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The relationship between

exposure to televised
messages about paranormal
phenomena and paranormal
beliefs
a b
Glenn G. Sparks , C. Leigh Nelson & Rose G.
b
Campbell
a
Professor in the Department of
Communication , Purdue University ,
b
Doctoral candidate in the Department of
Communication , Purdue University ,
Published online: 18 May 2009.

To cite this article: Glenn G. Sparks , C. Leigh Nelson & Rose G. Campbell (1997)
The relationship between exposure to televised messages about paranormal
phenomena and paranormal beliefs, Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media,
41:3, 345-359, DOI: 10.1080/08838159709364412

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 Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media/Summer 1997

The Relationship Between Exposure to

Televised Messages About Paranormal
Phenomena and Paranormal Beliefs
Glenn G. Sparks, C. Leigh Nelson, and Rose G. Campbell

This paper seeks to continue exploration begun by Sparks, Hansen, and

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Shah (1994) into the possible relationship between exposure to media

messages and paranormal beliefs. It reports the results of a random-sam-
ple survey that revealed that exposure to particular programs that regular-
ly depict paranormal activity is associated with an increased tendency to
endorse paranormal beliefs. The fact that this association is found only for
individuals who report no prior experience with paranormal phenomena
may hold implications for cultivation theory's resonance hypothesis.
Suggestions for future study in this area are recommended.

Over the last fifteen years, scholars from various disciplines have shown increas-
ing interest in the study of paranormal beliefs. The term "paranormal" is reserved for
claims made about the existence of a wide range of extraordinary phenomena that
include such things as ESP (extrasensory perception), haunted houses, ghosts, dev-
ils, spirits, reincarnation, telekinesis (the ability of the mind to move or bend objects
just by thinking), UFOs (unidentified flying objects), astrology, and astral-projection
(one's spirit leaving the body, traveling some distance, and then returning). In a
recent national survey of 1,236 adults, Gallup and Newport (1991) reported that
paranormal beliefs were "widespread," with nearly 50% of the respondents report-
ing belief in ESP and almost 30% reporting belief in haunted houses. And a recent
issue of Time magazine (Jaroff, 1995) reported the results of a Roper poll indicating
that, "nearly a quarter of Americans believe in extraterrestrial UFOs and astrology..."
(p. 75). These beliefs are held by people of various demographic groups, occupa-
tions and economic levels. As Donald Regan, chief of staff for President Ronald

Glenn G. Sparks (Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1983) is a Professor in the Department of

Communication at Purdue University. His research interests focus on the cognitive and emotional effects of
mass media. C. Leigh Nelson (M.A., Washington State University, 1991) is a doctoral candidate in the
Department of Communication at Purdue University. Her research interests focus on the sociological and
cognitive effects of the mass media. Rose Campbell (M.S., Purdue University, 1993) is a doctoral candidate
in the Department of Communication at Purdue University. Her research interests center on social factors
contributing to wellness, and she is particularly interested in the influence of emotionally compelling mes-
sages on health-promoting behavior. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of
the International Communication Association, Albuquerque, New Mexico, May, 1995. This manuscript was
accepted for publication in January. 1997.

1997 Broadcast Education Association \ournal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 41, 1997, pp. 345-359

345
 346 Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media/Summer 1997

Reagan, recently revealed, paranormal beliefs played a regular role in the affairs of
the U.S. government. Regan (1988) reported that the President and his wife, Nancy,
regularly relied on the advice of a San Francisco astrologer (Joan Quigley) prior to
planning important events. Such behavior is not unusual among politicians; Korem
(1988) documents other instances throughout human history where world leaders
have relied upon the advice of astrologers and psychics.
But widespread belief in the paranormal has often been bemoaned by skeptics
and scholars alike. In a guest essay for Time (April 13, 1992), James Randi, a magi-
cian and skeptic, wrote:
Acceptance of nonsense as a harmless aberration can be dangerous to us. We live
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in a society that is enlarging the boundaries of knowledge at an unprecedented rate,

and we cannot keep up with much more than a small portion of what is made avail-
able to us. To mix our data input with childish notions of magic and fantasy is to crip-
ple our perception of the world around us. We must reach for the truth, not for the
ghosts of dead absurdities, (p. 80)
Several years ago, the concern among scientific skeptics for the widespread
acceptance of various paranormal claims led to the formation of the Committee for
the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP). This organization
launched the journal, The Skeptical Inquirer, which has regularly served as a watch-
dog and debunker of paranormal claims for more than a decade. According to Kurtz
(1985), the purpose of this journal is to reveal the many "wishful" and "exaggerat-
ed" claims frequently made about paranormal events and to provide the public with
the opportunity, "to learn about dissenting scientific studies..." (p. 357).

