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University
Shawnee State University
Major
Psychology
Presentation Types
Oral Presentation
Keywords:
Extraterrestrials, Psychology, Predictions, Beliefs
Abstract
The search for extraterrestrial (alien) civilizations has long fascinated people. We are interested in factors that predict whether people are likely to be generally supportive of efforts such as, for example, the SETI program or funding Harvard Professor Avi Loeb’s idea to search for “space junk” artifacts. Our data collection is ongoing, and we forecast that the following set of beliefs and personal qualities will be most predictive of supporting the search. Predictive beliefs should include the degree to which people believe the following: that extraterrestrial civilizations exist; that there would be benefits to humanity if we discovered an extraterrestrial civilization. Other predictive qualities include the degree to which someone is: higher on the trait of openness to experience; lower on the trait of anxiety; higher on social support (as it relates to interest in extraterrestrials); higher on fandom of science fiction; higher on preexisting contemplation of the topic of extraterrestrial civilizations.
Human Subjects
yes
IRB Approval
yes
Faculty Mentor Name
Brian Richards
Faculty Mentor Title
Associate Professor
Faculty Mentor Academic Department
Social Sciences
Recommended Citation
Bays, John and Richards, Brian, "Perspectives on Extraterrestrial (alien) Civilizations" (2021). Celebration of Scholarship. 2.
https://digitalcommons.shawnee.edu/cos/2021/day5/2
Perspectives on Extraterrestrial (alien) Civilizations
The search for extraterrestrial (alien) civilizations has long fascinated people. We are interested in factors that predict whether people are likely to be generally supportive of efforts such as, for example, the SETI program or funding Harvard Professor Avi Loeb’s idea to search for “space junk” artifacts. Our data collection is ongoing, and we forecast that the following set of beliefs and personal qualities will be most predictive of supporting the search. Predictive beliefs should include the degree to which people believe the following: that extraterrestrial civilizations exist; that there would be benefits to humanity if we discovered an extraterrestrial civilization. Other predictive qualities include the degree to which someone is: higher on the trait of openness to experience; lower on the trait of anxiety; higher on social support (as it relates to interest in extraterrestrials); higher on fandom of science fiction; higher on preexisting contemplation of the topic of extraterrestrial civilizations.