What's in a Term? Paranormal, Superstitious, Magical and Supernatural Beliefs by Any Other Name Would Mean the Same

Abstract

What are paranormal, superstitious, magical, and supernatural (PSMS) beliefs and what, if anything, separates them? Currently, use of the concepts is ambiguous and agreement is weak. A literature search for articles dealing with PSMS beliefs during the last two decades produced conceptual definitions that we grouped into seven groups. Five groups consisted of definitions that were domain-general, namely false beliefs, belief in scientifically impossible phenomena, and associative biases (covariation bias, laws of sympathetic magic, and irrational acts). Two sets of definitions were domain-specific (content-dependent), namely counterintuitive and intuitive beliefs about physical, biological, and psychological phenomena. Empirical methods were reviewed to show what kinds of beliefs have been examined under the rubrics paranormal, supernatural, magical, or superstitious. We concluded that the concepts paranormal, superstitious, magical, and supernatural denote the same thing and that domain-general definitions are inadequately precise. Defining PSMS beliefs as category mistakes that confuse the distinctive attributes of mental phenomena, material objects, living, and animate organisms, and the processes these engage in, fared best in distinguishing PSMS beliefs from other beliefs and covering relevant beliefs. We suggest researchers sharpen the content of the measures and strive to integrate lines of research that have so far remained separate.