The Alleged Role of the Mass Media in

Fostering Paranormal Beliefs

One assumption or claim that consistently appears across all of the literature deal-
ing with paranormal beliefs is that the mass media should accept a major responsi-
bility for encouraging people toward uncritical acceptance of paranormal claims.
For example, Randi (1992) noted in his essay that the reason for the prevalence of
"absurd beliefs" among the populaces of every culture "...is to be found in the
uncritical acceptance and promotion of these notions by the media..." (p. 80).
Among academics, the indictment of the media for encouraging the adoption of
paranormal beliefs is even harsher than Randi's. Even a casual perusal of the litera-
ture reveals that its scholarly contributors subscribe widely to the notion that the
media unduly influence people to accept paranormal claims by giving excessive
attention to reports of paranormal activity, and by encouraging uncritical acceptance
of the veracity of these reports (Feder, 1984; Kurtz, 1985). For example, Kurtz (1985)
refers to the, "dominant influence of the media in forming [paranormal] attitudes and
beliefs," and he charges that the media often "behave totally irresponsibly in treat-
ing 'paranormal' occurrences" (pp. 359-360). Along this same line, Feder (1984)
 Sparks, Nelson, Campbell/PARANORMAL PHENOMENA AND PARANORMAL BELIEFS 347

blames the media for the problems faced by archaeologists in their attempts to over-
come the many reports of "unverified claims."
The assumption that the media play a crucial role in influencing these paranormal
beliefs is not new (see Mailer & Lundeen, 1932), but it appears to have become more
prevalent since the rise of television. In support of the notion that today's media do
influence the tendency to accept paranormal claims, some surveys have found that
respondents often cite stories in the media as the reason for their beliefs (Alcock,
1981; Evans, 1973). And according to CSICOP (B. Karr, personal communication,
April, 1993), at least fifty newspapers, including The Los Angeles Times and The
Indianapolis Star publish disclaimers next to the daily horoscope column (also see
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Cersh, 1987). Presumably these disclaimers are intended to discourage readers from
believing in the accuracy of the astrological predictions.
Surprisingly, despite the widespread assumption that media depictions of the para-
normal influence people to believe in paranormal phenomena, there appears to be
little direct empirical evidence to substantiate this claim. This is particularly inter-
esting in light of the fact that the scientists, philosophers and skeptics, who often
blame the media for disseminating scientifically unproven ideas about the paranor-
mal, simultaneously appear to be relatively unconcerned about offering scientific
evidence for their own claim of the pernicious effects of the media in this domain.
In one recent experiment designed to correct this state of affairs, Sparks, Hansen,
and Shah (1994) reported that the nature of a truth claim or disclaimer that was pre-
sented prior to the entertainment program Beyond Reality, affected viewers' subse-
quent paranormal beliefs. Those viewers who watched the program after hearing a
disclaimer about the fictional nature of the material were significantly less likely to
endorse paranormal beliefs after the program than viewers who heard no disclaimer.
Another recent study by Sparks, Sparks, and Gray (1995) confirmed that subjects
who view a program depicting UFOs may subsequently tend to increase the ten-
dency to express beliefs in the existence of UFOs.
In this paper, we were interested in continuing the investigation of potential media
impact on paranormal beliefs. While the study by Sparks et al. (1994) contributed
some initial insight into this potential, it was carried out in the highly controlled
environment of the laboratory. In the study reported here, we examined the rela-
tionship between television exposure and paranormal beliefs through a random-
sample telephone survey. Although this method does not permit clear statements
about causal relationships, it does provide an opportunity to generalize beyond a
small sample and arrive at a better understanding of the prevalence of paranormal
beliefs, and their relation to media consumption in the larger population. Moreover,
this relationship can be examined in conjunction with a number of demographic
variables that can provide insights beyond most laboratory experiments. And
although the question of causality may be ultimately out of reach, random-sample
surveys can provide intriguing hints about causal processes, depending on the vari-
ables measured. In short, it is highly desirable to have both experimental and survey
data pertaining to the relationship between media exposure and paranormal beliefs.
 348 Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media/Summer 1997

