Fresno State psychology professor conducts research on believers of doomsday theories

From Bigfoot to the predicted Dec. 21, 2012 Mayan apocalypse, researchers have found that many people tend to dissociate from reality and believe in paranormal ideas.

That was what Fresno State psychology professor Matthew Sharps discovered while conducting a study into the psychology behind the belief in the Mayan apocalypse prediction.

Sharps worked with Schuyler Liao and Megan Herrera, both clinical forensic psychology doctoral candidates at Alliant International University.

The researchers wrote and submitted an article that was selected as the cover story for the January-February 2013 issue of the Skeptical Inquirer, a journal that publishes scientific analyses on a variety of claims.

“We found a number of the psychological characteristics of people who think they’ve seen Bigfoot or aliens or ghosts,” Sharps said. “That’s OK. Here’s a person who sees an angry cow in a bush, and they think they’ve seen Bigfoot. Does the same thing apply to think, ‘Here is a person who thinks the world is going to end because they’ve misinterpreted things like the Mayan calendar?’”

Sharps underscored that the results are evidence of the need for better science education.

“If you’ve got the right scientific education, you’re not going to go selling the house or running into the field screaming about the aliens,” he said.

About 110 students participated in the study for class credit during the fall semester. The students answered a questionnaire with a Likert scale, which measures survey responses. The students rated, on a one-to-seven scale, how strongly they felt about whether they expected major changes in the world as a result of Dec. 21, among other questions, Sharps said.

If the respondent expected major changes to occur, he or she had to specify whether it was because of the Mayan calendar or biblical or Hopi prophesies, he said.

The researchers anticipated that the more dissociated a person is, the greater chance he or she will believe in the Dec. 21 apocalypse prediction. They also hypothesized that the more scientific detail included in the wording of a question, the less likely people would believe in these apocalyptic predictions, Sharps said.

The results showed that 9.8 percent believed a major change would occur on Dec. 21, and 45.6 percent fathomed the idea. Thus, a total of 55.4 percent of the respondents were influenced by the publicity of the Mayan apocalypse prediction.

The study resulted in three conclusions. First, more people believe in these apocalypse predictions than the researchers thought. Secondly, they found that dissociative processes are essential in creating and maintaining these beliefs. Lastly, one optimistic conclusion drawn from the results was that more scientific detail diminished superstitious beliefs, Sharps said.

Liao, one of the researchers, said that when more details are revealed, it makes reality harder to ignore.

“A lot of people, once they have the details, they no longer can rationalize the scenario,” he said.

Sharps was astounded that over half of the students bought into the hype of the apocalypse prediction.

“It’s kind of amazing actually,” he said. “That’s scary. The fact is the whole idea was based on a variety of misinterpretations.”

Psychology Department Chair Constance Jones, concurred that more research into the psychology of paranormal beliefs is vital.

“Because irrational beliefs can lead to irrational and even dangerous behavior, it is important to continue and extend this type of research,” she said.

Sharps will continue this study during the spring semester. Different students will answer the same questions except in past tense. He will then write another article and submit it to an undetermined journal. This article will include exact statistical information from the results, he said.