Ian McGregor

Psychology Professor Ian McGregor explores links between anxiety and compensatory convictions

Research sheds light on human belief in Friday the 13th, Bigfoot, fate, heaven and hell It was during this week, in the lead-up to today’s supernaturally inclined date of Friday the 13th, that I learned the similarity between believing in Bigfoot and believing in The One, wrote columnist Micah Toub in The Globe and Mail […]

York researchers find anxiety may be at root of religious extremism

Anxiety and uncertainty can cause us to become more idealistic and radical in our religious beliefs, according to new findings by York University researchers published in this month’s issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. In a series of studies, more than 600 participants were placed in anxiety-provoking or neutral situations and then asked […]