Countervailing Forces: Religiosity and Paranormal Belief in Italy

Abstract

Due to the unique cultural niche inhabited by “paranormal” beliefs and experiences, social scientists have struggled to understand the relationship between religion and the paranormal. Complicating matters is the fact that extant research has primarily focused upon North America, leaving open the possible relationship between these two spheres of the supernatural in less religiously pluralistic contexts. Using data from a random, national survey of Italian citizens, we examine the nature of the relationship between religiosity and paranormal beliefs in a largely Catholic context. We find a curvilinear relationship between religiosity and paranormal beliefs among Italians, with those at the lowest and highest levels of religious participation holding lower average levels of “paranormal” belief than those with moderate religious participation. This pattern reflects how two influential social institutions, religion and science, simultaneously define the paranormal as outside of acceptable realms of inquiry and belief.

The Implicit Image of God: God as Reality and Psychological Well‐Being

“…Although in Italy all religions have equal rights guaranteed by the Constitution, Italians are strongly influenced by the beliefs and traditions of the Catholic Church and are constantly exposed to Catholic symbols, Catholic ceremonies, and media news regarding the Pope. As a consequence, Catholicism is unofficially regarded as a state religion (Bader, Baker, and Molle ). Among believers, however, there are different levels of commitment to Catholicism (Bader, Baker, and Molle ): some Italian Catholics have, indeed, a strong religious identity, while others are little influenced by the Church and rarely attend religious services.…”

“…As a consequence, Catholicism is unofficially regarded as a state religion (Bader, Baker, and Molle ). Among believers, however, there are different levels of commitment to Catholicism (Bader, Baker, and Molle ): some Italian Catholics have, indeed, a strong religious identity, while others are little influenced by the Church and rarely attend religious services. As to the image of God, in Italian Catholicism, God is conceived as a nurturing and compassionate father, willing to help and forgive (Zaccaria ).…”

A social anthropology of ghosts in twenty-first-century America

“…Because of the sizable difference in scale between the attendance and scripture reading items and the prayer item, the measures were mean standardized before being summed into an index with a Cronbach's α = .83. Recent research also indicates that there is a curvilinear relationship between conventional religious practice and paranormal belief and interest (Bader et al, 2012;Bader et al, 2010;Bainbridge, 2004;Baker and Draper, 2010;Orenstein, 2002). To control for this pattern we created a quadratic term for the religious practice index.…”

The Contribution of Religiosity and Optimism on Well-Being of Youth and Emerging Adults in Italy

“…With regards to young population, statistics show that 68% of people between 15 and 34 years of age define themselves as Catholic (Doxa, 2014). Nevertheless, this does not means that other youth are unconnected with Catholic religion and its customs because, as noted by Bader, Baker, and Molle (2012), in Italy a form also exists of Catholic religious belonging that is culturally inherited rather than profoundly experienced and manifestly expressed. Also, in the last years Italy is facing a difficult social and economic crisis (e.g., unemployment, limited social policies) which may disorient youth, increase uncertainty toward the future, and negatively affect their well-being (Crocetti, Rabaglietti, & Sica, 2012;Karaś, Cieciuch, Negru, & Crocetti, 2015).…”