Paranormal and alternative health beliefs as quasi-beliefs : implications for item content in paranormal belief questionnaires

This study examined whether complementary and alternative medical (CAM) beliefs, and other anomalous beliefs, exhibit the characteristics of quasi-beliefs, whereby participants profess strong belief in the popular expression of a topic, known as the primary item (e.g., the Bermuda triangle 'mystery') but disagree with related items and/or the putative "cause" of the topic, known as secondary items (e.g., people mysteriously disappearing, never to be seen again). A set of items in the form of a survey referring to 11 anomalous and CAM topics was administered to 412 participants, and results confirmed that participants who are strong believers in the primary items display an erratic pattern of approval towards secondary items. Most frequently, participants strongly approve of the primary item but disagree to the likelihood of all secondary items, which is evidence that many anomalous and CAM topics possess quasi-belief status. Potential reasons for participants' responses, and the implications of quasi-belief items in standard questionnaire items, are discussed.