Journal of Psychopharmacology
November 16, 2016
Ido Hartogsohn
469 citations
Placebo response theory and set and setting theory both explore how non-biological factors—such as expectancy, preparation, and beliefs—influence responses to therapy, but they differ in scope and purpose. Set and setting theory applies only to psychoactive drugs and is prescriptive, guiding users and therapists to optimize drug effects. Placebo theory applies to all therapeutic interventions and is descriptive, explaining how placebo effects occur. This paper examines how the two theories can complement each other, broadening understanding of how non-biological factors shape responses to drugs and other treatments.
Drug Science Policy and Law
January 1, 2017
Ido Hartogsohn
459 citations
The psychological, social, and cultural factors known as set and setting shape responses to psychedelic drugs and also influence the effects of other substances like alcohol, heroin, amphetamines, and cocaine. This paper traces the concept's history from 19th-century Parisian hashish clubs through 1950s psychotomimetic research and the work of psychedelic therapists, to its formal articulation by Timothy Leary. Later expansions are discussed, and the term collective set and setting is proposed to describe social forces shaping individual experiences. The concept is argued to be essential for psychedelic research, broader drug research, and more effective drug policy.
Frontiers in Pharmacology
May 4, 2021
Ido Hartogsohn
49 citations
The psychedelic experience is profoundly shaped by psychological, social, and cultural factors—a concept known as set and setting. The Santo Daime religion in Brazil uses a rich tapestry of ordering principles, techniques, symbology, aesthetics, and music to direct the effects of the hallucinogenic brew ayahuasca. This paper systematically describes these elements and the mechanics of entheogenic initiation within the tradition, providing a template for future studies on how context influences psychedelic experimentation.
Transcultural Psychiatry
July 12, 2022
Ido Hartogsohn
43 citations
In mid-20th-century America, researchers held wildly different views on psychedelics—some saw them as psychotherapy tools, others as psychosis inducers, creativity catalysts, psychochemical weapons, or spiritual aids. These diverse perceptions created distinct experimental contexts (set and setting) that shaped study outcomes and fueled disagreements. The article introduces the concept of psychedelic modality to explain how sociocultural microclimates produce thematic clusters of expectations, intentions, and environments, leading to characteristic results. It examines seven modalities—psychotomimetic, military, psychotherapeutic, spiritual, artistic-creative, tech-innovative, and political—and their historical emergence, showing how culture and subcultures shaped the varieties of psychedelic experience.
The MIT Press eBooks
July 14, 2020
Ido Hartogsohn
34 citations
In midcentury America, the psychedelic experience was profoundly shaped by historical, social, and cultural forces—by the user's mindset and the surrounding environment. Researchers studied psychedelics as therapeutic medicines, dangerous drugs, tools for spiritual communion, cognitive enhancers, and political catalysts, often reaching contradictory results. The book chronicles uses from CIA and military experimentation to influences on music, fashion, design, architecture, and film, introducing figures like psychologist Betty Eisner and Timothy Leary. It situates these developments within the cold war, counterculture, anti-psychiatric movement, and cybernetics, proposing that LSD functioned as a suggestible technology and that midcentury America's collective set and setting created the conditions for a distinct American trip.
J Psychopharmacol
June 30, 2023
Chloé Pronovost-Morgan, Ido Hartogsohn, Johannes G Ramaekers
33 citations
The randomized controlled trial (RCT) design assumes a drug's specific effect can be separated from nonspecific context and person effects, but ample evidence shows that physical, social, and cultural variables not only add to but also shape drug effects. Harnessing these placebo effects for patient benefit is challenging due to conceptual and normative obstacles. A new framework inspired by psychedelic science's 'set and setting' concept acknowledges that drug and nondrug factors interact synergistically, suggesting ways to reintegrate nondrug variables into biomedical practice to ethically use placebo effects for improved clinical care.
Nature medicine
June 3, 2025
Chloé Pronovost-Morgan, Kyle T. Greenway, Leor Roseman et al.
26 citations
A Delphi consensus study with 89 experts from 17 countries identified 30 extra-pharmacological variables that are important or very important for reporting the setting in psychedelic clinical trials. These variables, forming the ReSPCT guidelines, cover physical environment, dosing session procedure, therapeutic framework and protocol, and subjective experiences. The findings reveal significant ambiguities in current conceptualizations of set and setting. The guidelines provide a new standard for designing and documenting contextual factors in psychedelic research.
