Scientist reveals 3 psychological factors that make believers more likely to see ghosts
Psychologist Melissa Maffeo explores three psychological factors that may lead individuals to perceive ghostly encounters. Her research suggests that environmental stimuli, disembodiment, and certain personality traits can influence these experiences. While she does not confirm the existence of ghosts, Maffeo highlights how the brain can misinterpret external cues.
- ▪One in five American adults claims to have seen a ghost, according to the Pew Research Center.
- ▪Maffeo identifies environmental stimuli, such as electromagnetic fields and infrasound, as potential contributors to ghost sightings.
- ▪Disruptions in the brain's temporoparietal junction can lead to misinterpretations of sensations, which may be perceived as paranormal experiences.
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| Original publisher | New York Post |
| Canonical URL | https://nypost.com/2026/06/01/science/3-psychological-factors-make-people-more-likely-to-see-ghosts/ |
| Publication time | Mon, 01 Jun 2026 11:17:04 -0400 |
| Retrieval time | 2026-06-01T15:32:56.197Z |
| Last seen | 2026-06-01T15:34:13.037Z |
| Headline source | Publisher (no WeSearch rewrite) |
| Excerpt source | publisher body |
| Excerpt method | First ~120 words (~800 chars) of extracted publisher body, fair-use limited. |
| Summary | WeSearch · cerebras-chat (WeSearch summarizer) |
| Summary source text | contentText |
| Citation coverage | Summary is a WeSearch-generated derivative; primary citation is the original publisher URL. |
| Cluster | 9IvWaOIom1YV |
| Cluster logic | Grouped by semantic title/content similarity across sources within a rolling window. Same-publisher template collisions are excluded from coverage comparison. |
| Ranking reason | Story pages are not engagement-ranked. Hub feeds use recency, with optional source-diversified chronological ordering (cap consecutive stories per source). No personalized ranking. |
| Publisher visit | Yes — open original |
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| AI summary | May WeSearch generate its own short summary of the article? | Limited |
| Retrieval / RAG | May the content be exposed for third-party retrieval-augmented generation? | Not asserted |
| Model training | May the content be used to train AI models? | Not asserted |
| Commercial reuse | May the content be reused commercially? | Not permitted |
Basis: Derived from the published RSS/Atom feed. Contact: [email protected]. Reviewed: 2026-07-24.
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Science Scientist reveals 3 psychological factors that make believers more likely to see ghosts By Reda Wigle Published June 1, 2026, 11:17 a.m. ET See more of our coverage in your search results. Add The New York Post on Google Hardwired for weird? Scientists say a holy trinity of conditions makes ghost sightings more probable. One in five American adults says they’ve seen or been in the presence of a ghost, according to the Pew Research Center, and about 29 percent say they have felt in touch with someone who has already died. In her new book, “Science of the Supernatural,” psychologist Melissa Maffeo argues that such supposed hauntings could be the brain misinterpreting the external world.
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