A Revised Paranormal Belief Scale

Jerome J. Tobacyk, Ph.D.

Louisiana Tech University

A 26-item Revised Paranormal Belief Scale is introduced which provides a measure of degree of
belief in each of seven dimensions: Traditional Religious Belief, Psi, Witchcraft, Superstition,
Spiritualism, Extraordinary Life Forms, and Precognition. Improvements from the original 25item Paranormal Belief Scale (Tobacyk & Milford, 1983) include adoption of a seven-point rating scale as well as item changes for three subscales: Precognition, Witchcraft, and Extraordinary
Life Forms. These improvements provide greater reliability and validity, less restriction of range,
and greater cross-cultural validity.

major emphasis of current theory and research

in transpersonal psychology is the investigation
of spiritualityits nature, phenomenology, and
assessment (MacDonald, 2000; MacDonald,
Friedman, & Kuentzel, 1999; MacDonald, Kuentzel,
& Friedman, 1999; MacDonald, LeClair, Holland,
Alter, & Friedman, 1995). An essential requirement
for the empirical investigation of spirituality is the
articulation of the structure or dimensionality of this
construct. MacDonald (2000) has reported a factor
analytic investigation of the structure of spirituality
that demonstrates five robust dimensions: Cognitive
Orientation Toward Spirituality, Experiential/
Phenomenological Dimensions, Existential WellBeing, Religiousness, and Paranormal Beliefs. This
article reports the development of a Revised
Paranormal Belief Scale that can be used to assess paranormal and religious beliefs, allowing the researcher to
examine the nature of these beliefs and their implications for spirituality.
Considerable research concerning paranormal
beliefs has employed the original Paranormal Belief
Scale (PBS; Tobacyk & Milford, 1983), a measure of
self-reported degree of belief in paranormal phenomena. Much evidence supports the reliability and discriminant validity of the PBS and its subscales
(Tobacyk, 1983; Tobacyk, 1984a; 1984b; Tobacyk &
Jones, 1984; Tobacyk & Milford, 1984; Tobacyk,
1985a; Tobacyk, 1985b; Tobacyk & Mitchell, 1987a;

94

1987b; Tobacyk, Nagot, & Miller, 1987).

Paranormal phenomena are defined as those that, if
genuine, would violate basic limiting principles of science (Broad, 1953). An example of a basic limiting
principle is It is unlikely that a mental event can directly affect a physical event except for one in the experients
own brain. Thus, psychosomatic and hypnotically
induced phenomena are not classified as paranormal,
but psychokinetic phenomena, if authentic, would be
so classified.
The PBS provides a separate score on each of seven
factorially derived subscales, with each subscale reflecting a major dimension of paranormal belief. The PBS
subscales are Traditional Religious Belief, Psi,
Witchcraft, Superstition, Spiritualism, Extraordinary
Life Forms, and Precognition. Respondents indicate
degree of belief for each of 25 items by using a fivepoint rating scale.
Although the original PBS shows satisfactory reliability and validity, a Revised Paranormal Belief Scale
(R-PBS) has been constructed with changes in the rating scale and in item content for three subscales. More
specifically, these changes involve (1) use of a sevenpoint rating scale, (2) construction of a new
Precognition subscale, (3) replacement of two of four
Witchcraft subscale items, and (4) replacement of one
of three Extraordinary Life Forms subscale items.
These changes were made to lessen restriction in range
and to improve subscale reliability and validity, partic-

The International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 2004, Volume 23

ularly cross-cultural validity.

Seven-Point Rating Scale
Some restriction in range occurred on the original
PBS, particularly on the Traditional Religious Belief
and Superstition subscales. To reduce restriction in
range, a seven-point rating scale is used with the RPBS. Table 1 lists the means, standard deviations, and
maximum and minimum scores for both the original
PBS and the R-PBS.
As indicated in Table 1, the minimum and maximum
mean item scores for each of the R-PBS subscales suggest that respondents generally use the full seven-point
rating scale. Also, as indicated in Table 1, the standard
deviations have approximately doubled for four subscales: Traditional Religious Belief, Psi, Witchcraft,
and Spiritualism. A seven-point rating scale allows
respondents to more precisely describe their beliefs,
and will lessen restriction of range.

