The role of magical thinking in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder symptoms and cognitions in an analogue sample

► Extreme groups with magical beliefs differed significantly in some subtypes of OCD and specific cogntions after general negative effect was controlled. For instance, people with a strong belief in the magical beliefs also reported more checking symptoms, confusion in the likelihood domain and a control strategy of punishment ► When the levels of anxiety and depression were partialled out, paranormal beliefs were significantly and positively correlated with symptoms of checking and obsessive thoughts, faulty beliefs of perfectionism/certainty and the likelihood fusion and control method of punishment ► Paranormal belief was a significant predictor of OCD symptoms in general, particularly both symptoms of checking and obsessive thoughts ► Among the cognitive correlates, faulty beliefs in perfectionism/certainty and likelihood confusion were also significant predictors of magical thinking