Extraordinary Beliefs among Students in Singapore and Canada

Summary

The extent of belief in a wide variety of extraordinary phenomena was investigated among university students in a western developed country, Canada, and an eastern developing country, Singapore. A questionnaire which included 34 items on extraordinary belief (beliefs dealing with traditional religion, luck, fortune-telling, psychic phenomena, spirits, and strange sightings) was completed by 113 university students from Canada and 76 university students from Singapore. Canadian students were found to be significantly more skeptical than their Singapore peers and were particularly skeptical regarding religious beliefs and beliefs about spirits. However, both groups shared quite similar views concerning psychic and other extraordinary phenomena. Singapore students of Chinese, Indian, and Malay descent differed mainly with respect to their religious views. The results are discussed in terms of the presumed relationship between technological advancement and level of extraordinary belief.