Precognition Subscale
The original Precognition subscale had the lowest
test-retest reliability of the seven original PBS subscales
(rtt = .60 over a four-week interval). The three PBS
Precognition subscale items are as follows:
Item 1 Dreams can provide information about the
future;
Item 2 Some people have the ability to predict the
future; and
Item 3 The idea of predicting the future is foolish.
Each of the PBS Precognition subscale items is
ambiguous and could be endorsed for reasons that do
or do not reflect belief in paranormal precognition.
For example, regarding Item 1, a dream could provide accurate information about the future simply
owing to coincidence or through normal cognitive
processes (e.g., remembering the location of a lost
object in a dream). Thus, endorsement of Item 1

Table 1
A Comparison of Norms on the Original and Revised Paranormal Belief for University Students
in the Southern United States
_____________________________________________________________________________
Original Paranormal
Revised Paranormal
Belief Scale
Belief Scale
PBS Score
(n=460)
(n=217)
_______________________________________________________________________
M
SD
Min Max M
SD Min Max
______________________ _______________________
Full Scale

72.9

11.1

41

104

89.1

21.9

40

165

Traditional
Religious Belief

4.5

0.6

1.0

5.0

6.3

1.2

1.0

7.0

Psi

2.8

0.7

1.0

5.0

3.1

1.5

1.0

7.0

Witchcraft

2.5

0.8

1.0

5.0

3.4

1.7

1.0

7.0

Superstition

1.7

0.7

1.0

4.0

1.6

1.2

1.0

5.0

Spiritualism
Extraordinary
Life Forms

2.4

0.7

1.0

5.0

2.8

1.4

1.0

7.0

2.4

0.8

1.0

5.0

3.3

1.3

1.0

7.0

Subscales

Precognition
3.5
0.7
1.0
5.0
3.0
1.3
1.0
7.0
________________________________________________________________________
Note. Mean scores refer to sum of item scores for Full Scale and mean item scores for subscales.
Paranormal Belief Scale

95

might or might not reflect belief in paranormal precognition. Concerning Item 2, trained scientists (e.g.,
meteorologists, medical diagnosticians) use scientifically validated procedures to predict future events.
Thus, endorsement of Item 2 might reflect either
belief in paranormal precognition or belief in the accu-

racy of predictions made by such scientifically validated prognosticators as medical diagnosticians or meteorologists. Item 3 is also ambiguous in meaning. For
example, are all human attempts at predicting the
future foolish, including saving for retirement or purchasing insurance policies? Alternatively, Item 3 might

Table 2
Revised Paranormal Belief Scale
___________________________________________________________________________________
Please put a number next to each item to indicate how much you agree or disagree with that item. Use the
numbers as indicated below. There are no right or wrong answers. This is a sample of your own beliefs and
attitudes. Thank you.
1=Strongly Disagree 2=Moderately Disagree 3=Slightly Disagree
4=Uncertain 5=Slightly Agree 6=Moderately Agree 7=Strongly Agree
1. The soul continues to exist though the body may die.
2. Some individuals are able to levitate (lift) objects through mental forces.
3. Black magic really exists.
4. Black cats can bring bad luck.
5. Your mind or soul can leave your body and travel (astral projection).
6. The abominable snowman of Tibet exists.
7. Astrology is a way to accurately predict the future.
8. There is a devil.
9. Psychokinesis, the movement of objects through psychic powers, does exist.
10. Witches do exist.
11. If you break a mirror, you will have bad luck.
12. During altered states, such as sleep or trances, the spirit can leave the body.
13. The Loch Ness monster of Scotland exists.
14. The horoscope accurately tells a persons future.
15. I believe in God
16. A persons thoughts can influence the movement of a physical object.
17. Through the use of formulas and incantations, it is possible to cast spells on persons.
18. The number 13 is unlucky.
19. Reincarnation does occur.
20. There is life on other planets.
21. Some psychics can accurately predict the future.
22. There is a heaven and a hell.
23. Mind reading is not possible.
24. There are actual cases of witchcraft.
25. It is possible to communicate with the dead.
26. Some people have an unexplained ability to predict the future.
___________________________________________________________________________________
Note. Item 23 is reverse scored. Traditional Religious Belief = Mean of Items (1, 8, 15, 22);
Psi = Mean of Items (2, 9, 16, 23); Witchcraft = Mean of Items (3, 10, 17, 24);
Superstition = Mean of Items (4, 11, 18); Spiritualism = Mean of Items (5, 12, 19, 25)
Extraordinary Life Forms = Mean of Items (6, 13, 20); Precognition = Mean of Items (7, 14, 21, 26).

