Supporting the Existence of Paranormal Phenomena: A Reasoned-Action Dataset on Paranormal Experiences, Self-Identification, and Spiritual Identity

Dataset overview This dataset contains data from a quantitative survey conducted in France in 2019 (N = 787) on the intention to support the existence of paranormal phenomena during a discussion. The questionnaire was developed within a reasoned-action framework and includes past paranormal experiences, subjective knowledge, behavioral intention, attitude, descriptive and injunctive norms, expected-benefit beliefs, self-identification in relation to paranormal belief, and indicators of spiritual identity. Dataset content The dataset contains measures of past paranormal experiences, two behavioral-intention items, subjective knowledge, attitude, descriptive and injunctive norms, and thirteen beliefs concerning the expected consequences of supporting the existence of paranormal phenomena. It also includes a self-typification item (“I am the type of person who would support the existence of paranormal phenomena”) and a separate self-identification item concerning belief in paranormal phenomena. Six additional items provide indicators of identity in terms of spirituality. These indicators concern the importance of spirituality and self-descriptions related to spiritual or supernatural beliefs and should be distinguished conceptually from paranormal-belief self-identification. The dataset also contains sociodemographic variables, an open-text comment field, and questionnaire completion time. Most scale-based items use seven response categories. Documentation and reuse Version 2.0 adds an English-language codebook documenting the variables, their conceptual blocks, questionnaire wording, response formats, coding, and interpretation. In particular, the codebook distinguishes paranormal-belief self-identification from the six spiritual-identity indicators. The dataset can be reused for research on reasoned-action models, paranormal beliefs and experiences, subjective knowledge, social norms, self-identification, and spiritual identity. Its simultaneous measurement of behavioral intention and self-typification also makes it suitable for examining alternative interpretations of the relationship between intention and self-identity, including whether self-identity contributes explanatory information beyond intention or partly reflects manifest behavioral intention. Because the study is cross-sectional, these data are appropriate for testing associations, measurement models, competing statistical specifications, and hypotheses for subsequent research, but they do not establish causal relationships. Data were collected using a convenience/network sampling strategy. The sample should therefore not be interpreted as representative of the French population. Data collection: 2019, France.Sample size: N = 787.License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).