Theoretical Expectations

There is an entire tradition of research in media cultivation which suggests that expo-
sure to standard, dramatic entertainment programming can cultivate viewers' beliefs
about the nature and frequency of the depicted events in the real world (Gerbner, Gross,
Morgan, &-Signorielli, 1986; Ogles, 1987). While the specific cognitive mechanisms
that may be responsible for cultivation effects are not well understood (see Hawkins,
Pingree, & Adler, 1987), some have suggested (Ogles & Hoffner, 1987) that as viewers
make judgments about the real world, they tend to rely upon media images that are
readily available in memory due to heavy or recent exposure to TV entertainment [see
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Tversky & Kahneman (1973), for a discussion of the availability heuristic and Shrum
(1996), for a more formal test of these processes involving media cultivation].
Consistent with this idea, a number of recent studies reveal that subjects are more
inclined to believe that statements are true when they are repeated (Arkes, Hackett, &
Boehm, 1989; Bacon, 1979; Begg, Anas, & Farinacci, 1992; Begg & Armour, 1991;
Hasher, Goldstein, & Toppino, 1977; Schwartz, 1982). Moreover, as Zaragoza and
Mitchell (1996) note, "...this increased belief in repeated statements occurs regardless
of the actual truth of the statements" (p. 294). If mere repetition of ideas can lead to
greater acceptance, it seems reasonable to expect that viewers who are regularly
exposed to paranormal depictions on television might draw upon these depictions and
be more inclined to endorse paranormal beliefs when they are asked to make judg-
ments about the veracity of paranormal events. This view presumes that depictions of
paranormal events on television are frequent enough to constitute an important source
of information to rely upon in making judgments about paranormal phenomena.
Ultimately, data from content analyses of televised content are required in order to doc-
ument this presumption. Our research group is currently carrying out such analyses.1
We proceeded with the present study on the basis of the frequent charges, noted
earlier, that the media have much to do with the prevalence of paranormal beliefs.
Moreover, any casual examination of the television programs currently available in
most markets reveals a number of programs that regularly depict paranormal events
(e.g., Unsolved Mysteries, Sightings, Psychic Friends, The X-Files, etc.). Indeed, some
cable systems carry programming from "The Psychic Channel" that features regular
"demonstrations" of psychic powers and dramatizations of psychic predictions that
have been "confirmed."
Our expectations about the results of the survey were very general and may be
summarized in the following hypothesis:

Hi: Television viewing (particularly viewing of programs that contain paranormal

events) will be positively correlated with the tendency to endorse beliefs in
paranormal phenomena.

This general expectation is based on three considerations. First, as noted earlier, it

seems to be the expectation that resonates with the strong intuition of scientists and
 Sparks, Nelson, Campbell/PARANORMAL PHENOMENA AND PARANORMAL BELIEFS 349

skeptics who articulate concern about widespread belief in paranormal phenomena.

Second, media cultivation theory and other research on repetitive exposure to infor-
mation suggests that if paranormal phenomena are regularly depicted in the media
as if they actually occur, then viewers may come to rely upon these depictions in
making judgments about the real world. And finally, the only experiments that we
know about in the literature (Sparks, Hansen, & Shah, 1994; Sparks, Sparks, & Gray,
1995) found evidence consistent with the notion that exposure to television pro-
grams about paranormal events affects paranormal beliefs. Of course, the correlation
advanced in this hypothesis could also emerge if individuals who tend to believe in
the paranormal, subsequently sought out programs with these themes. While the
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cross-sectional survey design employed here has certain strengths, it is limited in its
ability to untangle the issue of causal direction.
In addition to Hi, we had another hypothesis:

H2: The relationship between television exposure and paranormal beliefs will be
stronger for individuals who report that they have had some personal life expe-
rience with paranormal events.

