Objective: We used the ChatGPT-3.5 artificial intelligence (AI)-based language program to compare... more Objective: We used the ChatGPT-3.5 artificial intelligence (AI)-based language program to compare twelve types of mystical, supernatural, or otherwise anomalous entity encounter narratives constructed from material in the publicly available corpus of information, and compared their details to the phenomenology of spontaneous accounts via the Survey of Strange Events (SSE) and the grounded theory of Haunted People Syndrome (HP-S). Methods: Structured content analysis by two independent and masked raters explored whether the composite AI-narratives would: (a) cover each encounter type, (b) map to the SSE’s Rasch hierarchy of anomalous perceptions, (c) show an average SSE score, and (d) reference the five recognition patterns of HP-S. Results: We found moderate evidence of a core encounter phenomenon underlying the AI-narratives. Every encounter type was represented by an AI-generated description that readily mapped to the SSE, albeit their contents showed only fair believability and ...
Tourism-hospitality businesses sometimes market consumer experiences in terms of “enchantment,” a... more Tourism-hospitality businesses sometimes market consumer experiences in terms of “enchantment,” although this phrase is often used vaguely or variously. Therefore, we approached the issue conceptually by examining prior research on the experience economy, extraordinary architectural experiences, and accounts of paranormal tourism. Our critical overview suggests that we are dealing with a phenomenon rooted in environment-person bidirectional (or enactive) effects. We subsequently argue for the term “situational-enchantment” to denote a distinct and progressive arousal state characterized by dis-ease or dissonance that facilitates a sense of connection or oneness with a “transcendent agency, ultimate reality, or Other.” An iterative Content Category Dictionary exercise based on target literature specifically mapped this hypothesized state in terms of five competing features: (a) Emotional, (b) Sensorial, (c) Timeless, (d) Rational, and (e) Transformative. We frame this phenomenology w...
Research suggests a "Haunted People Syndrome (HP-S)" defined by recurrent and systematic percepti... more Research suggests a "Haunted People Syndrome (HP-S)" defined by recurrent and systematic perceptions of anomalous subjective and objective anomalies. Such signs or symptoms are traditionally attributed to "spirits and the supernatural," but these themes are hypothesised to morph to "surveillance and stalking" in reports of "group-(or gang) stalking," We tested this premise with a qualiquantitative exercise that mapped group-stalking experiences from a published first-hand account to a Rasch measure of haunttype anomalies. This comparison found significant agreement in the specific "signs or symptoms" of both phenomena. Metapatterns likewise showed clear conceptual similarities between the phenomenology of haunts and group-stalking. Findings are consistent with the idea that both anomalous episodes involve the same, or similar, attentional or perceptual processes and thereby support the viability of the HP-S construct.
Haunted People Syndrome (HP-S) denotes individuals who recurrently report various "supernatural" ... more Haunted People Syndrome (HP-S) denotes individuals who recurrently report various "supernatural" encounters in everyday settings ostensibly due to heightened somaticsensory sensitivities to disease states (e.g., marked but sub-clinical levels of distress), which are contextualized by paranormal beliefs and reinforced by perceptual contagion effects. This view helps to explain why these anomalous experiences often appear to be idioms of stress or trauma. We tested the validity and practical utility of the HP-S concept in an empirical study of an active and reportedly intense ghostly episode that was a clinical referral. The case centered on the life story of the primary percipient, a retired female healthcare worker. Secondary percipients included her husband and adult daughter, all of whom reported an array of benign and threatening anomalies (psychological and physical in nature) across five successive residences. Guided by prior research, we administered the family online measures of transliminality, sensory-processing sensitivity, paranormal belief, locus of control, desirability for control, and a standardized checklist of haunt-type phenomena. The primary percipient also completed a measure of adverse childhood events and supplied an event diary of her anomalous experiences. We found reasonably consistent support for HP-S from a set of quantitative observations that compared five proposed syndrome features against the family members' psychometric profiles and the structure and contents of their anomalous experiences. Specifically, the reported anomalies both correlated with the family's scores on transliminality and paranormal belief, as well as elicited attributions and reaction patterns aligned with threat (agency) detection. There was also some evidence of perceptual congruency among the family members' anomalous experiences. Putative psi cannot be ruled out, but we conclude that the family's ordeal fundamentally involved the symptoms and manifestations of thin (or "permeable") mental boundary functioning in the face of unfavorable circumstances or overstimulating environments and subsequently acerbated by poor emotion regulation, histrionic and catastrophizing reactions, and active confirmation biases.
