Belief In The Paranormal: Sheep-Goat Studies

According to surveys female respondents are highly believers (sheep) of the paranormal than that of the males (goats). It also shows that Generation Z (2000-up to present) scored high level of belief in the paranormal among other generations, while the Millenials (1981-2000) are labeled goat for they scored high as non-believers. Moreover, respondents from the rural area scored high in believing on paranormal than those who live in the urban. Also, high school graduate respondents were labeled as Sheep (believers of the paranormal) for they scored high among other type of respondents, on the other hand, respondents who graduated elementary scored high on a goat (non-believers of the paranormal). And lastly, other types of religions except those that are mentioned above scored high on sheep, while Iglesia Ni Cristo scored high on Goat or the non-believers of the paranormal. Overall, there are more sheeps (believers of the paranormal) than goats (non-believers of the paranormal).

A high number of females that labeled as sheep or the believers of the paranormal was supported by the statement of Chapman University (2017), meanwhile, belief on supernatural and its similar categories like witchcraft, superstition, precognition, spiritualism are also high in women but they are less believer in extra-terrestrial beings than men. Regarding the age of the respondents, it contradicts the literature that the rise of Justin Bieber’s popularity makes the millennials believe more on the paranormal, moreover, it does not support the assertion that Gen Z are mostly not believers of the paranormal while older people have a strong belief when it comes to supernatural is also against the result of the study.

Chapman University (2017) also stated that people who live in the rural area tend to believe in the paranormal than those who are living in the urbanized side of the country, therefore, it supports the result of the study. Moreover, a contradiction between the result of the study and the statement that people who have a lower level of education are highly believers of the paranormal was also observed. Meanwhile, Iglesia ni Cristo who scored as the most non-believer of the paranormal was supported by the statement that they only believe in God who created the universe itself. Filipinos specifically Batangueños are mostly believers of the paranormal regardless of their profiles. This kind of belief was the basis of a Filipino culture and how he/she decides for his/her life that is rooted in their culture. Furthermore, even before the Spaniards came, early Filipinos are polytheistic, an example is they believe in Anitos, Bathala and many more. Additionally, an ethnic group of Aetas, one of the early settlers in the Philippines, shares the same belief with modern day Filipinos when it comes to paranormal.

To sum up, female respondents are mostly believers of the paranormal and was labeled as sheep. Surprisingly, Generation Z (2000-up to present) scored high on believing the thought of paranormal and is against the literature of Brean, 2018 and Morrow, 2018, this belief is caused by the society and the rise of curiousness when it comes to the notion “what happens after we die. ” Rural areas who have little access on modern knowledge, medicine and technology have a high level of belief on paranormal thus supported by the notion of Alimen (2016) that Filipinos were affected by the existence of local medical practitioners whenever they can’t afford to go to the hospital. In this study, it shows that those who only graduated elementary are not believers of the paranormal thus contradicts the assertion of Prooijen. And lastly, involving one’s self on different religious activities and organizations plays a role in believing to the supernatural phenomena that science can’t explain, moreover because of believing only to the God Almighty and disregarding some paranormal entities, can be a vital role in having a low level of supernatural belief. Generally speaking, Batangueños are mostly believers of the paranormal regardless of their profiles and position in the society.