found to be more susceptible to paranormal beliefs. They scored higher on psi, witchcraft, superstition, spiritualism, precognition as well as the total-paranormal beliefs scale. Beliefs happen to be the most significant indicators of a person's overall personality and provide us a window on his mental constructs. Yet there is little agreement as to what they are; or how they should be construed. They are basic to our understanding of a wide range of central phenomena in modern psychology. Beliefs are the key components of our personalities and sense of identity, and our expression of beliefs often defines us to others. The topic of beliefs is vast and diverse. It crosses many disciplinary boundaries both within psychology and across many traditional disciplines. It has an extensive coverage ranging from traditional beliefs to 1 Department of school education Government of J&K

PsycTESTS Dataset, 2000

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 2004

Pastoral Psychology, 2007

A sample of 279 13- to 16-year-old adolescents completed the Short-form Revised Junior Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (JEPQR-S) and a six-item Index of Paranormal Belief. The data demonstrate that neuroticism is fundamental to individual differences in paranormal belief, while paranormal belief is independent of extraversion and psychoticism.