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Coincidences, Intuition, and Spirituality

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Coincidences, Intuition, and Spirituality Coincidences, Intuition, and Spirituality Sheryl Attig, PhD, MTS; Gary E. Schwartz, PhD; Aurelio Jose Figueredo, PhD; W. Jake Jacobs, PhD; and K.C. Bryson, MSPH ntuition is an elusive phenomenon. There is still much to understand about Iit, such as what causes one person to be more intuitive than another. Is it something an individual is born with or something an individual must learn? What is known is that intuition is a way of perceiving the world that is fast, automatic, associative, and separate from reason. In its most ex- treme form, intuition is a psychic ability, a sixth sense. It occurs immediately, has an emotional aspect to it, and the individual experiencing it may not be conscious of it or be able to use language to describe the experience. Intuition is one means by which “weird” coincidences may be un- © iStockphoto.com derstood, yet little is understood about the relationship between them. Intuitive people report paranormal (telepathic experiences concerning other beliefs, experiences, and abilities1 — a people) of the WCS-2 and the faith in in- “…dissolution of the limits usually per- tuition factor on the Rational-Experiential Sheryl Attig, PhD, MTS, is Instructor of Psychol- ceived between the body and the exterior Inventory-R (RREI).6 They also report the ogy, TriCounty Technical College, Pendleton, SC. space”2 — and are more likely to endorse agentic factor (weird coincidences in work Gary E. Schwartz, PhD, is Professor of Psychology, a metaphysical worldview.3 In weird co- and education) positively correlated with Medicine, Neurology, Psychiatry, and Surgery, incidences, a concept fi rst proposed by faith in intuition.6 Similarly, those having The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ. Aurelio Coleman and Beitman,4 people appear to paranormal experiences appear to be high Jose Figueredo, PhD, is Professor of Psychology, blend external and internal experiences in in intuition as measured by the Meyers- The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ. W. Jake their thoughts, sensations, and/or feelings. Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI).7 Intuitive Jacobs, PhD, is Professor of Psychology, The Uni- Those with paranormal beliefs may, how- people report the ability to physically feel versity of Arizona, Tucson, AZ. K.C. Bryson, MSPH, ever, overestimate how often they experi- what others feel at a distance, a type of is Research Analyst, TriCounty Technical College. ence weird coincidences because they tend weird coincidence measured by the WCS- Address correspondence to: Sheryl Attig, PhD, to overestimate the occurrence of unusual 2 (simulpathity).2 MTS, TriCounty Technical College, P.O. Box 587, things according to random probabilities.5 The purpose of this study is to explore Pendleton, SC 29670; fax: 864-646-1898; email: The Weird Coincidence Scale-2 (WCS- correlates between weird coincidences [email protected]. 2) measures how often people experience and intuition. This research is the result Drs. Attig, Schwartz, Figueredo, and Jacobs, weird coincidences and how they interpret of a substudy based on initial research and Ms. Bryson have disclosed no relevant fi nan- the meaning of these experiences. Coleman for a doctoral dissertation for which we cial relationships. and Beitman6 found a signifi cant, positive created a structural equation model to doi: 10.3928/00485713-20111104-08 correlation between the interpersonal factor understand how intuition contributes to PSYCHIATRIC ANNALS 41:12 | DECEMBER 2011 PsychiatricAnnalsOnline.com | e1 PPSYCH1211Attig-olo.inddSYCH1211Attig-olo.indd ee11 112/9/20112/9/2011 88:27:56:27:56 AAMM TABLE. correlated signifi cantly with intuition as Bivariate Correlations between Scores measured by the AIS (0.57, P < .01) and the RREI (0.52, P < .01). The correlations WCS-2_A WCS-2_I WCS-2_AI among three factors of the WCS-2 were Attig Information Scale 0.480** 0.627** 0.570** positive and signifi cant: WCS-2_A and MBTI Sensing Intuition 0.195* 0.082 0.116 WCS-2_I (0.54, P < .01); WCS-2_A and RREI Experiential 0.257** 0.163 0.518** WCS-2_AI (0.51, P < .01); and WCS-2_I WCS-2 Agentic (WCS-2_A) 1 0.544** 0.509** and WCS-2_AI (0.45, P < .01). WCS-2 Interpersonal (WCS-2_I) --- 1 0.405** WCS-2 Analysis/Interpretation (WCS-2_AI) --- --- 1 DISCUSSION * P < .05, **P < .01, n = 122. We predicted a correlation between ex- Source: Attig S. Reprinted with permission. periences of weird coincidences and intu- spiritual experience, spiritual belief, and ships by way of insight, and knowledge ition because intuitive people are more ful- religiousness, and to test hypotheses coming through hunches (eg, “Would you ly present in the moment and attend to their about these relationships.8 rather be considered a practical person or an own emotions and those of others; as such, We expected weird coincidences to be ingenious person?”). Coeffi cient alpha reli- they