96

The International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 2004, Volume 23

be construed as meaning that only paranormal methods of predicting the future are foolish. Thus all three
items comprising the Precognition subscale on the
original PBS are problematic.
In a study of the cognitive dimensions used in predicting future events (Tobacyk & Nagot, 1987), 349
college students rated 60 beliefs about predicting
future events. The 60 items were intercorrelated and
factor analyzed, revealing seven basic dimensions used
to predict future events. The two clearest marker items
were selected from each of the two largest paranormal
precognition dimensions to form a new Precognition
subscale. These dimensions and items were
Paranormal Divinatory Systems (Astrology is a way to
accurately predict the future. The horoscope accurately
tells a persons future.) and Psychically Gifted Persons
(Some psychics can accurately predict the future. Some
people have an unexplained ability to predict the future.).
These four new Precognition items replaced the three
original PBS Precognition items. The test-retest reliability of this revised Precognition subscale over a fourweek interval was .81, a substantial improvement over
the reliability of the original PBS Precognition subscale (rtt = .60).
Witchcraft and Extraordinary Life Forms Subscales
Changes were made in the Witchcraft and
Extraordinary Life Forms subscales to improve crosscultural validity in Western cultures. Research with the
original PBS in Finland, Germany, and Poland,
showed that many European respondents were unfamiliar with such ostensibly paranormal phenomena as
voodoo and Bigfoot. Therefore, on the Witchcraft
subscale, the two items concerning belief in voodoo
(Voodoo is a real method to use paranormal powers. There
are actual cases of voodoo death.) were replaced with two
items that more generally concerned witchcraft
(Through the use of formulas and incantations, it is possible to cast spells on persons. There are actual cases of
witchcraft.) It is noted that the two replacement
Witchcraft subscale items were marker variables defining the Witchcraft factor in the original factor analytic PBS study (Tobacyk & Milford, 1983), loading .68
and .55 respectively on the Witchcraft factor. The testretest reliability of the revised Witchcraft subscale is
.93 over a four-week interval, while that of the original
Witchcraft subscale is .69.
Also, to improve cross-cultural validity, the item
Bigfoot does exist from the original Extraordinary Life

Forms subscale was replaced by the item There is life on

other planets. Although the item Bigfoot does exist had a
stronger factor loading than the replacement item in
the original factor analytic study (.74 versus .41), the
new item was also a marker variable for the
Extraordinary Life Forms factor. This change was necessary because familiarity with the Bigfoot phenomena
appears largely limited to the United States. The
revised Extraordinary Life Forms subscale has a fourweek test-retest reliability of .91, compared to .82 for
the original subscale.
It is noted that Extraordinary Life Forms is the
only paranormal belief dimension that does not strictly conform to the paranormality criterion violation of a
basic limiting principle of science (e.g., the mere existence of extraterrestrial life would not violate a basic
limiting principle). However, belief in extraordinary
life forms is often considered a component of a more
general paranormal or occult ideology (Zusne & Jones,
1982) and was therefore included as a paranormal
belief dimension.
Revised Paranormal Belief Scale Items
The remaining 18 items from the original PBS
were retained in the R-PBS. The four-week test-retest
reliabilities for the remaining R-PBS subscales for a
sample of forty university students are as follows: Full
Scale .92, Traditional Religious Belief .95, Psi .71,
Superstition .89, and Spiritualism .91.
Validity Issues
Although there has been some disagreement about
the nature and number of the belief dimensions
assessed by the R-PBS (Lawrence, 1995a, 1995b,
Lawrence, Roe, & Williams, 1997; Tobacyk, 1995a,
Tobacyk, 1995b, Tobacyk & Thomas, 1997), this scale
appears to be a conceptually and psychometrically satisfactory measure of paranormal beliefs.

Summary
The original 25-item, five-point PBS was modified
into a 26-item, seven-point R-PBS. The changes
include replacement of the three-item PBS
Precognition subscale, replacement of two of the four
PBS Witchcraft subscale items, and replacement of
one of the three PBS Extraordinary Life Forms subscale items. In total, seven new items replaced a total
of six original PBS items. These changes are expected
Paranormal Belief Scale

97

to improve reliability and validity, reduce restrictions

in range, and increase the cross-cultural validity in the
measurement of paranormal beliefs in Western cultures. It is recommended that researchers in the areas
of paranormal beliefs and spirituality consider the use
of the R-PBS in their investigations.

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Correspondence regarding this article should be

directed to the author at the following address:
Louisiana Tech University, Department of Psychology
and Behavioral Sciences, Box 10048, Ruston,
Louisiana 71272. e-mail: [email protected]

The International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 2004, Volume 23