This paper reports on an Owen and Sparrow (1976) genre séance study to examine the relationships ... more This paper reports on an Owen and Sparrow (1976) genre séance study to examine the relationships among transliminality, psychokinesis (PK), general subjective and external anomalous experiences, contagion effects, and small variations in electromagnetic field activity. Eleven participants in two series of séance sessions were observed and recorded for anomalous, subjective, and somatic experiences. No verifiable PK or video-captured anomalous activity occurred, but relationships were found between geomagnetic and electromagnetic field activity during the reporting of subjective anomalous experiences. Electromagnetic fields were found to vary significantly across sessions. Contagion effects were found in the types of reports issued by participants. Transliminality and related measures were unrelated to subjective reports of anomalous phenomena. Implications of electromagnetic and geomagnetic fields associated in time with anomalous somatic reports and future research are discussed.
Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Mar 1, 2001
In a study designed to investigate the respective roles of religious fundamentalism and right-win... more In a study designed to investigate the respective roles of religious fundamentalism and right-wing authoritarianism as predictors of prejudice against racial minorities and homosexuals, participants (47 males, 91 females) responded to a series of questionnaire measures of these constructs. Data were analyzed using multiple regression. Consistent with previous research, authoritarianism was a significant and strong positive predictor of both forms of prejudice. With authoritarianism statistically controlled, however, fundamentalism emerged as a significant negative predictor of racial prejudice but a positive predictor of homosexual prejudice. In a second study, we conducted parallel multiple regressions using the correlations from two previously published studies. The Study 1 results were replicated exactly, except that fundamentalism was a nonsignificant predictor of homosexual prejudice. We interpret the results as evidence that Christian fundamentalism consists of a second major component other than authoritarianism-related to Christian belief content-that is inversely related to some forms of prejudice (including racial prejudice) but not others (e.g., homosexual prejudice).
International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, Jun 7, 2023
We used a multiteam system approach (MTS) to map the critical and constructive feedback from four... more We used a multiteam system approach (MTS) to map the critical and constructive feedback from four invited Commentaries on Rock et al.'s (2023) probabilistic analysis of purported evidence for postmortem survival. The goal was to mine actionable insights to guide future research with the potential for important learnings or breakthroughs about the nature or limits of human consciousness and their relation to transpersonal psychology. The commentators' input identified only a few measurable variables or empirical tactics that conceivably challenge or refine our latest Drake-S Equation for survival. However, a review of these suggestions using logical and statistical criteria revealed that none immediately upend our previous conclusion that the published effect sizes for various Known Confounds (including hypothetical "living agent psi") do not fully account for the published prevalence rates of Anomalous Experiences traditionally interpretated as survival. However, the commentators proposed several good recommendations for new studies that could eventually alter this calculus. Accordingly, we outline the architecture of a proposed cross-disciplinary research program that extends the present MTS approach and its collected insights and focuses strictly on empiricism over rhetoric in this domain. The results of this coordinated effort should likewise help to clarify a range of psychological and biomedical phenomena that speak to the nature and limits of human consciousness.
The current research examines the role o f identity in the context o f threat towards further und... more The current research examines the role o f identity in the context o f threat towards further understanding bias, persuasion, and belief perseverance in what is defined as IRT (Immediately Relevant Threat) conditions. Using pre, middle, and post measurements, four groups o f differing ideological student organizations across 4 university or college campuses were presented critical messages that were varied by the source being either an in-group or out-group presenter o f the message. Messages were also varied by either presenting a message that criticized the entire group or only a few o f its members. With the use o f hierarchical linear modeling and conventional ordinary least square statistics, results indicated general and specific effects o f source o f the message and the inclusiveness o f criticism towards predicting bias, persuasion, and belief perseverance in environmental settings. Findings and their practical applications are discussed. viii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Evidence suggests that subjective and objective anomalies associated with ghostly episodes form a... more Evidence suggests that subjective and objective anomalies associated with ghostly episodes form a unidimensional Rasch scale and that these interconnected "signs or symptoms" arguably describe a syndrome model. This view predicts that symptom perception-that is, the phenomenology of these anomalous episodes-can be markedly skewed by an experient's psychological set. This is impacted, in turn, by psychosocial variables that affect attentional, perceptual, and interpretational processes. Therefore, we present an overview that discusses how (a) Belief in the Paranormal, (b) Religious Ideology, (c) Ideological Practice, (d) Social Desirability, (e) Latency, and (f) Environmental Setting ostensibly influence the contents or interpretations of accounts. These experiential details are similarly expected to reveal insights into the psychodynamics being expressed or contextualized via these narratives. Future research in this area should help to validate and clarify the proposed syndrome model, as well as explore which nuances in the phenomenology of ghostly episodes reflect idiosyncrasies of experients' psychological set versus the nature of the core phenomenon itself.