would be more likely to notice weird part of a spiritual experience construct and ability was 0.89. coincidences. All three factors of the WCS- the analysis and interpretation of weird co- The Attig Intuition Scale (AIS)8 as- 2 correlated signifi cantly with the AIS, incidences to be part of a spiritual belief sessed three factors of intuition: premoni- confi rming the original prediction. The oc- construct. Instead, we found that experi- tions/psychic tendencies; intuition about currence of weird experiences (WCS-2_A, ences of weird coincidences were more others; and intuitive decision-making. Co- WCS-2_I) correlated most strongly with strongly related to intuition as defi ned by effi cient alpha reliability was 0.89. the AIS and, as a result, combined with it to our structural equation model. form the construct of intuition in the struc- The Weird Coincidence Scale tural equation model. Initially, we assumed METHODS Participants completed the Weird Co- that weird coincidences are a type of spiri- Participants incidence Scale (WCS),11 but only those tual experience because many fi nd spiritual A sample of 123 undergraduate students items retained for WCS-24 were used in meaning in weird coincidences, but empiri- participated in this study; 71.5% were fe- scoring. This scale assesses how often cally, weird coincidences fi t within the in- male and 28.5% were male, ranging in age participants experience meaningful coin- tuition construct. They were not a spiritual from 18 to 49 years with an average age of cidences and how the items are interpreted experience in and of themselves. Noticing 23 years. Among the participants, 63.4% and analyzed for meaning and is made up weird coincidences is part of being intui- described themselves as white; 15.5% as of: the interpersonal subscale (WCS-2_I); tive; being intuitive leads to spiritual expe- Hispanic; 6.5% as Asian/Pacifi c Islander; the agentic subscale (WCS-2_A); and the rience. Whether being intuitive encourages 6.5% as mixed ethnicity; 4.1% as Ameri- analysis/interpretation subscale (WCS-2_ more spiritual experiences or just the notic- can Indian/Alaskan Native; and 4.1% as AI). Coeffi cient alpha reliability was 0.76 ing of them is unclear. Spiritual experience black. Forty-one described themselves as for the agentic subscale, 0.77 for the inter- led to spiritual belief in the structural equa- Christians; 34 as Catholic; 17 as agnostic; personal subscale, and 0.76 for the analy- tion model. Part of what made up spiritual 12 as Jewish; and 27 identifi ed a variety of sis/interpretation subscale. belief in the model was the belief that weird other belief systems. coincidences are meaningful (WCS-2_AI). RESULTS The experience of weird coincidences MEASURES Correlations appears primary; the belief that they are Intuition Scales The Table provides the obtained cor- meaningful is secondary. The RREI9 includes both rational relations between measures. The WCS-2 The experience of weird coincidences and experiential (intuitive) ability and agentic factor correlated signifi cantly with was part of the intuition construct partly engagement subscales (eg, “I believe in intuition as measured by AIS (0.48, P < because of an overlap of assessment items. trusting my hunches”). Coeffi cient alpha .01), MBTI (.20, p < .05), and RREI (0.26, The AIS and the WCS-2 Analysis and In- reliability was 0.92. P < .01). The WCS-2 interpersonal fac- terpretation factors scales assess intuitive The Meyers-Briggs Type Instrument tor correlated signifi cantly with intuition social skills and decision-making not guid- (MBTI) Form M10 assessed intuition de- as measured by the AIS (0.63, P < .01). ed by analytical thought. Intuitive people fi ned as perception of possibilities, relation- The WCS-2 analysis/interpretation factor may notice more details of their external e2 | PsychiatricAnnalsOnline.com PSYCHIATRIC ANNALS 41:12 | DECEMBER 2011 PPSYCH1211Attig-olo.inddSYCH1211Attig-olo.indd ee22 112/9/20112/9/2011 88:28:00:28:00 AAMM and internal experience and read people their study,6 it is not clear why intuition and vid Dif. 1999;27(5):821-830. better, giving them more material in which weird coincidences of the interpersonal 2. Petitmengin-Peugeot C. The Intuitive Ex- perience. Journal of Consciousness Studies. to fi nd weird coincidences. type do not relate in this study. 1999;6(2-3):43-77. Not every measure of intuition corre- 3. Zusne L, Jones WH. Anomalistic Psychology: sponded closely to the WCS-2. The MBTI FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS A Study of Magical Thinking. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 1989. intuition measure correlated only with the This research was limited to undergrad- 4. Coleman S, Beitman BD. Weird Coinci- agentic factor of the WCS-2, and did so uate students, most of whom were rela- dences Commonly Occur. Psychiatr Ann. weakly. The agentic factor is about weird tively young. Also, most of this population 2009;39(5):271-279. Available online at: www.psychiatricannalsonline.com/view.
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