Unbounded Affinity: Religiosity and the Paranormal in the United Kingdom

ABSTRACT Using a national sample of adults living in the United Kingdom, we examine the connections between conventional forms of religiosity—such as supernatural beliefs, intensive experiences, and religious practices and salience—and paranormalism, including both paranormal beliefs and experiences. Extending bounded affinity theory, we find that religious beliefs and experiences are significantly and positively related to paranormalism, while religious practice and salience are significantly and negatively related to paranormalism. Further, there is a consequential moderation effect between religious practices and salience interacting with religious beliefs and experiences for predicting levels of paranormalism. Specifically, among individuals who are low in conventional religious practice and salience, religious supernatural beliefs and experiences have a much stronger positive relationship with paranormalism, compared to an attenuated correlation among individuals with higher levels of conventional religious commitment. Overall, this study supports and extends bounded affinity theory by documenting the continued popularity of paranormalism, even within relatively secularized populations.