The luck of the paranormal believer - Parapsychological Abstracts - Brief Article

Journal of Parapsychology, The, March, 2002 by Sally R. Feather

IRWIN, H. (2000). The luck of the paranormal believer. International Journal of Parapsychology, 11, 79-95.

This study investigated associations between paranormal beliefs and the perceived role of luck in a person's life. A sample of 174 Australian adults participated in a mail survey of paranormal beliefs, belief in good luck, and haplessness. Canonical correlation analysis identified two pairs of canonical variates. The first pair indicated a relationship between a global belief in luck and belief in nonreligious or New Age concepts, particularly precognition. The second pair of variates indicated that endorsement of belief in extraordinary life forms and superstitions might often be found in people, particularly men, with a conviction that they are victims of bad luck. In broad terms, the association between paranormal beliefs and belief in luck can be accommodated by the major theories of paranormal belief. At the same time, these theories do not anticipate the observation that the set of paranormal beliefs associated with a global belief in luck differs somewhat from that associated with haplessness. The stud y's findings suggest that theories of the functions of paranormal belief need to discriminate among paranormal beliefs to a greater extent than they presently do.

--Author's abstract