Ghosts 'more likely to be male' claims study

[Elements of the Eternal Soul]

Ghosts 'more likely to be male' claims study
Posted on Thursday, 30 July, 2015



The paranormal has been extensively studied over the centuries. Image Credit: sxc.hu
Research involving an analysis of 337 ghost sighting cases has suggested that most ghosts are male.
The findings, which were based on a study conducted in the 1980s by Icelandic psychologist Dr. Erlendur Haraldsson, also suggested that a large portion of ghost sightings appeared to relate to people who had suffered a violent demise.

Dr. Haraldsson interviewed hundreds of witnesses for the study and checked official records to determine the exact cause of death in each of the cases.

"Personal encounters with the dead are reported by 25% of Western Europeans and 30% of Americans," he wrote in his paper entitled 'Close Encounters with the Dead'.

"Disproportionately prominent were apparitions of those who died violently and crisis apparitions observed close to the time of death of the person who was perceived, although in the majority of cases, the percipient did not know that the person had died."

Haraldsson's research suggested that the ghost of a person who had died violently was more likely to appear to a complete stranger while the ghost of someone who had died of natural causes was more likely to appear to close friends and family members.

"Reported mode of death and the identity of the deceased persons were verified by checking official records," he wrote. "A fair number of collective experiences were reported, some of which were verified by other witnesses."

Dr. Haraldsson's full study can be viewed as a PDF - here.

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1648279-ghosts-most-likely-to-be-males-whove-died-violently-study/

[Elements of the Eternal Soul]

‘Ghosts’ Most Likely to Be Males Who’ve Died Violently: Study
By Tara MacIsaac, Epoch Times | July 28, 2015




In a study of 337 cases of people who have reported encounters with the dead, many of the apparitions were of people who have died violently, particularly males. If the apparition was of someone who died violently, it was more likely to appear to a stranger. On the other hand, apparitions of people who died naturally were more likely to appear to a friend or family member.

Dr. Erlendur Haraldsson, a psychologist at the University of Iceland, investigated the cases in the 1980s by conducting interviews with the people who reported the encounters, as well as any other witnesses. He also checked official records to verify the details of death for the apparitions. The cases he studied were all from Iceland, but he cites other research in his study that shows encounters with the dead are reported by as many as 25 percent of Western Europeans and 30 percent of Americans.
Encounters with the dead are reported by as many as 25 percent of Western Europeans and 30 percent of Americans.

Dr. Haraldsson wrote: “Unexpectedly, the apparitions were predominantly male (67 percent). This surprising dominance of males is remarkably uniform in the experiences of both male and female experiencers. It confirms the results of our previous representative survey in which 77 percent of both sexes reported encounters with males.”

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The cause of death was known and verified by checking official records for about 80 percent of the cases, and in 30 percent of these cases the person had died violently. The percentage of violent deaths in the study was almost four times higher than the percentage of death by violence in Iceland during the relevant time period.
The percentage of violent deaths in the study was almost four times higher than the percentage of death by violence in Iceland during the relevant time period.

[Elements of the Eternal Soul]

Other researchers have encountered similar findings. The late Dr. Ian Stevenson, a psychologist at the University of Virginia, analyzed 314 apparitional cases recorded in the 1886 book, “Phantasms of the Living,” coauthored by Edmund Gurney, Frederic Myers, and Frank Podmore. Dr. Stevenson found the mode of death was violent in 28 percent of cases in which the cause of death was known.

Dr. Stevenson is best known for his reincarnation research. His successor in this work, Dr. Jim Tucker, told Epoch Times in an unrelated interview in February that he has observed a similar prevalence of violent, male deaths in reincarnation cases. Dr. Tucker has been analyzing thousands of cases of children who seem to remember past lives. He found approximately 70 percent of the cases were reported by little boys.

Most often, but not always, children remember being a person of the same sex as the present lifetime. Thus, the majority of reincarnation-related reports are about men who have died. Though some reported past-life memories involve peaceful deaths, the majority of striking cases involve trauma. Checking official statistics for the United States, Dr. Tucker found about 70 percent of unnatural deaths occur to males, echoing the percentage of past-life memories related to males.

Follow @TaraMacIsaac on Twitter, visit the Epoch Times Beyond Science page on Facebook, and subscribe to the Beyond Science newsletter to continue exploring ancient mysteries and the new frontiers of science!
Tags: afterlifeghostIan StevensonJim Tuckerparanorm

[Trevor Proffitt]

They look at their ghostly genitalia?

[Dale Starling]

Wow yes well this is quite true. But as I have seen in Japanese Horror female ghosts as the main villain are quite popular. But in American horror the ghosts and killers are usually male. Ever since watching The Ring, those girls in the white dress and hair over their face always creeped me out!

[nativechick1996]

Malicious entities often males and humans, especially those who enjoy scaring people.

[Seer of Dark Things]

Ghosts existing, how do you count the ghost population (they're not mailing in a census), and why would someone care about this? Is it pointing out that men do not accept the afterlife as easily as females? Is God only accepting females and asking the boys to hold up a minute on earth?

[Wood Elf]

There isn't many evil ghosts but a lot turn out to be males.

[She-ra, Princess of Power]

This proves that even when dead some men will still not ask for directions even if is to the other side.

[She-ra, Princess of Power]

This proves that even when dead some men will still not ask for directions even if is to the other side.

[Rebelitarian]

Knew someone was going to crack that joke....