Operationalizing near‑death experiences: Stability of the NDE Rasch hierarchy over two decades.
Consciousness and cognition – January 18, 2026
Source: PubMed
Summary
Two prominent Near-death experience (NDE) scales measure the same underlying phenomenology. A psychometric validation of 705 experiencers (64% women) showed a 0.98 correlation. Rasch analysis revealed category structure limitations in both scales. Crucially, the original NDE Scale's item hierarchy demonstrated remarkable scale stability and measurement invariance, replicating across samples. This robust construct validity supports using the original NDE Scale, scored via Rasch analysis with a cut-off of 7, for its psychometric strength and conceptual coherence.
Abstract
This study presents the first comprehensive psychometric comparison of Greyson's (1983) 16-item Near-Death Experience Scale (NDE Scale) and Martial et al.'s (2020) 20-item Near-Death Experience Content Scale (NDE-C) using Rasch modeling and differential item functioning (or response bias) analyses. A total of 705 self-identified "near-death experiencers" (64% women) completed both measures, which were randomly intermingled and rated for experiential relevance. Results confirmed that the two scales measure the same underlying construct of NDE phenomenology, as evidenced by a near-perfect disattenuated Pearson correlation (r = 0.98, p < 0.001). However, Rasch analysis revealed limitations in the category structures of both scales-particularly the NDE-C-and identified psychometric and conceptual weaknesses in its five novel items. Critically, the core Rasch item hierarchy derived from the original NDE Scale was replicated both in this sample and a previously simulated dataset based on the NDE-C's development research, confirming its long-term structural stability. Based on the present evidence and the principle of parsimony, we recommend the original NDE Scale supported by Rasch scoring and a validated cut-off of 7 (out of 32), as it is conceptually coherent and psychometrically robust, while maintaining historical comparison with previous research. These findings reinforce the value of Rasch modeling for cumulative theory-building and underscore the Rasch NDE hierarchy's foundational role in operationalizing legitimate near-death experiences.