BELIEF IN THE PURPOSE OF EVENTS
Information:
Beliefs that random events have a purpose or meaning overlap with paranormal (magical, supernatural,
superstitious) beliefs.
The scales include descriptions of non-intentional events that lead to personally relevant outcomes. The events
are either random, artificial, or natural, and the outcomes are negative, positive or neutral. For comparison,
there are also four statements, which describe true intentional events with positive, neutral, and negative
outcomes.
Version 1
References:
Original source of the items:
Lindeman, M. & Aarnio, K. (2007). Superstitious, magical, and paranormal beliefs: An integrative model. Journal
of Research in Personality 41, 731-744. doi: 10.1016/j.jrp.2006.06.009
Also used in:
Study 1 of:
Svedholm, A. M., Lindeman, M. & Lipsanen, J. (2010). Believing in the purpose of events – Why does it occur,
and is it supernatural? Applied Cognitive Psychology, 24, 252–265. doi: 10.1002/acp.1560
Lindeman, M., Svedholm-Häkkinen, A. M., Lipsanen, J. (2015). Ontological confusions but not mentalizing
abilities predict religious belief, paranormal belief, and belief in supernatural purpose. Cognition, 134, 63-76.
doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2014.09.008
Instructions:
"A purpose" is a word, which means that an object or an issue exists for something. It may have been planned
for a specific purpose or it may have a function or meaning. We may, for example think that a chair exists for
sitting, that the nose is for smelling and that the purpose of one's studying is to avoid failing in the exam.
Events may also have a purpose. Imagine that the following events would happen to you. What would be your
attitude about the purpose of the event?
Scale:
1= the event had no purpose
2= there was not a very clear purpose
3= something there between
4= there was some kind of purpose
5= the event clearly had a purpose
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Items:
F1. Your former boyfriend (girlfriend) kisses you in the middle of a street and you start going out again. Did the
kiss have a purpose?
F2. You get the ace of hearts from a pack of cards and win back a small amount of money, which you had
previously lost. Was there a purpose in getting the ace of hearts?
F3. You run across a formerly heart-throb abroad and you start going out together. Was there a purpose in
your encounter?
F4. You toss a coin, get heads and win a large amount of money. Was there a purpose of getting the heads?
F5. Your colleague teases you regularly, which weakens your working capability. Did the teasing have a
purpose?
F6. A stone falls on you from a scaffold and you get seriously injured. Did the falling of the stone have a
purpose?
F7. Because fog delays the departure of your plane you meet a person at the airport and become engaged after
a year. Did the fog have a purpose?
F8. A lightning strikes in the house you’re living in and you loose your home. Did the lightning strike have a
purpose?
F9. The brakes of your car fail and you crash getting seriously injured. Did the brakes fail for a purpose?
F10. An electrical fault causes a fire in your home destroying it. Did the fire have a purpose?
F11. When you play cards you get only clubs and spades and therefore run up large debts. Did you get those
cards for a purpose?
F12. You catch bacteria while travelling abroad and fall ill for a long time. Was there a purpose in getting the
germ?
F13. City traffic gets seriously jammed and you decide to start taking the tube to work. Did the traffic jam have
a purpose?
F14. You and your friends race for fun and the tallest girl wins. Did the race have a purpose?
F15. A long electricity power cut gets you and your partner to make love and after nine months a much hopedfor baby is born. Did the electricity break have a purpose?
F16. You do your utmost for a job interview and receive the job. Did the investment have a purpose?
F17. You meet an old acquaintance and you go for a coffee together. Was there a purpose of your encounter?
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F18. Because of a snow storm you have to wait for the departure of a train and you meet new people. Did the
snow storm have a purpose?
F19. Your brakes fail, causing damage to a stranger’s car. You end up marrying the stranger. Did the brakes fail
for a purpose?
F20. A lightning strike topples a big tree in your garden, but causes no other harm. Did the lightning have a
purpose?
F21. A thunder storm cuts out the electricity and you and your superior have to do a big job manually, although
the job would otherwise have taken just a while. Your superior praises your skills and later you get a raise. Did
the thunder storm have a purpose?
F22. A server fails and you cannot send or receive email for two days. Did the server fail for a purpose?
Key:
Intentional, positive: (= fillers)
F1.
F16.
Intentional, negative: (= fillers)
F5.
Intentional, neutral: (= fillers)
F14.
Random, positive
F3.
F4.
Random, negative
F6.
F11.
Random, neutral
F2.
F17.
Natural, positive
F7.
F21.
Natural, negative
F8.
3
F12.
Natural, neutral
F20.
F18.
Artificial, positive
F15.
F19.
Artificial, negative
F10.
F9.
Artificial, neutral
F13.
F22.
Version 2
Reference: modified after the items in Study 1 and used in Study 2 of:
Svedholm, A. M., Lindeman, M. & Lipsanen, J. (2010). Believing in the purpose of events – Why does it occur,
and is it supernatural? Applied Cognitive Psychology, 24, 252–265. doi: 10.1002/acp.1560
Instruction:
When something special happens, people sometimes think that the event had a purpose or the event was a
sign of something. In this study, we use the words in the following way:
An event has a purpose if you think that that it was intentionally planned by an invisible agent or force.
Imagine now that the following events would happen to you. It is important that you try to put your soul into
them. Would you think that the event had a purpose?
Scale 1 - 5 (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree)
mean score of all purpose items,  = 97
Items:
1. You were accommodated in the wrong hotel on your package trip. At the hotel you met a person whom you
got engaged to after a year. Being accommodated in the wrong hotel had a purpose.
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2. A thunderstorm caused an electricity blackout, and you needed to do a large job manually together with
your boss. The job would have taken only moments to do on a computer. Your boss thanked you for your skills,
and later you received a large raise. The thunderstorm had a purpose.
3. The relationships within your family had long been strained, but after you became seriously ill the relationships
became closer. Becoming ill had a purpose.
4. You won a large amount of money in a lottery. Winning in the lottery had a purpose.
5. A volcano erupted in Southern Europe, and dozens of people died and thousands were left homeless. The volcanic
eruption had a purpose.
6. You suddenly recovered from a very serious illness. Recovering had a purpose.
7. You got a hold of a significantly better apartment in a totally unexpected way. Getting the apartment had a
purpose.
8. An exceptionally deep recession, which affected the lives of most people, hit Finland. The recession had a purpose.
9. Your car brakes failed and you had a crash with an unknown person, who you ended up marrying later.
The brake failure had a purpose.
10. You received a promotion at your work totally unexpectedly. The promotion had a purpose.
11. An exceptionally hard drought killed hundreds of animals and people in Africa. The drought had a purpose.
12. A big traffic accident killed and injured dozens of people in Finland. The traffic accident had a purpose.
13. You caught the flu and had to stay home. During the day a water pipe broke in your building, but since you
were at home you were able to rescue all your important belongings. Catching the flu had a purpose.
14. A lethal and highly contagious disease spread to Finland. The spreading of the disease had a purpose.
15. You were in an extreme “close call” situation, and narrowly escaped from a serious accident. Escaping the
accident had a purpose.
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