DEVELOPMENT AND PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF PSI BELIEF AND EXPERIENCE SCALE (PBES) IN PAKISTANI SOCIO-CULTURAL CONTEXT
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Abstract
Psi phenomena refer to a range of beliefs and experiences that appear to involve knowledge, perception, or influence beyond existing known physical or sensory mechanisms. Experiences such as precognition, telepathy, psychokinesis, psychic healing and clairvoyance, have been documented across diverse cultures. Psi phenomena continue to attract scientific and psychological interest but no culturally appropriate and psychometrically validated indigenous instrument is available to assess psi beliefs and experiences among Pakistani adults. These experiences continue to be reported by many individuals and represent a significant area of investigation in mental and psychological research. However, the absence of culturally applicable assessment tools limits systematic research in non-western populations. Therefore, the present study aimed to develop and validate an indigenous measure of psi phenomena to examine its preliminary psychiatric properties. The Psi Belief and Experience Scale (PBES) were developed through focused group discussions and extensive literature review exploring indigenous conceptualization of psi phenomena. An initial pool of 41 items was generated and evaluated by subject matter experts. After expert review and pilot testing 37 items were retained, data were collected from 599 adults (262 males and 337 females) using purposive sampling. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) yielded a three-factor structure reducing the scale to 32 items. Sampling adequacy was (KMO = .904), Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity was significant, (p<.001), and three factor solution comprising 32 items, accounting 50.94% of the total variance and an excellent internal consistency (Cronbach’s α=.904). Three factors including: .psi beliefs and experiences, openness to psi phenomena, and media based psi exposure, reflecting both experiential and contemporary social cultural dimensions of psi. The finding suggested that the PBES is a reliable and culturally grounded instrument for assessing psi beliefs and experiences in Pakistani adults and might facilitate future research on parapsychology, spirituality, and consciousness.
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