Why do some people see ghosts?

“I have several friends who believe in ghosts, and one who claims to have seen something. I’ve never experienced anything paranormal myself. Why?”

There are competing theories as to why some people see ghosts. The most scientifically-based of these is represented by psychology professor Michiel Van Elk from Leiden University in the Netherlands, who has studied ‘paranormal’ experiences – events that seem to transcend the laws of nature.

According to Van Elk’s research, people who see ghosts are more likely to trust their intuition and emotions, and are less guided by analytical reflection. This makes them more likely to interpret events as if there is some kind of ‘will’ behind them.

Van Elk conducted experiments in which participants had to guess where a specific playing card was located in a deck. Based on the results, he then divided the participants into two groups.

One group was characterised by attributing their own successful attempts to find the specific card in the deck to luck. These people rarely see ghosts.

The other group, on the other hand, indicated that they could feel or just intuitively ‘knew’ which card was the right one. According to Van Elk, this type of person is far more likely to believe that they have experienced something paranormal.

There are also differences in brain scans and thought patterns between these groups (see below), so it may simply be that you are in a different group to any friends who believe in ghosts. It is difficult to find exact data indicating how many people have ‘seen a ghost’, but in a 2021 YouGov poll of 1000 US adults, 41% said they believe, and 20% said they had personally experienced them.