This hypothesis is based upon the notion of "resonance" in cultivation theory (see
Cerbner, Gross, Morgan, & Signorielli, 1994). The effects of television are presumed
to be greater for individuals who have real life experiences that are consistent with
the TV messages.

Method

Respondents
Using a random-digit dialing technique, 120 telephone interviews were complet-
ed during the summer of 1994 in a medium-sized city in the Midwest (males: n =
46; females: n = 7A).2 Two female interviewers and one male interviewer conducted
the survey. In total, 165 individuals were contacted and 45 refused to participate
(final response rate = 73%). The interviews took about 12-minutes to complete. All
respondents were screened at the outset of the conversation to assure that they were
at least 18 years of age.

Measurement

Television viewing habits. Similar to procedures used in past research (Sparks &
Ogles, 1990), respondents were asked to estimate the amount of time they spent
watching television. Respondents were asked to estimate the total number of hours
of television they watched on an average weekday, an average Saturday, and an aver-
age Sunday. The weekday total was multiplied by five and added to the two week-
end day totals to yield an average viewing time for the week in hours.
 350 Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media/Summer 1997

Respondents were also asked about their exposure to several specific programs
that routinely feature paranormal themes: Unsolved Mysteries, Sightings, The X-Files,
and Psychic Friends. For each of these programs, they were asked to report if they
had ever viewed the program. If a respondent indicated that he/she had seen the pro-
gram before, a follow-up question asked for an estimate of how many times the pro-
gram had been seen. A similar question was asked regarding any programs seen on
The Psychic Channel (a portion of night-time programming available on the local
cable system that served the respondents' market).
Paranormal beliefs. A twenty-item scale was developed to assess respondents' para-
normal beliefs. This measure was constructed after a careful examination of other
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existing measures in the literature (see Jones, Russell, & Nickel, 1977; Tobacyk &
Milford, 1983). Some of these measures contained items with ambiguous referents
and wording that was double-barreled. In an attempt to eliminate these problems, we
constructed a new measure that surveyed paranormal belief in ten different areas: 1)
UFOs and space aliens, 2) astral-projection, 3) extrasensory perception (ESP), 4)
astrology or the use of horoscopes, 5) supernatural physical healing, 6) palm reading,
7) ghosts or haunted houses, 8) prophetic dreams, 9) telekinesis or moving objects
just by thinking, and 10) general psychic powers (e.g., precognition, and the ability
to know the location of a crime scene only from objects belonging to the victim).
Interviewers asked respondents to listen to each belief statement, and to respond by
indicating the extent to which they agreed or disagreed, based on a 7-point scale. The
polar anchors were "very strong agreement" ("7") and "very strong disagreement"
("1"). A "A" represented uncertainty. Two items were included on the measure for
each of the ten areas listed above. One of these items was worded so that agreement
reflected belief in the paranormal; the other was worded so that agreement reflected
disbelief. These latter items were recoded so that high scores on the 20-item measure
reflected the tendency to believe in paranormal phenomena. The complete 20-item
measure along with the percentages of respondents who either agreed or disagreed
with the items appears in Table 1. The items were presented in the order that they
appear in the table, which was determined by random selection.
Paranormal Experiences. At the end of the survey, respondents were asked if they
had ever experienced anything that fell outside the realm of normal experience.
Several examples were given to provide a context for this question when the inter-
viewer said: "For example, some people say they've encountered ghosts or flying
saucers, while others may claim that they've caught a glimpse of the future before it
occurred. These events might be called paranormal. Has anything like this ever hap-
pened to you?"
Demographic variables. Respondents were also asked to provide general demo-
graphic information, including their age, sex, level of education, employment status
(employed vs. unemployed), income level, race/ethnicity, and religiosity. Religiosity
was rated on a scale that ranged from " 1 " (not religious at all) to "10" (very religious).
 Sparks, Nelson, Campbell/PARANORMAL PHENOMENA AND PARANORMAL BELIEFS 351

Table 1
Percentages of Respondents Indicating Agreement, Disagreement,
or Uncertainty About Paranormal Beliefs

