Countervailing Forces: Religiosity and Paranormal Belief in Italy CHRISTOPHER D. BADER Department of Sociology Chapman University JOSEPH O. BAKER Department of Sociology East Tennessee State University ANDREA MOLLE Department of Sociology Chapman University Due to the unique cultural niche inhabited by “paranormal” beliefs and experiences, social scientists have struggled to understand the relationship between religion and the paranormal. Complicating matters is the fact that extant research has primarily focused upon North America, leaving open the possible relationship between these two spheres of the supernatural in less religiously pluralistic contexts. Using data from a random, national survey of Italian citizens, we examine the nature of the relationship between religiosity and paranormal beliefs in a largely Catholic context. We find a curvilinear relationship between religiosity and paranormal beliefs among Italians, with those at the lowest and highest levels of religious participation holding lower average levels of “paranormal” belief than those with moderate religious participation. This pattern reflects how two influential social institutions, religion and science, simultaneously define the paranormal as outside of acceptable realms of inquiry and belief. Keywords: paranormal, Italy, religion. INTRODUCTION In Western cultures, the “paranormal” occupies a curious nether-region between science and religion. 1 The diverse beliefs and practices classified under the term exist simultaneously beyond the cultural boundaries of mainstream religion and those of institutional science. Concerning religion, some small, fringe groups have utilized extraterrestrials as a key component of their the- ology, such as the Raelian movement, Aetherius Society, Unarius, and the unfortunate Heaven’s Gate UFO group; however, these movements failed to generate serious followings. 2 Other para- normal subjects such as ghosts, extrasensory perception (ESP), and mysterious creatures (e.g., Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster) have also failed to reach the religious mainstream. At the same time, these beliefs also lie beyond what is recognized as valid knowledge by institutional science (Goode 2000). Due to the unique cultural niche inhabited by paranormal beliefs and experiences, social scientists have struggled to understand the relationship between religion and the paranormal. Scholars have hypothesized different relationships and many existing studies have produced seemingly contradictory results. Further complicating matters is the fact that extant research has Correspondence should be addressed to Christopher Bader, Department of Sociology, Chapman University, 1 University Drive, Orange, CA 92866, USA. E-mail: bader@chapman.edu 1 There are many other terms that may be applied to beliefs and practices outside of institutionalized religion, such as occult, New Age, esoterica, etc. We apply the term paranormal for generality and also because it overtly conveys the symbolic boundary of being “beyond” conventionality. 2 Scientology is perhaps the most successful religion to incorporate extraterrestrials, although this typically occurs only at higher levels of engagement with the religion. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion (2012) 51(4):705–720 C  2012 The Society for the Scientific Study of Religion