Can beliefs improve mental health? A dive into resilience during pandemic times in South America
The association between paranormal beliefs and mental health has been extensively investigated. Nonetheless, there has been limited opportunity to examine this association in contexts characterized by high stress and social vulnerability. This study investigates the relationship between paranormal b...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Social Sciences and Humanities Open |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590291124000809 |
| _version_ | 1827291820373049344 |
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| author | Juan-Pablo Morales Brenda E. Ryan Vince Polito Gorka Navarrete Mayte Vergara David Huepe |
| author_facet | Juan-Pablo Morales Brenda E. Ryan Vince Polito Gorka Navarrete Mayte Vergara David Huepe |
| author_sort | Juan-Pablo Morales |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The association between paranormal beliefs and mental health has been extensively investigated. Nonetheless, there has been limited opportunity to examine this association in contexts characterized by high stress and social vulnerability. This study investigates the relationship between paranormal beliefs and mental health issues, particularly anxiety, depression, and stress, amidst the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, we evaluated the impact of dealing with the pandemic on rationality and assessed the subjective perception of beliefs as coping mechanisms. One hundred sixty-three participants took part in our online self-reported study. A correlational and hierarchical regression analysis shows that paranormal beliefs positively correlate with mental illness and could be predictive of them, that does not imply a causal relation. Rather, this means that in the context of the pandemic, higher levels of paranormal beliefs were associated with higher levels of anxiety, depression, and stress symptoms. Rationality was negatively correlated with paranormal beliefs, and on the contrary, those with stronger beliefs perceived their faith as a helpful tool to cope with mental health issues. Contrary to what people consciously reported, this study showed that paranormal beliefs harmed mental health during the pandemic. We acknowledge that other variables may contribute to paranormal beliefs and mental health outcomes. Although the pandemic is now, luckily enough, something from the past, and given the transient nature of the crisis, these results could be cautiously understood under the light of other stressful scenarios such as high social challenges, like extreme poverty or severe illness. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T12:45:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0cde3e75a20a4605b19f8bc96afa1abe |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2590-2911 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T12:45:24Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Social Sciences and Humanities Open |
| spelling | doaj.art-0cde3e75a20a4605b19f8bc96afa1abe2024-04-07T04:36:42ZengElsevierSocial Sciences and Humanities Open2590-29112024-01-019100883Can beliefs improve mental health? A dive into resilience during pandemic times in South AmericaJuan-Pablo Morales0Brenda E. Ryan1Vince Polito2Gorka Navarrete3Mayte Vergara4David Huepe5Business School University of Sydney, Darlington, Australia; Facultad de Educación Psicología y Familia, Universidad Finis Terrae, Santiago, ChileUniversidad de Barcelona, Barcelona, SpainSchool of Psychological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, 2109, AustraliaCenter for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), School of Psychology, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago, ChileUniversity of Udine, Via Monsignor Pasquale Margareth 3, 33100, Udine UD, ItalyCenter for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), School of Psychology, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago, Chile; Corresponding author. Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CNSC) Diagonal las Torres 2640, Peñalolén, Santiago de ChileThe association between paranormal beliefs and mental health has been extensively investigated. Nonetheless, there has been limited opportunity to examine this association in contexts characterized by high stress and social vulnerability. This study investigates the relationship between paranormal beliefs and mental health issues, particularly anxiety, depression, and stress, amidst the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, we evaluated the impact of dealing with the pandemic on rationality and assessed the subjective perception of beliefs as coping mechanisms. One hundred sixty-three participants took part in our online self-reported study. A correlational and hierarchical regression analysis shows that paranormal beliefs positively correlate with mental illness and could be predictive of them, that does not imply a causal relation. Rather, this means that in the context of the pandemic, higher levels of paranormal beliefs were associated with higher levels of anxiety, depression, and stress symptoms. Rationality was negatively correlated with paranormal beliefs, and on the contrary, those with stronger beliefs perceived their faith as a helpful tool to cope with mental health issues. Contrary to what people consciously reported, this study showed that paranormal beliefs harmed mental health during the pandemic. We acknowledge that other variables may contribute to paranormal beliefs and mental health outcomes. Although the pandemic is now, luckily enough, something from the past, and given the transient nature of the crisis, these results could be cautiously understood under the light of other stressful scenarios such as high social challenges, like extreme poverty or severe illness.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590291124000809Paranormal beliefsDepressionStressAnxietyCOVID-19Rationality |
| spellingShingle | Juan-Pablo Morales Brenda E. Ryan Vince Polito Gorka Navarrete Mayte Vergara David Huepe Can beliefs improve mental health? A dive into resilience during pandemic times in South America Social Sciences and Humanities Open Paranormal beliefs Depression Stress Anxiety COVID-19 Rationality |
| title | Can beliefs improve mental health? A dive into resilience during pandemic times in South America |
| title_full | Can beliefs improve mental health? A dive into resilience during pandemic times in South America |
| title_fullStr | Can beliefs improve mental health? A dive into resilience during pandemic times in South America |
| title_full_unstemmed | Can beliefs improve mental health? A dive into resilience during pandemic times in South America |
| title_short | Can beliefs improve mental health? A dive into resilience during pandemic times in South America |
| title_sort | can beliefs improve mental health a dive into resilience during pandemic times in south america |
| topic | Paranormal beliefs Depression Stress Anxiety COVID-19 Rationality |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590291124000809 |
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