Influence of Childhood Trauma and Personality Traits on Paranormal Beliefs among Early-adults

Abstract

The field of Parapsychology is concerned with the exploration of psychic and paranormal phenomena which has deep-rooted repercussion in the social world from time immemorial. Research in this field has gone beyond bounds and leaps in distant cultural contexts, yet the local milieu stands right in the middle of the road. The present study which intended to find out the influence of childhood trauma and personality beliefs on paranormal beliefs was conducted among early adults belonging to the age group 18-30 years. The sample consisted of 190 early-adults (67 males and 123 females) hailing from different districts of Kerala, India. Purposive sampling method was employed for the selection of participants. The tools used for the study include Revised Paranormal Beliefs Scale (Tobacyk, 1983), Childhood trauma Questionnaire (Pennebacker and Susman, 2013), and Big Five-Factor Inventory (44 items). It was found that there are significant relationships between few dimensions of paranormal beliefs, childhood trauma, and personality traits as proposed earlier, and certain dimensions of childhood trauma and personality traits are significant predictors of paranormal beliefs. The study also found that the distribution of different dimensions of paranormal beliefs is not significant across categories of gender (males and females), except in the case of one dimension. An exploration into the backdrop of paranormal beliefs among individuals hailing from the venerable culture of Kerala; anchored in heritage and religiosity, might be of assistance in this regard. This study could probably be reflected as such an endeavour to unfurl mysteries hidden in the regional psyche.