Development of a new implicit measure of paranormal and religious beliefs

• Grant number: 16/00368-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Effective date (Start): May 16, 2016
• Effective date (End): July 15, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology - Fundamentals and Assessments in Psychology
• Principal Investigator: Wellington Zangari
• Grantee: Everton de Oliveira Maraldi
• Supervisor: Miguel Henrique Guerra Goncalves Farias
• Host Institution: Instituto de Psicologia (IP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Research place: Coventry University, England
• Associated to the scholarship: 15/05255-2 - Temporal stability and contextual effects in measures of dissociation and trauma: the role of belief and persuasion, BP.PD

Abstract

Psychologists have long recognized the role of impression management and demand characteristics on questionnaire responses and experimental results. In this regard, research fields such as Psychology of Religion and Spirituality or Anomalistic Psychology might be particularly vulnerable to response bias, as their objects of study are controversial and ideological and / or religious disputes frequently underlie theoretical and methodological divergences between researchers. Even when participants have no intention to respond in accordance with a particular conviction or hypothesis, they might not be aware of certain psychological processes or memory associations underlying explicit or overt behaviours, feelings and ideas. Rather than relying on the participants' ability and frankness to evaluate and report their own psychological processes, implicit measures assume that relatively spontaneous and speeded responses during pre-programmed tasks may reveal more authentic patterns or tendencies, especially concerning controversial topics. Implicit measures of belief are not available in Brazil, but could contribute greatly to the advancement of research in this area. Therefore, the primary purpose of this project (which is directly related to the postdoctoral project in course in Brazil) is to develop and test an implicit measure of paranormal and religious beliefs during an internship at Coventry University, under the supervision of Dr Miguel Farias. The author will initially evaluate divergences between available measures of implicit belief and then develop a new one considering the advantages and limitations of existing instruments. This original measure will have both an English and a Portuguese version. Comparisons will be made between this instrument and a self-report measure of religious and paranormal beliefs. Additionally, correlations between the implicit measure and other relevant variables will be computed in order to explore convergent validity and explicit-implicit empirical patterns. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

MARALDI, EVERTON DE OLIVEIRA; FARIAS, MIGUEL. Assessing Implicit Spirituality in a non-WEIRD Population: Development and Validation of an Implicit Measure of New Age and Paranormal Beliefs. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR THE PSYCHOLOGY OF RELIGION, SEP 2019. (16/00368-6)

FARIAS, M.; MARALDI, E.; WALLENKAMPF, K. C.; LUCCHETTI, G.. Adverse events in meditation practices and meditation-based therapies: a systematic review. ACTA PSYCHIATRICA SCANDINAVICA, v. 142, n. 5, AUG 2020. (16/00368-6)