Psychological research in cyberspace: the role of interest, group adherence and knowledge in accepting ufological beliefs
This research aims to identify the differential patterns of beliefs shared by people who are taking part or not in ufological research groups. The variables studied for their influence on the belief in UFOs and aliens were degree of knowledge, interest taken in research and adherence to ufological g...
| Autores: | , , |
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| Formato: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2006 |
| País: | Brasil |
| Recursos: | Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR) |
| Repositorio: | Revista Interação em Psicologia (Online) |
| Idioma: | portugués |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:ojs.pkp.sfu.ca:article/7696 |
| Acesso em linha: | https://revistas.ufpr.br/psicologia/article/view/7696 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palavra-chave: | shared beliefs ufology aliens knowledge crenças compartilhadas ufologia extraterrestres conhecimento |
| Resumo: | This research aims to identify the differential patterns of beliefs shared by people who are taking part or not in ufological research groups. The variables studied for their influence on the belief in UFOs and aliens were degree of knowledge, interest taken in research and adherence to ufological groups, as well as religion, age, gender and education. The items in the questionnaire were arranged in five groups of beliefs, in accordance with the level of similarity displayed by them: aliens and humankind; alien interference on the Planet Earth; aliens and humans; aliens, science and scientists; conspiracy theories. The questionnaire was made available on-line and, by the date of writing the present paper, 617 people completed it. Results point to a differential adherence pattern, which means that participants with a deeper knowledge, interest, and linked to research groups tend to embrace the beliefs of other participants more faithfully than participants with dissimilar behavior. Additional analyses seem to indicate that the variables participation, adherence and level of knowledge help to explain the variability in accepting each of the beliefs. Keywords: shared beliefs; ufology; aliens; knowledge. |
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