Loss of control increases belief in precognition and belief in precognition increases control.

Every year thousands of dollars are spent on psychics who claim to "know" the future. The present research questions why, despite no evidence that humans are able to psychically predict the future, do people persist in holding irrational beliefs about precognition? We argue that believing...

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Autores principales:	Katharine H Greenaway, Winnifred R Louis, Matthew J Hornsey
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2013
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/9ca2077ec5874c5397693043483f4bea
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:9ca2077ec5874c5397693043483f4bea2021-11-18T09:00:44ZLoss of control increases belief in precognition and belief in precognition increases control.1932-620310.1371/journal.pone.0071327https://doaj.org/article/9ca2077ec5874c5397693043483f4bea2013-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/23951136/pdf/?tool=EBIhttps://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203Every year thousands of dollars are spent on psychics who claim to "know" the future. The present research questions why, despite no evidence that humans are able to psychically predict the future, do people persist in holding irrational beliefs about precognition? We argue that believing the future is predictable increases one's own perceived ability to exert control over future events. As a result, belief in precognition should be particularly strong when people most desire control-that is, when they lack it. In Experiment 1 (N = 87), people who were experimentally induced to feel low in control reported greater belief in precognition than people who felt high in control. Experiment 2 (N = 53) investigated whether belief in precognition increases perceived control. Consistent with this notion, providing scientific evidence that precognition is possible increased feelings of control relative to providing scientific evidence that precognition was not possible. Experiment 3 (N = 132) revealed that when control is low, believing in precognition helps people to feel in control once more. Prediction therefore acts as a compensatory mechanism in times of low control. The present research provides new insights into the psychological functions of seemingly irrational beliefs, like belief in psychic abilities.Katharine H GreenawayWinnifred R LouisMatthew J HornseyPublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleMedicineRScienceQENPLoS ONE, Vol 8, Iss 8, p e71327 (2013)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Katharine H Greenaway Winnifred R Louis Matthew J Hornsey Loss of control increases belief in precognition and belief in precognition increases control.
description	Every year thousands of dollars are spent on psychics who claim to "know" the future. The present research questions why, despite no evidence that humans are able to psychically predict the future, do people persist in holding irrational beliefs about precognition? We argue that believing the future is predictable increases one's own perceived ability to exert control over future events. As a result, belief in precognition should be particularly strong when people most desire control-that is, when they lack it. In Experiment 1 (N = 87), people who were experimentally induced to feel low in control reported greater belief in precognition than people who felt high in control. Experiment 2 (N = 53) investigated whether belief in precognition increases perceived control. Consistent with this notion, providing scientific evidence that precognition is possible increased feelings of control relative to providing scientific evidence that precognition was not possible. Experiment 3 (N = 132) revealed that when control is low, believing in precognition helps people to feel in control once more. Prediction therefore acts as a compensatory mechanism in times of low control. The present research provides new insights into the psychological functions of seemingly irrational beliefs, like belief in psychic abilities.
format	article
author	Katharine H Greenaway Winnifred R Louis Matthew J Hornsey
author_facet	Katharine H Greenaway Winnifred R Louis Matthew J Hornsey
author_sort	Katharine H Greenaway
title	Loss of control increases belief in precognition and belief in precognition increases control.
title_short	Loss of control increases belief in precognition and belief in precognition increases control.
title_full	Loss of control increases belief in precognition and belief in precognition increases control.
title_fullStr	Loss of control increases belief in precognition and belief in precognition increases control.
title_full_unstemmed	Loss of control increases belief in precognition and belief in precognition increases control.
title_sort	loss of control increases belief in precognition and belief in precognition increases control.
publisher	Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate	2013
url	https://doaj.org/article/9ca2077ec5874c5397693043483f4bea
work_keys_str_mv	AT katharinehgreenaway lossofcontrolincreasesbeliefinprecognitionandbeliefinprecognitionincreasescontrol AT winnifredrlouis lossofcontrolincreasesbeliefinprecognitionandbeliefinprecognitionincreasescontrol AT matthewjhornsey lossofcontrolincreasesbeliefinprecognitionandbeliefinprecognitionincreasescontrol
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Loss of control increases belief in precognition and belief in precognition increases control.

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