Item Agree Undecided Disagree

Daily horoscopes that appear in the newspapers DO NOT
provide accurate information about a person's life 3.3% 10.0% 6.7%
Some people are able to levitate or lift objects just by thinking 18.4% 15.8% 65.8%
I do NOT believe that there is any such thing as haunted houses 44.1% 14.2% 41.7%
I believe that sometimes I can tell what another person is
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thinking through ESP or extrasensory perception 30.8% 13.4% 55.8%

No one can really tell about other people's lives just from
looking at the lines on the palms of their hands 79.2% 10.0% 10.8%
Some people have the power of astral-projection, that is they can
willingly leave their body for short periods of time to travel to
another part of the Universe and then return 12.5% 10.0% 77.5%
I do NOT believe that anyone really has psychic powers 35.0% 15.8% 49.2%
I believe that some people have a special gift to heal other
people simply by touching them 24.2% 10.0% 65.8%
Some people claim that they have had dreams about future
events that actually come true, but I believe that these cases
are simply coincidence 45.0% 15.0% 40.0%
I believe that some people have actually seen flying saucers that
come from outer space 44.1% 24.2% 31.7%
No one can bend metal just by thinking about it 63.4% 13.3% 23.3%
Astrology, or the use of horoscopes, has been proven to be valid
for finding out the best ways in which people should act in their
daily lives 11.7% 15.8% 72.5%
I don't think ESP or extrasensory perception is possible 37.5% 18.3% 44.2%
I believe that some people have actually seen ghosts 50.8% 11.7% 37.5%
I DO NOT believe that astral-projection is possible 64.1% 14.2% 21.7%
Some people can really tell the future about another person's life
just by reading the palm of their hand 7.6% 6.6% 85.8%
I DO NOT believe that there has ever been a case where
another human being has been captured by a space alien 58.3% 20.0% 21.7%
Some people have a special gift that enables them to see things
in the future that have not yet happened 55.8% 10.8% 33.4%
Anyone who claims that he/she can heal other people just by
touching them is either lying or badly mistaken 60.0% 11.7% 28.3%
There are some people who have a special ability to help the
police solve crimes because they can psychically receive
information just by touching objects that belong to the crime
victims 45.0% 20.8% 34.2%
Note. Percentages are based on 120 respondents for each item. Responses of "5," "6," and " 7 " were
combined into one "agree" category for this table. Responses of "3," "2," and " 1 " were similarly com-
bined for a "disagree" category.
 352 Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media/Summer 1997

Results

Prevalence of Paranormal Beliefs

The responses to the paranormal belief items were used to construct frequency
tables that provided some descriptive insight on the prevalence of paranormal beliefs
among the participants in the study. Table 1 displays the percentages of respondents
who either agreed, disagreed, or were undecided about each item. As the table
reveals, belief in paranormal phenomena was quite common among the study's
respondents. For example, over 50% of the respondents indicated a belief in ghosts.3
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Nearly one-third of the respondents reported that sometimes they had been able to
read another person's mind through extrasensory perception (ESP). Moreover, near-
ly 45% of the respondents believed in UFOs from outer space, and about one-fourth
of the respondents believed that some people could bend metal just by thinking.
These results parallel those reported by Gallup and Newport (1991) in a random
sample of Americans. They are also consistent with data reported from a conve-
nience sample of college students (Sparks, Hansen, & Shah, 1994).

The Measure of Paranormal Beliefs

After recoding the items that were negatively worded, we combined the scores
across the 20 items of paranormal beliefs to form an additive index. Cronbach's
alpha on this index was .90. Evidence for the measure's validity was obtained by not-
ing that it was significantly correlated with the tendency for respondents to report
that they had experienced a paranormal event in their own life [r= .47, n = 120; p
< .001]. In order to determine if the structure of this measure was multi-dimension-
al, the 20 items were submitted to a maximum likelihood factor analysis with vari-
max rotation. Five factors emerged initially from this analysis with eigenvalues
greater than 1.0. However, only two of these factors accounted for at least 10% of
the variance, with two of the factors containing only one item that loaded cleanly.4
Thus, only two factors were retained from the solution. Table 2 shows the items that
emerged for each of the two factors along with their loadings. The "supernatural
beings" factor (SB) accounted for 38% of the variance and the "psychic energy" fac-
tor (PE) accounted for 10% of the variance. The two factors were significantly corre-
lated (r = .36, p < .001), but the percentage of variance that was unshared (87%),
argues in favor of a conceptual distinction between the two measures.
The items associated with each of the two factors were added together to form
separate indices of paranormal beliefs. Cronbach's alpha was .83 for the "SB" factor
and .63 for the "PE" factor.
 Sparks, Nelson, Campbell/PARANORMAL PHENOMENA AND PARANORMAL BELIEFS 353