A new computerized test for 'extrasensory perception' (ESP) is designed for use in everyday envir... more A new computerized test for 'extrasensory perception' (ESP) is designed for use in everyday environments and draws on principles in occultism to promote better results.
Paranormal Belief and the Strange Case of Haunt Experiences: Evidence of a Neglected population/Creencia Paranormal Y El Extrano Caso De Experiencias De Casas Encantadas: Evidencia De Una Poblacion ignorada/La Croyance Paranormale et L'etrange Cas Des Experiences De Hantise : Elements Prouvant L'...
A Critical Test of the EMF-Paranormal Phenomena Theory: Evidence from a Haunted Site without Electricity-Generating fields/Una Prueba Critica De la Teoria Paranormal De Fenomenos EMF-GMF: Investigacion De Una Casa Encantada Sin Campos Generadores De electricidad/Un Test Critique De la Theorie Des...
Haunted people syndrome revisited: empirical parallels between subjective paranormal episodes and... more Haunted people syndrome revisited: empirical parallels between subjective paranormal episodes and group-stalking accounts. Mental Health, Religion and Culture, 23 (7). pp. 532-549.
Exploring gaslighting effects via the VAPUS model for ghost narratives
The VAPUS model (Hill et al., 2018, 2019) characterizes the powerful “brand personality” of ghost... more The VAPUS model (Hill et al., 2018, 2019) characterizes the powerful “brand personality” of ghost narratives in terms of their Versatility, Adaptability, Participatory Nature, Universality, and Scalability. This suggests that these narratives act as cultural memes that partly reflect interpersonal or group dynamics. We use these themes in a review and conceptual synthesis of key literature to address the phenomenon of “gaslighting,” which denotes the determined efforts of an influencer to alter the perceptions of a targeted individual. Modelling ghost narratives as psychosocial constructions implies malleability via attitudinal and normative influences. Accordingly, we specify and discuss two apparent manifestations of this narrative plasticity, i.e., “positive (reinforcing) gaslighting” (i.e., confirmation biases) or “negative (rejecting) gaslighting” (i.e., second-guessing or self-doubt). These ideas clarify some Trickster-type effects and imply that all ghost narratives likely in...
Tourism-hospitality businesses sometimes market consumer experiences in terms of "enchantment," a... more Tourism-hospitality businesses sometimes market consumer experiences in terms of "enchantment," although this phrase is often used vaguely or variously. Therefore, we approached the issue conceptually by examining prior research on the experience economy, extraordinary architectural experiences, and accounts of paranormal tourism. Our critical overview suggests that we are dealing with a phenomenon rooted in environment-person bidirectional (or enactive) effects. We subsequently argue for the term "situational-enchantment" to denote a distinct and progressive arousal state characterized by disease or dissonance that facilitates a sense of connection or oneness with a "transcendent agency, ultimate reality, or Other." An iterative Content Category Dictionary exercise based on target literature specifically mapped this hypothesized state in terms of five competing features: (a) Emotional, (b) Sensorial, (c) Timeless, (d) Rational, and (e) Transformative. We frame this phenomenology within Funder's Realistic Accuracy Model, which we propose drives an epiphanic process involving attentional, perceptual, attributional, and social mechanisms. Our synthesis of the multidisciplinary literature in this domain helps to clarify the nature and relevance of enchantment as an individual difference that varies across people and is subject to a variety of contextual influences. Accordingly, we discuss how this hypothesized state can be manipulated to an extent within certain people by creating or reinforcing conditions that spur experiential and rational engagement with ambiguous or unexpected stimuli.
Evidence suggests that subjective and objective anomalies associated with ghostly episodes form a... more Evidence suggests that subjective and objective anomalies associated with ghostly episodes form a unidimensional Rasch scale and that these interconnected "signs or symptoms" arguably describe a syndrome model. This view predicts that symptom perception-that is, the phenomenology of these anomalous episodes-can be markedly skewed by an experient's psychological set. This is impacted, in turn, by psychosocial variables that affect attentional, perceptual, and interpretational processes. Therefore, we present an overview that discusses how (a) Belief in the Paranormal, (b) Religious Ideology, (c) Ideological Practice, (d) Social Desirability, (e) Latency, and (f) Environmental Setting ostensibly influence the contents or interpretations of accounts. These experiential details are similarly expected to reveal insights into the psychodynamics being expressed or contextualized via these narratives. Future research in this area should help to validate and clarify the proposed syndrome model, as well as explore which nuances in the phenomenology of ghostly episodes reflect idiosyncrasies of experients' psychological set versus the nature of the core phenomenon itself.
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