Lots of People Say They Talk With Ghosts

For many Americans, the connections we share with deceased family members goes beyond the grave, according to a study released by Pew Research Center. And per CNN, certain groups are more likely to say they've been visited by loved ones in dreams and other ways. Of the 5,079 adults surveyed, 53% said they've had some form of contact from relatives who passed away. The most common form of contact was through visitation dreams (46%), while 44% of participants reported either telling a dead relative about their lives, feeling their presence, or having dead loved ones communicate with them.

The survey, conducted among various religious groups, found that moderately religious people were most likely to report supernatural interactions. Highly religious or non-religious groups, like atheists, were less likely to do so. "When it comes to religion, about half or more of Catholics (58%), members of the historically Black Protestant tradition (56%), and mainline Protestants (52%) say they have had at least one of these three experiences in the last year," said researchers Patricia Tevington and Manolo Corichi, noting that Evangelical Protestants were the least likely religious group to report these experiences. Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, and Hindu participants were included in the study, but their numbers were too small to report trends.

Women (63%) were more likely to report connecting with deceased loved ones than men (42%), with visitation dreams being the most common form of contact for both genders. Dreaming deceased relatives was most likely among Hispanic participants (53%), though still high among Black (45%) and White (42%) respondents. The survey did not collect dream details or ask for interpretations, so the experiences can either be perceived as mystical, natural, or a blend of both. "People often awaken from these dreams with a vivid sense that they really saw their deceased loved ones, that it was as real an encounter as anything they experience in waking," Kelly Bulkeley writes in Psychology Today. (Meanwhile, catching too many Zs can cause nightmares.)