1993 00 00 Journal of Abnormal Psychology - Vol 102 No 4 - Spanos

Magazine Overview

This document is a research article published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Volume 102, Issue 4, in 1993. Titled "Close Encounters: An Examination of UFO Experiences," the article was authored by Nicholas P. Spanos, Patricia A. Cross, Kirby Dickson, and Susan C. DuBreuil. It investigates the psychological characteristics of individuals who report UFO experiences, challenging prevailing hypotheses about psychopathology and fantasy proneness.

Research Methodology and Participants

The study aimed to examine the psychopathology and fantasy-proneness hypotheses of UFO reports. It compared subjects who reported UFO experiences (UFO reporters) with two groups of non-UFO reporters: one recruited from newspaper advertisements for a personality study (community comparison group) and another consisting of introductory psychology students (student comparison group).

A total of 176 subjects participated. The UFO reporter group comprised 49 individuals (35 men, 14 women; mean age 37.2). These subjects were recruited via newspaper advertisements and were paid for their participation. They were later divided into two subgroups: UFO nonintense (n=18) and UFO intense (n=31), based on the intensity of their reported experiences.

The community comparison group consisted of 53 individuals (39 men, 14 women; mean age 30.20), recruited through a similar advertisement and paid for their time. The student comparison group comprised 74 introductory psychology students (41 men, 33 women; mean age 19.9), who received course credit.

All subjects underwent a semistructured interview to describe their UFO experiences, followed by a battery of objective inventories and tests. These assessments measured psychological well-being, intelligence, imaginal propensities, temporal lobe lability, paranormal beliefs, hypnotizability, and UFO beliefs.

Findings on Psychopathology and Intelligence

Contrary to the psychopathology hypothesis, the study found that UFO reporters did not differ from, or even scored lower on, measures of psychopathology compared to the control groups. Specifically, the groups did not differ significantly on the Magical Ideation Scale. While there were differences in other psychological health measures, the UFO groups did not exhibit poorer psychological health than the comparison groups; in fact, they scored higher on five of the psychological health variables.

Regarding intelligence, the four groups differed significantly on the Shipley Inventory of Living. The UFO nonintense group scored significantly higher than the other three groups, and the student comparison group scored higher than the community comparison group. No other significant differences in intelligence were found.

Findings on Imaginal Propensities and Temporal Lobe Lability

The study found no significant differences among the four groups in temporal lobe lability, imaginal propensities (including imagery vividness, absorption, and fantasy proneness), or hypnotizability. These findings directly contradicted the hypothesis that intense UFO experiences are primarily associated with individuals who are highly fantasy-prone, prone to paranormal beliefs, or unusually suggestible.

Experiential Differences Among UFO Reporters

UFO reporters were categorized into two groups: nonintense (scoring 0 on an intensity index, reporting simple sightings of lights or shapes) and intense (scoring 1 or higher, reporting more complex experiences). The intense UFO group reported their experiences as sleep-related significantly more often than the nonintense group (58% vs. one subject). The intense group also characterized their experiences as negative significantly more often.

Approximately 60% of intense UFO reports were associated with sleep, suggesting that UFO reports are likely to occur under conditions of ambiguous external events, interfered reality testing (due to darkness or internal states), and a belief system that makes the UFO hypothesis salient.

Correlations and Explanations

Correlations were computed between the UFO intensity index and predictor variables. The intensity index correlated significantly with Magical Ideation, Perceptual Aberration scores, the MMPI Schizophrenia subscale, Temporal lobe lability, Paranormal Experience, and fantasy proneness. These variables also intercorrelated significantly with each other.

The article suggests that intense UFO experiences are more likely to occur in individuals predisposed to esoteric beliefs, particularly alien beliefs, and who interpret unusual sensory and imaginal experiences through the framework of the alien hypothesis. The occurrence of a UFO experience likely strengthens pre-existing beliefs.

For the intense UFO group, many reports were sleep-related, involving night dreams, sleep paralysis, and hallucinations. Sleep paralysis, characterized by fear, suffocation sensations, and hallucinations, may explain why the intense group reported more negative experiences.

Discussion and Conclusion

The authors conclude that their findings fail to support the psychopathology and fantasy-proneness hypotheses. They suggest that UFO beliefs may provide individuals with meaning and security, potentially explaining lower anxiety levels. Alternatively, the findings might be influenced by self-presentation concerns, with subjects presenting themselves as well-adjusted to counter potential stigma.

The study emphasizes that while strong beliefs in alien life may prime individuals to interpret ambiguous stimuli, the occurrence of experiences like sleep paralysis, combined with a belief system that favors the extraterrestrial hypothesis, is crucial for shaping these experiences into believed-in UFO encounters.

Recurring Themes and Editorial Stance

The recurring themes in this article revolve around the psychological underpinnings of UFO experiences. The study systematically tests and largely refutes the hypotheses that UFO reporters are disturbed or unusually fantasy-prone. Instead, it highlights the role of pre-existing beliefs, particularly in alien visitation, and the influence of physiological states like sleep paralysis in shaping the nature and interpretation of UFO experiences. The editorial stance of the Journal of Abnormal Psychology, as reflected in the publication of this rigorous empirical study, appears to be one that encourages the scientific investigation of unusual phenomena, seeking psychological explanations rather than accepting sensationalist claims at face value.