Scientist reveals 3 psychological factors that make believers more likely to see ghosts

Hardwired for weird? Scientists say a holy trinity of conditions makes ghost sightings more probable.One in five American adults says they’ve seen or been in the presence of a ghost, according to the Pew Research Center, and about 29 percent say they have felt in touch with someone who has already died.In her new book, “Science of the Supernatural,” psychologist Melissa Maffeo argues that such supposed hauntings could be the brain misinterpreting the external world.

Reporting for Livescience, Maffeo, who does not definitively say whether ghosts exist, lists three factors that can contribute to our perception of the paranormal.Devices that measure electrical or magnetic activity or EMFs are ubiquitous among ghost hunters.While there is no concrete evidence that humans can sense EMF in their environments, studies have shown that EMF levels fluctuate more in “haunted” areas.Further, some experts maintain that high electromagnetic fields can influence temporal lobe activity, triggering strange sensations, time distortions, and hallucinations, leading people to believe that they are in the presence of ghosts.Meanwhile, infrasound, very low-frequency sound below 20 hertz that humans typically can’t hear, has been shown to cause increased irritability and higher cortisol levels.“People might unknowingly be detecting changes in environmental stimuli, like electromagnetic fields.

The question then becomes: Did the ghost cause the EMF, or did the EMF cause the ghost?” Maffeo told Live Science.A 2009 study that created a “haunted house” by manipulating EMFs and infrasound found that the paranormal sensations reported by participants, including dizziness, the presence of ghosts, and disassociation, did not correspond to the environmental conditions.

Moreover, those who derived peculiar experiences were the same who self-reported a strong belief in the paranormal.“On the one hand, there is a correlation between reportedly haunted places and EMF variabi...