The 2016 Chapman Survey of American Fears included nine questions about Paranormal Beliefs, which are shown on pages 56 to 59 of the detailed results.
The general question was: “Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements” and those nine statements were:
Aliens visited Earth in our ancient past.
Aliens have come to Earth in modern times.
Fortune tellers, and psychics can foresee the future.
Places can be haunted by spirits.
Bigfoot is a real creature.
I have been protected by a guardian angel.
Ancient advanced civilizations, such as Atlantis, once existed.
Some people can move objects with their minds.
Satan causes most evil in the world.
For each question people were to answer with one of the following five levels:
1] Strongly Disagree
2] Disagree
3] Don’t Know
4] Agree
5] Strongly Agree
There also was a category of Refused for those who did not reply to a question.
Results were reported on October 11, 2016 in a blog post titled Paranormal Beliefs. It included a graphic showing the sum of Agree and Strongly Agree for seven statements, which were:
Places can be haunted by spirits. 46.6%
Ancient advanced civilizations, such as Atlantis, once existed. 39.6%
Aliens visited Earth in our ancient past. 27.0%
Aliens have come to Earth in modern times. 24.7%
Some people can move objects with their minds. 19.1%
Fortune tellers, and psychics can foresee the future. 14.1%
Bigfoot is a real creature. 13.5%
They omitted the other two, I have been protected by a guardian angel, and Satan causes most evil in the world. Why might that be? Chapman University is a church-related school - it is connected with both The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and The United Church of Christ. I suspect they decided those religion-related questions were on topics they didn’t want to touch with a ten-foot pole - because of paranoia that they might upset university or church leaders.
Comparison with the detailed survey results listed below shows that the numbers are slightly different than the Rescaled Percents [shown in square brackets], which were calculated via multiplying by a factor of 100/[100 - Percent Refused]. I also showed the original Percents (in parentheses). The 19.1% for Some people can move objects with their minds is the same as the original percent, too small, and wrong.
I have been protected by a guardian angel. NOT SHOWN [52.9%] (51.7%)
Places can be haunted by spirits. 46.6% [45.9%] (44.8% )
Satan causes most evil in the world. NOT SHOWN [41.2%] (40.3%)
Ancient advanced civilizations, such as Atlantis, once existed. 39.6% [40.1%] (39.1%)
Aliens visited Earth in our ancient past. 27.0% [25.8% ] (25.2%)
Aliens have come to Earth in modern times. 24.7% [23.8%] (23.2%)
Some people can move objects with their minds. 19.1% [19.5%] (19.1%)
Fortune tellers, and psychics can foresee the future. 14.1% [13.5%] (13.2%)
Bigfoot is a real creature. 13.5% [13.1% ] (12.8%)
In a October 23, 2015 blog post titled A Somewhat Haunted World - Paranormal Beliefs in the 2015 Chapman Survey on American Fears, I discussed how just reporting the sum for Agree and Strongly Agree was insufficient and misleading - the sum for Disagree and Strongly Disagree also was highly relevant.
A bar chart shows the sums for Agree (blue) and Disagree (pink). Click on it to see a larger, clearer view. For just three paranormal beliefs the sum for agree actually is larger: I have been protected by a guardian angel (which is first), Places can be haunted by spirits, and Ancient advanced civilizations, such as Atlantis, once existed. For the other six paranormal beliefs the sum for disagree is greater than that for agree. An even more detailed chart also would include the percentages for Don’t Know.
The Chapman blog did include an October 11, 2016 post about Fear of Muslims in American Society, so talking about some other religious beliefs was OK.
The image of a logger holding a long pole was adapted from one found at the Library of Congress.
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