Table 2
Factor Loadings for Paranormal Belief Items on Two Factors

Supernatural Psychic
Item Beings Factor Energy Factor
1 do NOT believe that there is any such thing as haunted
houses .68 .14
1 believe that some people have actually seen ghosts .79 .16
1 believe that some people have actually seen flying
saucers that come from outer space .65 .06
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1 DO NOT believe that there has ever been a case where

another human being has been captured by a space alien .72 -.01
Some people claim that they have had dreams about Mure
events that actually come true, but 1 believe that these
cases are simply coincidence .63 .26
1 believe that sometimes 1 can tell what another person is
thinking through ESP or extrasensory perception .24 .53
No one can bend metal just by thinking about it .30 .64
Astrology, or the use of horoscopes, has been proven to be
valid for finding out the best ways in which people should
act in their daily lives .07 .57
Note. These results emerged from a maximum likelihood factor analysis with varimax rotation.
N=120.

The Measures of Television Viewing

Two measures of viewing were constructed from the responses. The first measure
was a "total viewing" measure in hours-per-week and is described above. Only one
respondent in the sample reported viewing no television at all during a typical week.
At the other extreme, one viewer reported viewing 88-hours of TV during a typical
week (12.6 hours per day). The median number of hours viewed per week was 21,
or about 3 hours-per-day. A second viewing measure was designed to assess view-
ing of programs that were known to feature paranormal phenomena regularly. For
each of these programs (Unsolved Mysteries, Sightings, The X-Files), a median split
was done on the data that revealed how many times the respondents had seen each
program. Respondents in the upper half of each distribution were given a " 1 " and
respondents in the lower half were given a "0." The three scores were combined
additively to form a measure of exposure to paranormal programming.5
 354 Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media/Summer 1997

Testing the Hypotheses

In order to test the two hypotheses, we submitted the data to a series of regression
analyses. In order to test the first hypothesis which predicted a relationship between
television viewing and paranormal beliefs, we used the two paranormal belief fac-
tors as dependent variables in separate regression equations. Because we wanted to
control for any effects of demographic variables, we entered the respondents' sex,
age, level of education, employment status, salary, and religiosity as a single block
in the equations. This was followed by entering, in respective equations, either the
total TV viewing measure, or the measure of paranormal programs. The second
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hypothesis was examined by running these regression equations separately for

respondents who reported prior experience with a paranormal event (n = 57) and for
those who reported no prior experience (n = 63).
When the total number of hours of television viewing was used as the indepen-
dent variable, no significant relationship emerged between viewing and paranormal
beliefs for either of the belief factors. This result held whether or not respondents had
reported prior personal experience with a paranormal event.

Table 3
Regression Results for Predicting Belief in Supernatural Beings from Television
Programming

Variables Entered Multiple R R2 Beta

Step 1:
Religion .20
Salary -.24
Education .16
Employment. -.15
Gender -.04
Age -.15
.44 .19
Step 2
Viewing Rjranormal .50 .25 .25*
Note. The entire regression model was significant [F(7,54) = 2.53; p < .03.
**p < .05.

However, when the measure of exposure to paranormal programs was used as the
independent variable, a different pattern of results emerged. There was no significant
relationship between viewing paranormal programs and the belief in psychic ener-
gy, regardless of the level of prior experience with paranormal events. But for those
respondents who had no prior experience with paranormal events, belief in super-
 Sparks, Nelson, Campbell/PARAIMORMAL PHENOMENA AND PARANORMAL BELIEFS 355

natural beings was related to the viewing of paranormal programming, even after
controlling for the demographic variables. As Table 3 reveals, the demographic vari-
ables accounted for 19% of the variance in paranormal beliefs [F (6,55) = 2.18, p =
.05]. Viewing of paranormal programming accounted for an additional 6% of the
variance [f = 1.98, p = .05]. The entire regression model accounted for 25% of the
variance in paranormal beliefs [F (7,54) = 2.53, p < .03]. For the respondents who
indicated prior experience with a paranormal event, viewing of paranormal pro-
gramming, like total TV viewing was not related to belief in supernatural beings.

