Superstitious Beliefs Cemented Before BirthJennifer Viegas, Discovery News
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/10/30/paranormal-superstitions.htmlOct. 30, 2009 -- The propensity to believe in paranormal phenomena and superstitions appears to arise in the womb, suggests new research.
...The findings, published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, further indicate that a reduced ability for analytical thinking may correspond with increased intuitive thinking, which has been associated with a belief in extrasensory perception (ESP), ghosts, telepathy and other paranormal phenomena.
Author Martin Voracek claims his new study's determinations "suggest (there are) biologically based, prenatally programmed influences on paranormal and superstitious beliefs."
...exposure to testosterone and other male sex hormones in the womb are thought to underlie the observed differences.
...women are much more likely to have such beliefs, which the researchers attribute to "higher intuitiveness and lower analytical thinking."
Based on the recent study, it now appears that men born with at least one feminine-associated characteristic may have greater intuitiveness as well, possibly explaining why these men, like some women, are more inclined to hold paranormal and superstitious beliefs.
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