Abstract

Studies on the association between religiosity and paranormal beliefs present inconsistent and contradictory findings. Drawing on the Bounded Affinity theory, the present study examined the link between religiosity and paranormal beliefs in the shrine and non-shrine visitors in Pakistan. The Centrality of Religiosity Scale (CRS) and the Assessment of Paranormal Scale (APS) were translated into the Urdu language using Brislin’s four-step translation method. Committee members had 96 percent agreement during the review of both scales. Data was collected from shrine visitors (n = 159) and non-shrine visitors (n = 141) from the Abbottabad and Haripur districts of KPK Pakistan. The findings showed that religiosity and paranormal beliefs are significantly positively associated among the total sample and non-shrine visitors but had no relationship among shrine visitors. The paranormal beliefs increased by 48 percent, with a one-unit increase in religiosity. It is inferred that religiosity and paranormality are distinct variables and cannot be used interchangeably. Two significant contributions of the present study are the portrayal of indigenous Pakistani culture and the Urdu translation of CRS and APS.