Discussion
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As the data in Table 1 reveal, paranormal beliefs were certainly prevalent in the
random sample we drew from a small city in the Midwest. Of particular interest in
Table 1 are the percentages of respondents who indicated uncertainty about various
paranormal belief items. It seems reasonable to assume that in areas of uncertain
belief, the mass media are potentially a more powerful source of influence. Although
scientists have long argued that the media do influence people to believe in para-
normal events, data needed to evaluate this claim have been lacking. To our knowl-
edge, this study represents the first survey that was explicitly designed to examine
these issues, although other surveys have been conducted on paranormal beliefs
without a focus on the mass media (Gallup & Newport, 1991).
The first hypothesis was that television viewing (particularly viewing of paranor-
mal programs) would be positively correlated with paranormal beliefs. As Table 3
reveals, this hypothesis was supported in that the measure of paranormal program
exposure was a significant predictor of belief in supernatural beings, even after con-
trolling for a number of demographic variables.
The second hypothesis was that the relationship between television viewing and
paranormal beliefs would be stronger for respondents who reported that they had
actually experienced a paranormal event. This hypothesis was based on the idea of
resonance in cultivation theory. If the messages in a person's media diet are consis-
tent with the messages in real life, then the cultivation effect is hypothesized to be
stronger because a person receives a "double dose" of the message. In this case,
however, exactly the opposite finding emerged. The regression equation reported in
Table 3 shows a significant relationship between exposure to paranormal programs
and paranormal beliefs only for the individuals who reported that they had never
experienced paranormal events in their real life. A similar regression equation for
those who reported direct experience with paranormal events showed an insignifi-
cant relationship between program exposure and paranormal beliefs.
Of course, the concept of resonance in particular (and cultivation theory in gen-
eral) has been criticized over the years (see Hirsch, 1980). However, even in studies
that challenge the general cultivation hypothesis, some evidence has emerged in
favor of resonance. For example, Doob and Macdonald (1979) found that the basic
 356 Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media/Summer 1997

relationship between television viewing and fear of victimization failed to emerge in

three geographical areas. But the fact that it did emerge in the high-crime-city area
could be interpreted as a finding consistent with resonance. In this area, heavy TV
viewers were presumably receiving a "double-dose" of the messages that cultivated
fear of victimization. It is possible that resonance does not hold for every area of
media impact. And while the finding on our second hypothesis does not support the
idea of resonance, it is not difficult to offer some explanation for this outcome. For
individuals who believe that they have experienced something paranormal in their
real life, these experiences may be the primary sources of data that are drawn upon
in determining the extent to which paranormal beliefs are endorsed. In contrast, for
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those who have no such experiences, the media may constitute a more important
source of information upon which to base personal beliefs in paranormal events. The
possibility that the resonance hypothesis is not applicable to this particular domain
of media effects is one that certainly warrants more investigation.
One limitation in any survey of this type is that the evidence for significant rela-
tionships cannot be interpreted conclusively as evidence for any particular causal
process. For example, in the present case, the relationship observed between view-
ing paranormal programming and paranormal beliefs could be due to the impact of
some third variable that is causally related to both viewing and beliefs. We attempt-
ed to address this concern by introducing a number of demographic variables as sta-
tistical controls in the regression analyses. While no list of potential third variables
is ever complete, the relationship between paranormal program viewing and para-
normal beliefs did withstand the introduction of several demographic control vari-
ables. And, as mentioned earlier, a cross-sectional survey design does not permit us
to sort out the temporal sequence of the relationship between television viewing and
paranormal beliefs. However, data from the experiments mentioned earlier do per-
mit causal conclusions and those studies suggest that viewing programs with para-
normal themes certainly may exert a causal impact on paranormal beliefs.
As Potter (1994) has recently argued about this type of research, there are also a
variety of issues that researchers should attempt to address in future studies, includ-
ing the possibility of nonlinear relationships in the data. Our explorations along
these lines in the present data proved to be unenlightening, but we are planning on
ways to improve upon the various measures that were used in this study to assess TV
viewing. Moreover, given that our measure of paranormal beliefs is a new instru-
ment, we are also planning to undertake additional studies on the measure's relia-
bility and validity. It should also be noted that our sample size was not particularly
large, especially for the use of multiple regression equations. This limitation under-
scores the need for replication of these results with larger samples.
One variable that also appears to be important to examine in future research is the
extent to which televised depictions of paranormal themes are perceived as realistic.
Potter's work on perceived reality (Potter, 1986; 1988) would suggest that media
effects may be contingent upon these sorts of perceptions. Because paranormal pro-
 Sparks, Nelson, Campbell/PARANORMAL PHENOMENA AND PARANORMAL BELIEFS 357

