Impact of the seductive allure effect and trappings of science on perceptions of paranormal and pseudoscientific research

Despite concerns proponents of the paranormal misuse scientific concepts to justify their claims, few studies have assessed the influence of these misuses. Here we examined the role of the "seductive allure effect," which often shows neuroscience-related content to exert greater influence than content from other scientific fields, by assessing whether it would impact how people respond to brief summaries of paranormal research. We also examined whether any trappings of science would elicit a similar effect. We found content depicting neuroscientific methods elicited greater perceptions of paranormal research as scientific and greater belief compared to content depicting traditional spiritualist practices. Summaries of psychological or pseudoscientific research procedures with the trappings of science, however, did not demonstrate any significant influence on paranormal belief or perceptions of paranormal research. These results show the seductive allure effect can impact how paranormal research is perceived and can influence belief.