Relation of tolerance of ambiguity to global and specific paranormal experience.
J Houran, C Williams
Psychological Reports December 1, 1998 DOI: 10.2466/pr0.1998.83.3.807 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 107 |
| Population | Undergraduate students |
| Measures | MacDonald's 1970 AT-20, Anomalous Experiences Inventory |
| Keywords | Humans Defense mechanisms Parapsychology Schizotypal personality disorder Personality inventory Students Adolescent Adult Middle aged Female |
| Key findings | Tolerance of ambiguity correlated positively with global paranormal beliefs, abilities, experiences, and drug use, and negatively with fear of paranormal experience. Specific anomalous experiences linked to tolerance of ambiguity often involved internal or physiological experience, such as precognitive dreams, reincarnation memories, visual apparitions, and vestibular alterations. The authors argue these patterns are consistent with some paranormal experiences being misattributions of internal experience to external paranormal sources. |
Abstract
We examined the relationship of tolerance of ambiguity to severe global factors and specific types of anomalous or paranormal experience. 107 undergraduate students completed MacDonald's 1970 AT-20 and the Anomalous Experiences Inventory of Kumar, Pekala, and Gallagher. Scores on the five subscales of the Anomalous Experiences Inventory correlated differently with tolerance of ambiguity. Global paranormal beliefs, abilities, experiences, and drug use were positively associated with tolerance of ambiguity, whereas a fear of paranormal experience showed a negative relation. The specific types of anomalous experiences that correlated with tolerance of ambiguity often involved internal or physiological experience, e.g., precognitive dreams, memories of reincarnation, visual apparitions, and vestibular alterations. We generally found no effects of age of sex. These results are consistent with the idea that some paranormal experiences are misattributions of internal experience to external ('paranormal') sources, a process analogous to mechanisms underpinning delusions and hallucinations.