Psychopharmacology
December 1, 2022
Ido Hartogsohn, Rotem Petranker
22 citations
The use of psychedelics for medical and recreational purposes is rising, and contextual factors such as expectancy, intention, and sensory and social environment (set and setting) are widely recognized as moderating the effects of these substances. However, clinical trials of microdosing—ingesting small, sub-hallucinogenic doses of psychedelics—rarely report their set and setting, suggesting these factors are not considered important in that context. This paper challenges that assumption and argues for the crucial relevance of set and setting in microdosing practice. Building on set and setting theory and placebo theory, it explains why set and setting are crucial for determining microdosing outcomes and helps explain contradictory results in recent research. Reporting set and setting would make microdosing research more reliable and consistent.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2022
Ido Hartogsohn
19 citations
The concept of cyberdelics, linking digital technologies with psychedelic drugs, re-emerges alongside renewed interest in virtual reality and psychedelics. Advocates envision transformative technologies fostering awe and transcendence rather than consumerism, but cultural and economic conditions may suppress this potential. Drawing on psychedelic humanities, which emphasize how cultural context (set and setting) shapes drug effects, the paper examines how these principles apply to cyberdelic media, its prospects, and its challenges.
Psychedelic Harm Reduction
January 1, 2026
Ido Hartogsohn
13 citations
The concept of set and setting is central to psychedelic studies, referring to how mindset and environment shape psychedelic experiences and their outcomes. This paper proposes a framework for understanding set and setting in relation to harm reduction. It describes four modalities—therapeutic, clinical trial, ritualistic, and recreational—and examines how set and setting differ across them, the implications of these differences, and how harm reduction strategies can be tailored to each. Integrating set and setting principles into public health policies and education could enhance the effectiveness of harm reduction programs for psychedelics.
History of Pharmacy and Pharmaceuticals
October 1, 2023
Ido Hartogsohn
9 citations
As psychedelics move from Indigenous and underground settings into corporate, for-profit contexts, their meaning and effects change. The term 'corporadelic' describes the appropriation of psychedelics by corporations and their integration into corporate environments. Building on the concept of cultural set and setting, this commentary argues that placing psychedelic medicine within neoliberal consumerism may undermine its efficacy and transformational potential.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2022
Ido Hartogsohn
7 citations
When Santo Daime ayahuasca rituals moved online during the COVID-19 pandemic, the shift both enabled continued practice and introduced new challenges. Based on interviews with 12 daimistas who participated in virtual ceremonies via Zoom, the analysis identifies that online rituals allowed religious continuity during social distancing, fostered global community, and opened new avenues for participation and learning. However, participants also reported an impoverished ritual experience marked by greater distractions, technical difficulties, low sensory fidelity, social anxiety, and a tension between social and spiritual dimensions. Concerns about technological mediation, consumerism, commodification, and the digital divide emerged, with limitations amplified by the immersive, body-oriented nature of psychedelic experience.
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
February 26, 2024
Ido Hartogsohn
4 citations
The term psychonaut, coined in 1949 by Ernst Jünger, describes individuals who systematically and deliberately explore their own minds, often using psychedelics, distinguishing them from casual experimenters. The concept implies method, commitment, and audacity, and psychedelic history has produced notable figures like Alexander Shulgin who exemplify this approach.
BioSocieties
January 8, 2026
Ido Hartogsohn
1 citation
The emergence of non-hallucinogenic psychoplastogens, which promote neuroplasticity without altering consciousness, creates a philosophical divide in psychedelic medicine. Psychedelic-assisted therapy treats subjective experience as central to healing, while psychoplastogens aim to repair brain circuits without inducing altered states. Drawing on socio-technical imaginaries and biopolitics, the paper contrasts these approaches, examining tensions between confronting emotional difficulty and pursuing sanitized, effortless treatment. The controversy reflects competing biopolitical visions of mental health, suffering, and therapeutic transformation, with implications for psychiatry's future.
Journal of Psychedelic Studies
January 15, 2025
Ido Hartogsohn, Yaron Yavelberg, Omry Ben Ezra
A pilot study with 110 participants taking psychiatric medications tested workshops that combined education about their condition and medication with guided, mindful ingestion in a supportive group setting. Survey responses from 33 participants showed significantly improved understanding of their medical conditions and prescribed drugs. Interviews revealed strong interest in mindful medication use, benefit from the communal setting, and themes of greater satisfaction and improved ability to benefit from the prescribed drug. The results suggest that non-pharmacological tools can improve outcomes of prescription drug use, supporting the need for further research.
Frontiers in Neuroscience
March 6, 2018
Ido Hartogsohn
Psychedelics appear to enhance the perception of meaning, which may help explain their therapeutic, creativity-boosting, and mystical-type effects. Building on earlier work linking psychedelic-induced meaning enhancement to amplified placebo responses, this paper proposes that similar mechanisms underlie creativity enhancement and mystical experiences. The authors discuss the broader social and public-health implications and suggest directions for further research into how these meaning-amplifying properties work and how they might be harnessed.