When something strange happens in your neighborhood, who do you call? Most likely, the police, as ghosts and Ghostbusters are not real. However, that doesn’t stop people from believing in the paranormal.

According to a 2019 YouGov poll, 45% of Americans believe in ghosts. Meanwhile, a YouGov poll from 2016 found that Britons are more likely to believe in creepy spirits than in the existence of God. A nostalgic sequel, “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire,” is set to be released this month. Why do people struggle with belief in ghosts?

“It tends to be driven by two factors,” says Richard Wiseman, Professor of Public Understanding in Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire. “One is personal experience. Many claim to have experienced paranormal phenomena after losing a loved one.

“The second factor is popular media. Most experiences are easily rationally explained. For instance, phenomena like double exposures in photography used to be common but have decreased with the rise of camera phones, making ghosts less common.”

Wiseman explains that both drivers tap into various psychological traits, some universal and others unique to certain individuals.

“Humans have imaginative minds,” he says. “We seek to imagine a world free of pain and suffering, where loved ones are still present. We are creatures that seek patterns, but sometimes we overwork ourselves and see patterns that aren’t real.”

Wiseman connects belief in ghosts to creativity. For example, a 2013 study at the University of British Columbia found that people are more likely to attribute human characteristics to non-human objects, making them more likely to believe in ghosts.

“Those who believe in such phenomena typically share similar psychological traits,” Wiseman notes. “They are open-minded, creative, and excel at immersing themselves in experiences like plays and movies, identifying patterns.”

However, one can harness this inherent creativity. A study by psychologist Dr. James Horan in the 1990s found that people were more likely to believe in the paranormal when “primed,” a psychological term describing how one stimulus affects subsequent stimuli.

“He took two groups around disused movie theaters,” Wiseman elaborates. “One group was told it was an architecture tour with nothing out of the ordinary, while the other group was told it was haunted. As a result, the latter group began experiencing phenomena. Ambiguity and suggestions can influence how we perceive and report experiences. Psychics often utilize this technique.”

The power of human beliefs can shape our reality, sometimes leading to belief in foolish things like ghosts or harmful notions like conspiracy theories. Yet, Wiseman chooses to focus on the positive aspect of this phenomenon.

“When we consider great scientific achievements like landing a man on the moon or developing a coronavirus vaccine in record time, we realize the power of belief in achieving near-impossible feats. Despite sometimes being led astray by ghosts, we can achieve remarkable things through belief, even with minimal evidence. That’s the trade-off for greatness.”