gramming may produce widely divergent perceptions or reality, this variable seems
like a crucial one to investigate in future studies.
While replication and extension of these results reported here will be important
(as with any scientific finding), the data from this study do suggest that there may
indeed be merit in the widespread claims of scientists and skeptics that the media
exert some influence in the domain of paranormal beliefs. One of the strengths of
this study is the use of a true random sample of an entire city. The problems of gen-
eralizability that often accompany the use of convenience samples of college stu-
dents are overcome in the use of this method. Future work in this area should con-
tinue to rely upon both surveys and experiments to increase our understanding of
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the media's role in beliefs about paranormal phenomena.

Conclusion

Ultimately, we believe that research on this topic could have several important
implications. First, our understanding about media influence in this domain may be
enhanced. Second, if it turns out that the empirical evidence supports the notion that
the media do exert a significant influence in the area of paranormal beliefs, then
there may be implications for journalists and program producers as they disseminate
content related to paranormal themes. One of the repeated charges of organizations
like CSICOP is that the media have not exercised careful responsibility in the dis-
semination of material about paranormal events. Research findings might help to
draw attention to the importance of this issue among members of the media. Finally,
research on this issue may tend to draw attention to the ways in which people arrive
at their beliefs about the nature of the world. Such beliefs cannot be underestimat-
ed in their importance because of the potential role that they play in shaping future
possibilities for society.

Notes
1 Preliminary analyses (Gray & Sparks, 1996) have revealed that over half of prime-time programs contain
at least one mention or depiction of a paranormal event. This conclusion was reached on the basis of a 3-
week sample of programs from four different networks. The data reveal that a wide range of paranormal phe-
nomena are referenced in these programs (e.g., astrology, ESP, UFOs, haunted houses, astral projection, etc.).
2 The sample was random with respect to the numbers dialed, but no subsequent attempt was made to
select a random person living in the household. Unless the person answering the phone was under 18-years
of age, the interview was presented to the person who answered the phone. Persons under 18-years old were
not used due to the additional contingencies of parental permission that would have been involved in order
to satisfy guidelines for ethical treatment of human subjects. The fact that respondents were not randomly
selected within the household may account for the disparity between male and female respondents in the
final sample. The city used for the sample had a population of about 50,000 and had a very small minority
population (i.e., less than 2% of any particular minority group).
3 This inference is based upon the response to the item, "I believe that some people have actually seen
ghosts." Future studies should probably re-word this item so that it assesses belief more directly. But, we
would argue that the item is still a valid indicator of belief in ghosts. The emphasis upon having "actually
seen ghosts" was designed to preclude experiences in which people might have perceived the presence of
a ghosteven though one was not really there.
 358 Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media/Summer 1997

4 Items with factor loadings of at least .50 on one factor and no more than .30 on the remaining factors
were considered to load cleanly.
5
We had a specific reason for using this procedure instead of simply summing the total number of times
that respondents indicated that they had seen each program. This measure was designed to distinguish
between heavy and light viewers of paranormal programming. We reasoned that it was far more important
to distinguish between those respondents who had only seen a program like Unsolved Mysteries a few times
vs. those who had seen it more times, than it was to distinguish between viewers who had seen the program
30-times vs. 50-times. Viewers in either of these last two groups would be considered "heavy" viewers.

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