The separate roles of the reflective mind and involuntary inhibitory control in gatekeeping paranormal beliefs and the underlying intuitive confusions

TLDR

Intuitive thinking is known to predict paranormal beliefs, yet the underlying processes and the influence of other thinking dispositions remain unclear. The study found that an intuitive thinking style boosts paranormal beliefs while reflective thinking mitigates them, that ontological confusions—predicted by weak involuntary inhibition—are amplified under cognitive load and become decoupled from paranormal beliefs, and that these results were replicated in a second study, supporting a model in which intuitive, non‑reflective thinking and impaired inhibition jointly foster culturally acquired paranormal beliefs.

Abstract

Intuitive thinking is known to predict paranormal beliefs, but the processes underlying this relationship, and the role of other thinking dispositions, have remained unclear. Study 1 showed that while an intuitive style increased and a reflective disposition counteracted paranormal beliefs, the ontological confusions suggested to underlie paranormal beliefs were predicted by individual differences in involuntary inhibitory processes. When the reasoning system was subjected to cognitive load, the ontological confusions increased, lost their relationship with paranormal beliefs, and their relationship with weaker inhibition was strongly accentuated. These findings support the argument that the confusions are mainly intuitive and that they therefore are most discernible under conditions in which inhibition is impaired, that is, when thinking is dominated by intuitive processing. Study 2 replicated the findings on intuitive and reflective thinking and paranormal beliefs. In Study 2, ontological confusions were also related to the same thinking styles as paranormal beliefs. The results support a model in which both intuitive and non‐reflective thinking styles and involuntary inhibitory processes give way to embracing culturally acquired paranormal beliefs.