Super-natural fears

Coelho, Carlos M.; Zsidó, András N.; Suttiwan, Panrapee; Clasen, Mathias

doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.06.036

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 114 publications

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“…Threat (and agency) detection ( Freeman et al, 2002 ; Gaynor et al, 2013 ; Brett et al, 2014 ; Jelić and Fich, 2018 ; Coelho et al, 2021 ; Tashjian et al, 2022 )—or Hypersensitive Agency Detection Device (HADD, see e.g., Barrett, 2000 , 2004 ; Atran, 2002 ; Guthrie, 2013 )—likely influences HP-S in several ways that we have discussed previously ( Drinkwater et al, 2021 ; Laythe et al, 2021a ). First, anomalies might be judged as more or less frightening depending on their degree of spontaneity .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 87%

Case Study of Recognition Patterns in Haunted People Syndrome

Houran

Laythe²

2022

Front. Psychol.

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Haunted People Syndrome (HP-S) denotes individuals who recurrently report various “supernatural” encounters in everyday settings ostensibly due to heightened somatic-sensory sensitivities to dis-ease states (e.g., marked but sub-clinical levels of distress), which are contextualized by paranormal beliefs and reinforced by perceptual contagion effects. This view helps to explain why these anomalous experiences often appear to be idioms of stress or trauma. We tested the validity and practical utility of the HP-S concept in an empirical study of an active and reportedly intense ghostly episode that was a clinical referral. The case centered on the life story of the primary percipient, a retired female healthcare worker. Secondary percipients included her husband and adult daughter, all of whom reported an array of benign and threatening anomalies (psychological and physical in nature) across five successive residences. Guided by prior research, we administered the family online measures of transliminality, sensory-processing sensitivity, paranormal belief, locus of control, desirability for control, and a standardized checklist of haunt-type phenomena. The primary percipient also completed a measure of adverse childhood events and supplied an event diary of her anomalous experiences. We found reasonably consistent support for HP-S from a set of quantitative observations that compared five proposed syndrome features against the family members’ psychometric profiles and the structure and contents of their anomalous experiences. Specifically, the reported anomalies both correlated with the family’s scores on transliminality and paranormal belief, as well as elicited attributions and reaction patterns aligned with threat (agency) detection. There was also some evidence of perceptual congruency among the family members’ anomalous experiences. Putative psi cannot be ruled out, but we conclude that the family’s ordeal fundamentally involved the symptoms and manifestations of thin (or “permeable”) mental boundary functioning in the face of unfavorable circumstances or overstimulating environments and subsequently acerbated by poor emotion regulation, histrionic and catastrophizing reactions, and active confirmation biases.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 87%

Case Study of Recognition Patterns in Haunted People Syndrome

Houran

Laythe²

2022

Front. Psychol.

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“…Catastrophizing was the only ER strategy to emerge in connection to all three subtypes of fears, which is in line with previous studies naming it as a transdiagnostic process across numerous psychopathological disorders, for instance, phobia, panic, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder 34,54 . Catastrophizing, with regards to fears and phobias, can result in magnifying a perceived threat, overestimating the frequency of encountering the feared object, and making negative interpretations of ambiguous stimuli (see also Coelho et al 55 ). While the stimuli that set off and maintain the negative cycle of catastrophic thinking are different in each subtype of phobia, the mechanism seems to be similar 27,34 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phobia-specific patterns of cognitive emotion regulation strategies

Zsidó

Láng

Lábadi

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

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Although fear plays a vital role in survival, an overly active threat detection system could be maladaptive due to its negative health consequences. Putatively maladaptive emotion regulation (ER) strategies are a core problem in phobias. In contrast, adaptive ER strategies could help downregulate the emotion elicited by a threatening stimulus and decrease anxiety. Yet, the number of studies directly examining the pattern of ER strategies linked to various phobias is still scarce. Thus, this study sought to map the patterns of adaptive and maladaptive ER strategies linked to the three most common phobias (social, animal, and blood-injection-injury [BII]). A total of 856 healthy participants filled out our survey including self-reported measures of social anxiety, snake-, spider-, BII phobia, and cognitive ER strategies. Structural equation modeling was used to test the effects between the variables. The results show that social anxiety and animal phobia were linked to both adaptive and maladaptive ER strategies, while BII was only associated with maladaptive ones. Further analyses showed that the most prominent ER strategies differed by subtype. This is in line with previous neuroimaging studies claiming that the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying phobias are also different. Theoretical as well as practical implications are discussed.

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“…Animistic beliefs often motivate individuals to appease, avoid, or influence the perceived spiritual forces around them, driven by a sense of fear (Clemons, 2014) [10] . This fear stems from intuitive concepts about the mind-body duality and the animation of objects within the animistic worldview (Coelho et al, 2021) [9] . Consequently, even seemingly unstoppable forces like capitalist development can become intertwined with animistic rituals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Animistic Customs and Practices, Attribution of Animistic Essence to Objects, and Environmentalism in an Upland Rural Community in Labo, Camarines Norte, Philippines

C Latayan,

V Villeno,

Cristina V Marca

et al. 2024

IJAMRS

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This study investigated the relationship between animism and environmentalism in an upland rural community in Labo, Camarines Norte, Philippines. A survey of 136 adults identified prevalent animistic customs and practices, moderate attribution of animistic essence to various objects, and high levels of environmental concern and action. Significant positive correlations emerged between some customs and practices and environmentalism, suggesting that certain practices may promote concern and action for ecology. However, the strength of these correlations was generally weak. This could be due to external factors like commercialization, dominant religion, and secularization, which weaken the connection between customs and practices and environmentalism. The attribution of animistic essence to animals and plants displayed a positive relationship with environmentalism, suggesting a link between valuing living things and pro-environmental behavior. Conversely, attributing essence to most of the object categories did not yield significant relationships. These findings highlight the complex relationship between animism and environmentalism. While some animistic beliefs cultivate ecological responsibility, others have a more nuanced influence. Strengthening specific customs and practices and fostering the attribution of animistic essence to living things could be avenues for promoting environmental stewardship within animistic communities. Further research is needed to explore the factors that influence the animism-environmentalism relationship. Understanding these complexities can help develop strategies for nurturing animistic values and empowering environmental movements.

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Super-natural fears

Cited by 8 publications

References 114 publications

Case Study of Recognition Patterns in Haunted People Syndrome

Case Study of Recognition Patterns in Haunted People Syndrome

Phobia-specific patterns of cognitive emotion regulation strategies

Animistic Customs and Practices, Attribution of Animistic Essence to Objects, and Environmentalism in an Upland Rural Community in Labo, Camarines Norte, Philippines

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