Abstract
This study examined individual difference correlates of belief in a narrative about the discovery of giant skeletal remains that contravenes mainstream scientific explanations. A total of 364 participants from Central Europe completed a survey that asked them to rate their agreement with a short excerpt describing the giant skeleton myth. Participants also completed measures of the Big Five personality factors, New Age orientation, anti-scientific attitudes, superstitious beliefs, and religiosity. Results showed that women, as compared with men, and respondents with lower educational qualifications were significantly more likely to believe in the giant skeleton myth, although effect sizes were small. Correlational analysis showed that stronger belief in the giant skeleton myth was significantly associated with greater anti-scientific attitudes, stronger New Age orientation, greater religiosity, stronger superstitious beliefs, lower Openness to Experience scores, and higher Neuroticism scores. However, a multiple regression showed that the only significant predictors of belief in myth were Openness, New Age orientation, and anti-scientific attitudes. These results are discussed in relation to the potential negative consequences of belief in myths.
Highlights
Myths can be defined as commonly held, false beliefs about real persons or events, which are held contrary to known evidence (DiFonzo & Bordia, 2007)
Much of the literature on sciencerelated myths has focused on belief in myths of psychology, or what Lilienfeld et al (2010) termed “psychomythology.” studies have reported that members of the general public have difficulty distinguishing between factual and fictional claims about human behavior (e.g., Bensley, Lilienfeld, & Powell, 2014; Della Sala, 1999, 2007; Furnham, Callahan, & Rawles, 2003; Gardner & Brown, 2013; HerculanoHouzel, 2002)
First, a significant and negative relationship between belief in the giant skeleton myth and Openness to Experience
Summary
Participants completed the 22-item New Age Orientation Scale (NAOS; Granqvist & Hagekull, 2001; German translation: Swami et al, 2012; sample item: “The position of the stars at birth affects how one will live one’s life or how one’s personality will develop”) This scale measures individual differences in broad and specific systems of thought, beliefs, interests, and activities that can be described as New Age. Items were rated on a 6-point Likert-type scale (1 =strongly disagree, 6 = strongly agree) and an overall New Age orientation score was computed by taking the mean of all items (higher scores reflect greater New Age orientation). Participants provided their demographic details consisting of sex, age, nationality, ethnicity, marital status, and highest educational qualification
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