Believe it or not, it turns out that most Americans have at least one paranormal belief –and no, that doesn’t include supernatural religious beliefs (e.g. God). This information comes from a 2005 Gallup poll, where 1,002 Americans from across the country were polled on their paranormal beliefs. Yes I know, the poll isn’t exactly fresh off the presses, but it’s the most recent paranormal-related poll from Gallup and it deserves a mention here.
The Data
The following numbers are based on the percentage of people polled who believe in the particular form of paranormal phenomena:
41% Extra-sensory perception (ESP)
37% That houses can be haunted
9% Channeling/allowing a ‘spirit-being’ to temporarily assume control of body
32% Ghosts/that spirits of dead people can come back in certain places/situations
31% Telepathy/communication between minds without using traditional senses
26% Clairvoyance/the power of the mind to know the past and predict the future
25% Astrology, or that the position of the stars and planets can affect people’s lives
21% That someone (i.e. psychic medium) can communicate mentally with someone who has died
21% Witches
20% Reincarnation, that is, the rebirth of the soul in a new body after death
After conducting a “special analysis” of the data, the Gallup folks came up with the following approximation: “…73% of Americans believe in at least one of the 10 items listed above, while 27% believe in none of them.”
Conclusions
When I first read the Gallup study, part of me thought, “Of course 73% of Americans believe in the paranormal”, and the other part of me thought, “73% of Americans believe in the paranormal?!?”
One reason for my surprise was the media’s treatment of paranormal news stories (which I wrote about in length here). Have you ever watched a news segment where they presented a paranormal news story? If you have, you know that at least one of the anchors present the story with a smile on their face, giggles, and/or a corny joke. In other words, they don’t take the subject too seriously.
Another reason I was surprised is due to the way most people react when I tell them what my blog’s all about. Their reactions are similar to the behavior of the news anchor, but just little bit more cordial, depending on our rapport.
Why can’t more people come out of the paranormal closet? I know at least a half-dozen people who will go on-and-on about their metaphysical beliefs and experiences in a private discussion; however, when there are other people added to the equation, they’ll become reserved.
The Gallup Organization is one of most well-respected statistical research services out there, so the study should not be taken lightly. However, it’s important to note that just because 73% of Americans believe in the paranormal, doesn’t mean that the 73% are right, but it certainly does mean that the majority of Americans believe that there’s another side to reality. Or, in other words, if you don’t believe in any form of paranormal phenomena, you’re in the minority.
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