Clarifying and measuring the characteristics of experiences that involve a loss of self or a dissolution of its boundaries.
Consciousness and cognition – March 01, 2024
Source: PubMed
Summary
A clearer understanding of self-transcendence emerges from a study involving 386 participants who described experiences of ego dissolution. Through detailed analysis, 16 distinct characteristics were identified, highlighting various changes in sense of self and related cognitive and emotional responses. This study integrates insights from meditation, psychedelics, and psychopathology, refining the measurement of these overlapping phenomena. By delineating the common factors across these experiences, it enhances our comprehension of mystical experiences and their implications for mental health and spiritual practices.
Abstract
Mystical experience, non-dual awareness, selflessness, self-transcendent experience, and ego-dissolution have become increasingly prominent constructs in meditation and psychedelic research. However, these constructs and their measures tend to be highly overlapping, imprecise, and poorly integrated with similar pathological experiences. The present study seeks to clarify the common factors involved in the characteristics of these experiences using precise distinctions across an array of experience contexts (including meditation, psychedelics, and psychopathology). Participants (N = 386) completed an online survey about an experience that involved either a dissolution of self-boundaries or a loss of selfhood. Confirmatory factor analyses resulted in 16 experience characteristics, including multiple types of changes in sense of self, co-occurring phenomenology, and cognitive and affective responses. Qualitative thematic analysis provided rich descriptions of experience characteristics. Taken together, results lead to a more specific measurement model and descriptive account of experiences involving a loss of self or self-boundary.