Schizotypy models in relation to subjective health and paranormal beliefs and experiences

The main purpose of this study was to further the understanding of schizotypy by investigating which of two schizotypy models best describes the construct. The quasi-dimensional model views schizotypy as related to psychological ill-health, whereas the fully dimensional model views schizotypy as fundamentally neutral. A schizotypy measure, the Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences (O-LIFE; Mason, Claridge, & Jackson, 1995), a health-related measure, the Sense of Coherence (SOC; Antonovsky, 1991) Scale, and a measure of paranormal beliefs and experiences, the Australian Sheep-Goat Scale (ASGS: Thalbourne & Delin, 1993) were used. The study cluster analysed 88 undergraduate psychology students' responses on three of the O-LIFE dimensions: 'unusual experiences' (UE), 'cognitive disorganisation' (CD), and 'introvertive anhedonia' (IA) (Mason et al., 1995). An agglomerative hierarchical cluster analysis of the O-LIFE sub-scales suggested three separate clusters. These were labelled CD/IA, UE, and LS. One-way ANOVA:s revealed that the CD/IA cluster scored lower on the SOC scale than the other clusters and that the UE cluster scored higher than the LS cluster on the ASGS. The results of this study support the notion of healthy schizotypy and support the fully dimensional model of schizotypy over the quasi-dimensional model. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.