Unraveling the Psychological Drivers of the Salem Witch Trials



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The Salem witch trials took place in and around Salem Village, Massachusetts, in 1692 and 1693. More than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft, which was considered a crime. Of those tried for practicing witchcraft, 30 people were found guilty, and 19 were executed. In 1702, the trials were found to be unlawful and the evidence fabricated. What psychological factors may have contributed to this historical witch hunt?

The Science of Personality cohosts Ryne Sherman, PhD, and Blake Loepp spoke with Larry Martinez, PhD, the A. Dale Thompson Endowed Chair of Leadership at the University of Texas at Arlington, about the psychology behind the Salem witch trials. Why might these colonial Americans have been susceptible to mass hysteria about witches?

“Many things in the past that we didn’t have scientific explanations for were categorized as supernatural or paranormal,” Larry said. “Then when the science caught up, those things crossed over from a supernatural explanation to a scientific one.”

Let’s explore the context of 17th-century Salem Village and unravel some psychological drivers that could have affected the Salem witch trials.

What Were the Salem Witch Trials?

Throughout New England during this time period, society generally held that witches were real. “Witches are a big part of the cultural understanding of how the world works at the time,” Larry said. Not only was belief in the existence of witchcraft an underlying factor, but the Puritan religion predominant in the region tended to have a rigid view of gender roles.

“What seemed to be the flash point was when four girls started exhibiting some behaviors that were unexplainable at the time—convulsions, hallucinations, crawly sensations on their skin,” Larry explained. When medicine could not provide a physical reason for the behavior, it was thought to have a spiritual cause. Belief in their spiritual affliction led to the beginning of a witch hunt.

One of the first people accused of witchcraft was named Tituba, an indigenous slave woman from Barbados who may have told the girls about Caribbean traditions around magic. Larry described her as an easy target for scapegoating because of her race, sex, and social status. In addition to Tituba, two other people accused early in the witch hunt were Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne. They were likely targeted for being socially disenfranchised older women who resembled the stereotype of a witch. None of these people conformed to the Puritan perception of ideal womanhood.

Spectral Evidence

“For the first time, spectral evidence was allowed to be given in a trial,” Larry said. “Spectral evidence is the spiritual manifestation of the witch’s power.” Spectral evidence relied solely on the testimony of the person claiming to be victimized by witchcraft. Undetectable by witnesses, this type of evidence could not be externally corroborated. After the Salem witch trials ended, a new court ruled that spectral evidence was not admissible.

The mass hysteria about witchcraft eventually saw the accusations extend beyond those who differed from the societal norm to target socially prominent people with wealth and influence. At that point, the witch hunt began coming to end, reinforcing the concept that social outcasts were more likely to be targeted with accusations of witchcraft.

The Psychology of the Salem Witch Trials

Something that may have fueled the Salem witch trials was the social position of the girls who first made the accusations. “For the first time, the most influential people in the town are listening to the least powerful, most silenced minority group—these young girls,” Larry explained. The more accusations they make, the more famous they become and the more authority and recognition they receive.

Other psychological and social factors at play include personality characteristics, fear responses, ostracism, and fantasy proneness.

Openness to Experience

Openness to experience, one of the dimensions of personality in the five-factor model, relates to seeking and exploring new experiences and information. For some people, a high level of openness to experience could manifest as curiosity about and interest in the supernatural, in contrast to an impulse to rationally explain what seems to be paranormal. “People with a high need for control are probably going to be more impacted than people who are more open to experiences,” Larry said.

Fear

Humans seek explanations for the unknown and the unpredictable. Believing that we know what may happen brings a sense of security and control over our environment. When anyone in society could be a witch, that creates fear and uncertainty. “Who are the witches who are still in our midst? This becomes a real witch hunt,” Larry said.

Scapegoating

Larry pointed out that the first people accused of witchcraft were outsiders who had violated the cultural and religious expectations of the dominant social group. Any personality dimension that might run counter to social norms could be a target for scapegoating. Ostracism can serve to reinforce societal norms; confessing to witchcraft could allow the accused to become rehabilitated into society. “It creates a pathway back to acceptance for the people that were previously ostracized—and it strengthens all of the cultural norms around tradition and society and religion,” he explained.

Fantasy Proneness

Fantasy proneness is the extent to which people believe in the fantastic, paranormal, or supernatural. “One of the most salient predictors of fantasy proneness in adulthood is childhood trauma,” Larry said. Fantasy proneness can help people cope with negative experiences through mental escape. This tangential link between adverse childhood experiences leading to fantasy proneness may have had a broad application in colonial New England.

Modern Outcomes of the Salem Witch Trials

The Salem witch trials resulted in two positive legal breakthroughs: (1) the rejection of spectral evidence in favor of evidence that is perceivable and (2) the notion that it is better to let one criminal go free than to execute 10 innocent people. The legal concept of innocent until proven guilty was strongly reinforced by the illegal executions of the Salem victims. A few years after the Salem witch trials, Salem officially recognized the innocence of the people who were executed or died in jail.

The Salem witch trials helped improve the methodology used in paranormal research. Evidence collected during the witch hunt was probably affected by demand characteristics, which are unconscious or subtle cues that reveal expected responses. Psychologists came to recognize how extensively demand characteristics can influence test subjects. Something as simple as an experimenter’s facial expression, inflection, demeanor, or other cues skew results and invalidate research. In that sense, the Salem witch trials showed practices to avoid in psychological research and evidence collection.

Viewing the Salem witch trials through a psychological lens can reveals insights into both historical and modern gender dynamics. Larry indicated that women who showed independence or stepped outside traditional roles were accused of witchcraft early in the event. Those who lived alone or on the margins of society might be more likely to come under suspicion of witchcraft because of how they violated feminine ideals. This links directly to modern research findings from Jennifer Berdahl, PhD, that women who violate feminine ideals can face more workplace harassment.1 Gender-based social pressure is not confined to colonial New England.

Ultimately, the Salem witch trials can help us identify some psychological roots of injustice today. From personality characteristics to social and cultural expectations, factors that affected Salem still affect us. “There’s a lot going on in our brains that we don’t fully appreciate,” Larry said. But we can allow our investigative curiosity to promote justice, equity, and scientific advancement.

Listen to this conversation in full on episode 112 of The Science of Personality. Never miss an episode by following us anywhere you get podcasts. Cheers, everybody!

Reference

  1. Berdahl, J. L. (2007). The Sexual Harassment of Uppity Women. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(2), 425–437. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.92.2.425