Investigation of the Relationships Between Paranormal Beliefs, Parental Bonding, and Adult Attachment of University Students

Abstract

Paranormal beliefs are of interest for the college students especially studying psychology and philosophy. In addition, attitudes such as parental bonding and adult attachment affect levels of paranormal beliefs. Exploring the relationships among these principal themes is of great importance in illuminating possible effects of students’ attachments and bonding toward the development of paranormal beliefs. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship among students’ parental attachment, relationship attitude, and paranormal beliefs; 239 university students responded to the items in three separate questionnaires, the Paranormal Belief Scale, parental bonding, and adult attachment survey. The research findings showed that a significant relationship exists between paranormal beliefs and attachment attitudes in the favor of females. In terms of the relationship between paranormal beliefs and adult attachment, the results also revealed that they have akin relationships between adult attachment and parental bonding. Although adult relationships affect paranormal beliefs, no significant correlation was found among three areas possible because the effect of parental bonding is limited in the long term.