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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 15, 2026

Creating Virtual-hand and Virtual-face Illusions to Investigate Self-representation

Creating Virtual-hand and Virtual-face Illusions to Investigate Self-representation

Published on: March 1, 2017

Ghosts, UFOs, and magic: positive affect and the experiential system.

Laura A King¹, Chad M Burton, Joshua A Hicks

¹Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO 65211, USA. kingla@missouri.edu

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

|May 9, 2007

Summary

Positive affect (PA) enhances reliance on the experiential system, increasing superstitious beliefs and sympathetic magic. This suggests mood influences how we process information and form nonrational beliefs.

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jul 15, 2026

Creating Virtual-hand and Virtual-face Illusions to Investigate Self-representation

Creating Virtual-hand and Virtual-face Illusions to Investigate Self-representation

Published on: March 1, 2017

Area of Science:

Psychology
Cognitive Science
Social Psychology

Background:

Superstitious beliefs and sympathetic magic are common but not fully understood.
The role of emotional states in nonrational cognition requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

To examine the interaction between the experiential system and positive affect (PA) in predicting superstitious beliefs.
To investigate how PA influences susceptibility to sympathetic magic, including the law of similarity and contagion.

Main Methods:

Three studies were conducted involving induced and naturally occurring positive affect.
Participants' experiential system processing and belief in paranormal phenomena or sympathetic magic were measured.
Specific tasks included belief in UFO/ghost videos, difficulty with a dart-throwing task (law of similarity), and social distancing (law of contagion).

Main Results:

Experientiality and positive affect interacted to predict belief in paranormal phenomena.
Positive affect and experientiality predicted susceptibility to sympathetic magic, demonstrating the law of similarity and contagion.
Results indicate that positive affect promotes experiential processing.

Conclusions:

Positive affect appears to enhance reliance on the experiential system.
This interaction has implications for understanding the psychology of nonrational beliefs and behaviors.
Mood significantly influences cognitive processing and the formation of nonrational beliefs.