ABSTRACT
From ancient times to the present day, many people have seen themselves or others as receivers of messages from the divine and departed. Seeing oneself (or another person) as the receiver of a message from beyond could have powerful effects on mood, cognition, and behavior, making this an important topic in both psychological and social terms. Drawing on a conceptual framework and data from ongoing work on supernatural attributions, this chapter will examine a wide range of psychologically relevant factors that could make perceptions of supernatural communication more or less likely. The chapter will consider dramatic cases (involving apparent violations of natural laws) along with subtle ones (focused on naturally explainable events). Predictors considered will range from relatively stable background factors (e.g. prior beliefs and experiences, socialization, psychopathology) to situational features (e.g. social cues; response to a need; meaningful match with “operating rules” of a specific supernatural agent).
