Abstract/Results: | ABSTRACT:
The specific aim of the present study was to find psychological differences between psychic and non-psychics. Specifically, we hypothesized that the self-claimed psychics score higher than non-psychics on the following four dimensions: (1) Individual Differences (i.e., neuroticism, extroversion, psychoticism, cognitive and emotional empathy, and defense style); (2) Psychopathology (i.e., healthy and negative schizotypy, dissociation, hallucinations and abnormal perceptions, magical ideation and perceptual aberration); (3) Boundaries (i.e., transliminality and boundary 'thinness'); and (4) Perception (i.e., perceptual cognition and imagery, and sensationseeking). The database used in this paper was originally collected as part of a project that investigated the so-called token-object effect (Parra & Argibay, 2013a, 2013b). Two categorization procedures were performed in order to split the sample into (1) Psychic/high-psi-scorers (n = 48) and (2) Non-psychic/low-psi-scorers (n = 44). Psychic/high-psiscorers scored higher than non-psychic/low-psi-scorers on Extroversion, and they scored lower on Neuroticism and Psychoticism, which confirm previous findings. Other results showed that psychic/high-psi-scorers tended to have 'thinner' boundaries, and they reported more unusual/psychic experiences, than non-psychic/low-psiscorers. The two groups, however, did not differ on schizotypy or dissociation. Generally speaking, the typical psychic in our study (similar to the one described by Eysenck) is 'sanguine', tends to be lively, sociable, carefree, talkative, pleasure-seeking, optimistic, and leadership-oriented.
|
Final report - Considering voice hearing by psychic practitioners: A qualitative pluralistic investigation of mental health and well-being