Paranormal beliefs, education, and thinking styles

This study examined connections between paranormal beliefs and educational level, discipline, length of education, gender, and analytical and intuitive thinking. Finnish students (N = 3141) from 14 university and six vocational school disciplines filled in an Internet-based questionnaire. The results showed that university students had less paranormal beliefs than vocational school students, which was partially due to university students stronger preference for analytical thinking. Of the university students, those majoring in medicine and psychology held the least beliefs and the students of education and theology held the most beliefs. Length of university education was, however, only slightly negatively associated with paranormal beliefs. Intuitive thinking was positively connected with paranormal beliefs. Women s higher intuitiveness and lower analytical thinking partially explained their higher amount of beliefs compared to men. 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.