Background: The health crisis caused by COVID-19 has led many countries to opt for social quarantine of the population. During this quarantine, communication systems have been characterized by disintermediation, the acceleration of digitization and an infodemic (excess and saturation of information). The following debate arises: Do the levels related to the psychotic phenotype and pseudoscientific beliefs related to the interpretation of information vary before and after social quarantine? Objectives: This research aims to examine the psychological effects of social quarantine on the psychotic phenotype and pseudoscientific beliefs-experiences of the general nonclinical population. The following hypothesis was posed: social quarantine alters the levels of magical thinking, pseudoscientific beliefs and anomalous perceptions due to quarantine. Methods: A pre-and posttest analysis design was applied based on the difference in means, and complementary Bayesian estimation was performed. A total of 174 Spanish subjects responded to different questionnaires that evaluated psychopathological risks based on psychotic phenotypes, pseudoscientific beliefs and experiences before and after quarantine. Results: Significant differences were obtained for the variables positive psychotic symptoms, depressive symptoms, and certain perceptual alterations (e.g., cenesthetic perceptions), and a significant increase in pseudoscientific beliefs was also observed. The perceptual disturbances that increased the most after quarantine were those related to derealization and depersonalization. However, paranoid perceptions showed the highest increase, doubling the initial standard deviation. These high increases could be related to the delimitation of physical space during social quarantine and distrust towards information communicated by the government to the population. Is it possible that social alarmism generated by the excess of information and pseudoscientific information has increased paranoid perceptual alterations? Conclusions: Measures taken after quarantine indicate that perceptual disturbances, subclinical psychotic symptoms and beliefs in the pseudoscience have increased. We discuss which elements of quarantine coincide with the social marginality theory and its clinical repercussions.

Anomalous phenomena are unexplained occurrences, such as paranormal experiences, that challenge the ontological bases of current scientific knowledge and are considered scientifically impossible. Problematically, some scientific research yields significant statistical results in favor of the existence of telepathy , precognition , mind-matter interaction , and mediumship. The current study presents and statistically justifies the Multivariable Multiaxial Suggestibility Inventory-2 (MMSI-2), a new psychological instrument to measure and detect the main psychological explanations for anomalous experiences. A nonprobabilistic sample of 3,224 subjects without a psychiatric history were recruited from the general population of Spain. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to examine the internal structure of the MMSI-2's 174 items. Direct oblimin and promax oblique rotations were applied as criteria for axis rotation. Cronbach's alpha coefficients and their ordinal transformation were also calculated, and gender-differentiated scales for the raw MMSI-2 scale scores were developed. The first-order factorial solution yielded a total of 16 factors that explained 92.84% of the variance. Of these, 10 corresponded to the psychological variables cited in the background literature, four classified the anomalous phenomena according to their sensory mode, and two represented prototype control scales for this class of psychometric inventory. The higher-order EFA grouped the MMSI-2 scales into four macrofactors that together explained 97.737% of the variance. Satisfactory reliability rates were obtained (alphas>0.8). The full version of the MMSI-2 with 174 items is a valid and reliable psychometric instrument for evaluating anomalous phenomena and the theoretically concomitant psychological variables. Similarly, the scaling of scores can be used in psychological assessment as a screening tool to identify clinically suspected psychological variables.

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Evaluation of prior research suggests that belief in the paranormal is more likely to be associated with negative psychological functioning, when presented alongside cognitive-perceptual factors that askew thinking and insight. The current study examined this notion using a sample of 3,084 participants (1,382 males, 1,693 females, nine non-binary). Respondents completed self-report measures assessing Paranormal Belief, Transliminality, psychopathology-related characteristics (Schizotypy and Manic-Depressive Experience), and well-being (Perceived Stress and Somatic Complaints). Responses were analysed via correlations and moderation. Paranormal Belief correlated positively with Transliminality, psychopathology-related measures, Perceived Stress, and Somatic Complaints. Moderation analyses revealed that Transliminality and psychopathology-related variables (i.e., the Unusual Experiences and Cognitive Disorganisation subscales of schizotypy, and Manic-Depressive Experience) interacted with Paranormal Belief in complex ways and were allied to higher scores on negative well-being outcomes. This indicated that within paranormal believers, Transliminality and specific psychopathology-related variables in combination predicted susceptibility to negative well-being outcomes.

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