Discussion post I submitted for my Atlantic University TP6100 Course – January 14, 2020.
One important trait identified in course materials as to whether an individual will have an enhanced psychic experience is directly related to if that person is a believer or a skeptic. This is known as the “Sheep-Goat Effect,” which Auerbach notes is “related to belief as an indicator for the way one will score in a psi test (believers, or sheep, having a tendency to score above chance, and nonbelievers, or goats, tending to psi miss more often)” (1986, p. 13).
The context which Auerbach was referring to the Sheep-Goat Effect was related to predicting who was likely to score better in psi experiments by using these different traits but the same can be said for the non-experimental psychic phenomenon. Obviously, if you’re a hardened skeptic, you’ll attempt to rationalize away a burning bush encounter as possibly caused by a dumpster fire, whereas if you’re inclined to believe in psi, you’ll see it as a sign from God. Irwin & Watt flesh out additional traits of what a “sheep” may possess when it comes to psi acceptance and experience. They note they “generally tended to recall their dreams, to analyze their dreams, to have lucid dreams, to have had a moving spiritual or transcendental experience, to have consulted a psychic, to have a positive attitude toward parapsychological research, to place some credence in astrology, [and] to belive in reincarnation…” (2007, p. 31).
One trait I found counterintuitive is Auerbach’s notion that extroverts not introverts tend to do better with “psi tasks.” He posits that this “may be a result of extroverts being more willing to take chances on unusual perceptions, or that introverts internalize the input from psi, never noticing it as ‘different’ from other perceptions” (2004, p.2).
My anecdotal experience with psychics and mediums over the past 12-years is that they tend to be introverts. As actors and musicians, when they’re performing or leading a conference, they appear to be very gregarious and outgoing but when you speak with them one-on-one you get a sense of shyness. As a group, I’ve also found them to be empaths, which may be different than being extroverted or introverted, although I’ve always felt they belonged more in the latter category as one who shares some of this quality. Of course, I don’t have nearly enough data points and my information is purely anecdotal, so a more rigorous parapsychology study is in order before definitive conclusions can be drawn!
If you move from Extrovert versus Introvert to the 2nd element of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), which is Feeling versus Thinking, Richards, citing a Honorton et al. 1986 study, points out Feelers do better with psi than the Thinkers. “Feeling types exhibited strong ESP performed; Thinking types scored at chance,” Richards notes (1996, p. 236). My sense that introverts would do better than extroverts in psi could be related to a false belief that introverts are also likely to be feelers as opposed to thinkers. This is based largely on the fact that I lean both to the introvert and feeling sides of the MBTI scale. Clearly there are introverts that are thinkers and extroverts who are feelers so it may be back to the drawing for me on the influence these traits have regarding psychic experience.
References
Auerbach, L. (2004). Hauntings & poltergeists. Berkeley, CA: Ronin Publishing.
Richards, D. (1996). “Boundaries in the mind and subjective interpersonal psi.” The Journal of Parapsychology, 60, pp. 227-240.
Irwin H. & Watt, C. (2007). An introduction to parapsychology. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc.