About three in four Americans profess at least
one paranormal belief, according to a recent
survey conducted by Gallup. The most popular is
extrasensory perception (ESP), mentioned by 41%,
followed closely by belief in haunted houses
(37%). The full list of items includes:
| |
Believe in |
| |
% |
| Extrasensory
perception, or ESP |
41 |
| That houses can
be haunted |
37 |
| Ghosts/that
spirits of dead people can come back
in certain places/situations |
32 |
|
Telepathy/communication between
minds without using traditional
senses |
31 |
| Clairvoyance/the
power of the mind to know the past
and predict the future |
26 |
| Astrology, or
that the position of the stars and
planets can affect people's lives |
25 |
| That people can
communicate mentally with someone
who has died |
21 |
| Witches |
21 |
| Reincarnation,
that is, the rebirth of the soul in
a new body after death |
20 |
| Channeling/allowing
a 'spirit-being' to temporarily
assume control of body |
9 |
A special analysis of the data shows that 73%
of Americans believe in at least one of the 10
items listed above, while 27% believe in none of
them. A
Gallup survey in
2001 provided similar results -- 76% professed
belief in at least one of the 10 items.
|
Number of
paranormal items
people believe in |
Percent |
Cumulative
percent |
|
10 |
1% |
1% |
|
9 |
2 |
3 |
|
8 |
3 |
6 |
|
7 |
3 |
9 |
|
6 |
6 |
15 |
|
5 |
7 |
22 |
|
4 |
10 |
32 |
|
3 |
11 |
43 |
|
2 |
14 |
57 |
|
1 |
16 |
73 |
|
None |
27 |
100 |
The "cumulative percent" column shows that
more than one-fifth of all Americans, 22%,
believe in five or more items, 32% believe in at
least four items, and more than half, 57%,
believe in at least two paranormal items. Only
1% believe in all 10 items.
Three other items included in the survey, but
which do not necessarily reflect paranormal
beliefs, include beliefs in "psychic or
spiritual healing or the power of the human mind
to heal the body," "that people on earth are
sometimes possessed by the devil," and "that
extra-terrestrial beings have visited earth at
some time in the past."
The healing powers of the mind have been
demonstrated empirically, reflected in the power
of placebos, among other examples. More than
half of Americans, 55%, believe in this
connection.
The poll shows that 42% of Americans believe
that "people on this earth are sometimes
possessed by the devil." However, it is unclear
how many people treat that statement literally,
and how many interpret it in metaphorical terms.
Results in the
current survey are based on telephone interviews
with 1,002 national adults, aged 18 and older,
conducted June 6-8, 2005.
