Regarding the construction of the Chinese version of the RPBS, it appears that it had satisfactory reliability (Cronbach alpha = .88). The construct validity could be validated from the correlation matrix between the factors of the RPBS and PRS. The correlations that were significant reflected reasonable relationship between the factors from the two scales respectively in the context of the Chinese culture in Taiwan. For example, the factor traditional religious belief of the RPBS had significant correlations with the following factors of the PRS: religious belief, nature/environment, virtue vs. evil, religious activities, and afterlife. This reflected rather accurately the prevailing traditional Chinese religious thinking. Another example was the factor superstition of the RPBS had significant correlations with the factors nature/environment and birth/pregnancy of the PRS.
Results indicated that paranormal belief and religiosity were two different constructs despite of some possible overlap, such as scales of traditional religious belief, spiritualism, believing that nature/environment can affect individuals. Well-being and fortune, and afterlife (all these factors had five significant correlations with the other scale, see Table 1). Two factors of the PRS (virtue vs. evil and quality of physical substance) appeared to have no relationship with the RPBS. The lack of relationship between RPBS and the factor .value/happiness of life. of PRS might imply experiencing one’s happiness and paranormal belief were two different constructs. The lack of relationship between RPBS and the factor .quality of physical substance o PRS might indicate beliefs in Chinese medicine and paranormal belief are two different beliefs. This might reflect the cultural difference between the Western and Eastern worlds as well.
Comparing the items of the traditional religious belief factor and religious belief factor of the RPBS and PRS respectively, the main difference was that the latter factor measured religious faithfulness rather than religious belief. It is interesting that the results of this study indicated the more religiously faithful a person was, the less his/her cognitive complexity would be and vice versa. Since education may help increase one’s cognitive complexity, it still needs to be verified empirically whether the latter is a mediator between education and religious belief.